Voting officials across the Bay Area are banding together with the hope of heading off misinformation before it begins to spread ahead of and during the upcoming midterm elections.
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Registrars of Voters in Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Monterey, Napa, San Benito, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Solano and Sonoma counties announced earlier this month they had formed a coalition in order to highlight election security, "including the audits we conduct to assure accurate and secure elections."
It's an effort launched in part because of all the questions and concerns voters had during the 2020 presidential election, when widespread misinformation circulated online and on social media.
"We want people to trust the elections officials," Evelyn Mendez, a Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters spokesperson, told KCBS Radio in an interview. "We want people to trust that they can come to us, and we're the source of information."
On the Santa Clara County-hosted "Bay Area Votes" website, voters can find key dates leading into June's primary elections, as well as videos outlining how to register and vote, whether in person, by mail or from overseas.
Although the Bay Area is a big place, voters throughout the region asked common questions during the last presidential election. Mendez said many voters wondered if sharpies would ruin a ballot (they won't), while others were "literally bringing envelopes and saying, 'Why is there a hole here? Somebody could see my ballot. Someone could see what I voted on.' "
The "Bay Area Votes" website also contains a video explaining how votes are certified in all 11 counties.
What's officials' main goal from the initiative?
"Just getting the same information and the same message out there from every county," Mendez explained.
Making officials’ work all the more urgent, as we learned last election cycle, is how quickly misinformation can lead to voter confusion and, ultimately, voter mistrust.
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