June 7, 2021
Dear President David Canepa, Vice-President Don Horsley, Supervisor Carole Groom, Supervisor Dave Pine, and Supervisor Warren Slocum,
The San Mateo County Voter Education and Outreach Advisory Committee (VEOAC) would like to express our strong support of the resolution passed by the Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee (VAAC) to allocate $1,000,000 from the Capital Improvement Plan for Fiscal Years 2021-2023 to make improvements to the Tower Road Elections Office in order to assure compliance with requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the California Voter’s Choice Act (VCA).
A key part of the VEOAC’s focus is to remove barriers to voting, through education and ensuring that all voters can easily vote, especially those communities that have historically participated in elections at a lower rate. This includes voters with disabilities, many of whom are over the age of 65. While San Mateo County offers a range of locations of Vote Centers for those who wish to vote in person, the Vote Center at Tower Road continues to be the one that most voters choose. Unfortunately, Tower Road is also one of the least accessible voting locations. Board approval of the $1,000,000 to make ADA-compliant improvements to this facility will have a huge positive impact on making access to voting that much easier for this voting population.
We strongly urge the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors to approve this $1,000,000 funding request to make these ADA-improvements to the Tower Road facility.
Sincerely,
San Mateo County Voter Education and Outreach Advisory Committee
Petra Silton, Thrive
Co-chair, VEOAC
Diane Leeds, San Francisco Peninsula People Power
Co-chair, VEOAC
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