San Franciscans who vote by mail have something new to look forward to when they open their ballots this month: For the first time ever, the San Francisco Department of Elections has included “I voted!” stickers in vote by mail envelopes.

Eve Peña, Outreach Assistant Manager with the SF Department of Elections, said the department has wanted to include stickers in mailed ballots for a long time, but faced logistical challenges — the vote by mail envelopes are assembled using an assembly line which wasn’t designed to handle stickers.

“Voters are very excited about this, and so is the Department,” Peña said. “It’s great to be able to provide equal opportunity access to show pride about voting for vote-by-mail voters.”

Kayla Kaufman is one voter who’s excited about the new development.

“I love stickers!” Kaufman said. “They make me feel like I accomplished things!”

Voters can find the sticker on a card in their envelope that contains voting instructions.

The upcoming election will take place on Tuesday, March 3. Early voting started last Monday. Vote by mail voters can return their ballots at any point between now and March 3. Ballots must be postmarked by Election Day to be counted.

The contest on most people's minds is the Presidential primary. That includes the much-anticipated Democratic presidential primary, as well as presidential primaries for the Republican, Green, Libertarian, Peace and Freedom, and American Independent parties.

The March 3 ballot also includes primaries for for San Francisco’s Congressional representative, State Senator, and State Assembly representative.

Voters will also choose judges for three open district court seats, and decide on one statewide ballot measure and five San Francisco ballot measures.

San Francisco voters who are registered members of the Democratic, Republican, Green or Peace & Freedom parties will also vote for representatives to their party's County Central Committee or County Council.

If you already received your vote-by-mail ballot, and it doesn't include candidates for the Presidential primary, it's because you didn't choose a political party when you registered to vote. If you still want to vote in a Presidential primary on March 3, or you want to change which party's primary you're voting in, you still can!

You can register to vote, or change your voter registration until February 18th. You have until February 25th to request a vote-by-mail ballot.

The SF Department of Elections has a webpage explaining the rules for voting in a Presidential primary, as well as a tool to help you figure out how to vote for your preferred candidate in the Presidential primaries. You can also check on the current status of your voter registration and your vote-by-mail ballot.

You can re-register, change your party preference, and vote in person any time between now and Election Day at City Hall. If you've already received your vote-by-mail ballot, make sure to bring it with you if you decide to vote in person — you have to surrender your original vote-by-mail ballot if you change your party preference.

You can also call the Department of Elections at 415-554-4375, or by email at [email protected], if you have any other questions.