San Francisco officials say 2022 is not an ordinary election year

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco voters will need to mark their calendars because election officials say 2022 is not an ordinary election year.

Ballots are being counted in the February special election where turnout is hovering around 26%. It is just the first in an unusual series of elections with high stakes. Some people are beginning to worry that voters might be feeling turnout burnout.

In the Feb. 15 special election, two seasoned frontrunners in the state Assembly District 17 race appear headed for a runoff. San Francisco Supervisor Matt Haney (37%) and former Supervisor David Campos (35%) are leading so far and with neither capturing a majority of the vote, there will be a special election on April 19th.

Campos is an attorney and vice-chair of the California Democratic Party. He says he's running on his record and if he wins, he says he hopes to bring San Franciscans Medicare for all, jobs through a green new deal, navigation centers, and an end to hunger.

"We are running corporate free because we want to be beholden to no one but the voter. The person in San Francisco who is looking for government who responds to their needs, their concerns," said Campos.

Supervisor Matt Haney, an eviction defense attorney, states his goals include building more affordable housing, reducing street homelessness, getting renewable energy and green transit.

Elections Director John Arntz says more than 250,000 San Franciscans will be eligible to vote in the assembly seat runoff election.

"It's about half the city, it's a little over half," said Arntz.

Arntz says this year, however, is something he's never seen before. People in Assembly District 17 will need to vote in four elections in just one year to fill the seat.

This week's February special election is just the beginning.

Then there's the runoff election scheduled for April 19t to fill the seat through the end of this year.

Then, two months later comes the June primary to fill the next term, and it finally will be decided by November's general election.

"When you have the same office on ballots for multiple elections, unless people are really paying attention and engaged, yes, I do worry about them being uncertain about the process," said Arntz, "We'll open the phone banks earlier for these elections. We expect more phone calls and try to answer people's questions about what's on the ballot and why."

San Francisco elections officials are already preparing.

Arntz says holding four elections in less than a year does come with additional costs.

"Our estimate going into February was $6.5 million dollars," said Arntz, who added that that figure might be lower because low turnout reduced overtime costs.

"Going into the April election we projected about a $4.8 million cost," said Arntz, "I think it's about $8- to $9-million for June."

Along with the Assembly District 17 race, there are many more critical faces including the San Francisco District Attorney recall, the U.S. Senate race to fill Vice-President Kamala Harris' former seat, the Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General and Secretary of State races.

Candidates face a big challenge trying to keep voters engaged and on top of when and where to cast their votes.
 

Jana Katsuyama is a reporter for KTVU.  Email Jana at jana.katsuyama@fox.com and follow her on Twitter @JanaKTVU or Facebook @NewsJana or ktvu.com