Hints for Voting in Santa Clara County

Here are some hints for using the Santa Clara County remote voting system.

The Santa Clara County web site says that, to use the RAVBM system, a voter must: download the application; mark their selections; print their selections; sign the envelope provided with the vote-by-mail ballot or the voter's own envelope; then return the printed and signed selections either by mail or by dropping it off at a voting location.

Don't waste your time browsing around on Santa Clara County's main web site to find the ballot, just go to tinyurl.com/RAVBM-Here (OR rovservices.sccgov.org/Home/IndexPost?selected=ra).

Fill in your home address, which election, and your birth date to determine whether you are registered to vote and, if so, the proper ballot style to download to your computer.

Be aware that what the website refers to as links may actually be button controls that require the spacebar to activate, rather than the Enter that is required for links.

You may find that the system displays a message like, "Please enter a name in the following field" at the bottom of the screen. This last line may remain on the screen and is probably left-over garbage that is spoken but not visually displayed.

It is best to put your resulting printed ballot in the return envelope the county should already have mailed you.

You must sign your name on the back of the envelope, below the flap, between the two holes punched in the envelope. The left-hand hole is the one that does not go through the envelope.

Those holes are below a printed oath, by which you will be stating that you are a legitimate voter.