Elections Commission
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Elections Commission
Approved: May 16, 2007
Minutes of the Meeting at City Hall Room 408
April 18, 2007
- 1.CALL TO ORDER. President Jennifer Meek called the meeting to order at 7:06 pm.
- 2.ROLL CALL. PRESENT: Commissioners Gerard Gleason, Tajel Shah, Arnold Townsend, Victor Hwang, Winnie Yu, Deputy City Attorney Jon Givner, and Director of Elections John Arntz. EXCUSED: Commissioner Richard P. Matthews
Director Arntz said that the division reports are slow because the managers are going over their plans and procedures for the November election and this is the time of the year when staff can take their vacations.
Update on Supplemental Budget 2006-2007 approval – The Mayor’s Office requested that the Department submit its Supplemental Budget to the Board of Supervisors last Tuesday. Yesterday it was assigned to the Budget and Finance Committee. The Director said that he assumed that there will be a Budget Analyst report made and he hopes the DoE’s (Department Of Elections) supplemental will be on the Board’s agenda for the Budget and Finance Committee next Wednesday or the following Wednesday at the latest. Then there will be a final hearing and one reading before the full Board of Supervisors. This means the process is completed by mid-May. At that time the Department will be in budget negotiations for the next fiscal year. There have been no changes to the budget since the Commission last reviewed and approved it.
Update on securing a voting system for 2007-2008 – Yesterday at the Board of Supervisors, a resolution was approved to authorize the DoE to contract with Elections Systems and Software (ES&S) to extend the current contract for up to seventeen months. The Board indicated that although they approved the extension with ES&S, the Department would remain in negotiations with Sequoia Voting Systems to finalize terms of that contract . The Board, therefore, did not seek for the Department to cancel the RFP (Request For Proposals), issued in 2005. ES&S has not yet sent the Director a signed contract.
ES&S must still seek certification for Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) for use in the November 2007 election. The SoS (Secretary Of State) has indicated concerns regarding the technology on which the ES&S system is based and the timeframe under which the company is seeking certification.
If the ES&S system is not certified for this fall’s RCV election, the Director said he believes the equipment will be certified to run the general election. Therefore, a hand count would be used for the second column count of the RCV contests in the election.
The SoS has said that she will not make a determination of how she will approach the review and possible certification of the ES&S system until an application is filed by ES&S in the SoS’s office. ES&S has told the Director that it will have a letter into the SoS next week to begin the certification process.
Regarding the break down of machines on Election Day, the Director stated that ES&S has assured him that a project manager will be brought in next week, who will look at the Eagles to determine what parts need to be replaced and to do preventive maintenance. Additionally, the Director reported that once the application is submitted to the SoS, she will make a determination if the system will need federal review. The system did pass this review in 2004, but it was not a full review, just a “functional” testing. If the SoS sends the system for FULL federal review, it would be based on the 2002 standards, but the system is not likely to pass those standards.
Item 10 (c) was taken out of order:
Discussion and possible action regarding the items presented in the Director of Elections memo dated April 10, 2007 regarding the letter from the Secretary of State on Certification of San Francisco’s Current Voting System. Director Arntz said that Secretary of State Bowen issued the letter under discussion. The letter mentions a “top to bottom” review of all systems used in California. Director Arntz said that he did not know what this would mean for ES&S. He said he believes that if this should happen, the Department would be able to use ES&S in November but not for the February Primary.
Commissioner Townsend said that the Commission should have moved more quickly to assist the Department in the approval of Sequoia as the selected vendor, and now the Department is going to need to do an expensive hand count.
Commissioner Hwang asked the Director if there should be ongoing negotiations with Sequoia to arrive at language agreeable with the Board of Supervisors regarding open source in their contract with the City, because if that language is added, that company could be ready for the February election. Director Arntz replied that Supervisor Peskin says that the Board is approving the extension with ES&S, but they want the DoE to continue negotiations with Sequoia Voting Systems.
Commissioner Gleason asked the Director for a report next month on what ES&S finds in its review of the “breakdowns” in equipment during the last election.
Director Arntz announced that Deputy Director Linda Tulett has accepted the position of Director of Elections for Monterey, California. He and the Commission thanked Ms. Tulett for her over two years service to the San Francisco Department of Elections.
President Meek asked the Director if he had any predictions regarding the cost to do a hand count for the November Election. Director Arntz said that the Department had researched the costs for a hand count for the 2004 election and that he could provide those numbers to the Commission.
Public Comment. Steven Hill said it was an industrial reality in elections that you get what you pay for, and you have to pay ahead of time. Brent Turner said that he wanted to give the Commission a letter from the SoS he had received that day that says she is behind the “psychology” of open voting. Roger Donaldson suggested that the Commission confer with the State of New Hampshire which, he said, is a completely hand count state.
- Deputy City Attorney’s Report. Deputy City Attorney Jon Givner reported that there are two pieces of litigation pending involving San Francisco elections. “Defend Bayview Hunter’s Point vs. San Francisco” is pending in Superior Court: Last June the Mayor signed an ordinance adopting a redevelopment plan for Bayview Hunters’ Point. In September, the Clerk rejected a referendum petition challenging the adoption of the plan because the circulators of the petition had not included any part of the Redevelopment Plan with the petition, as the law requires. In December, the proponents of the referendum filed a petition for a writ of mandate. It is currently pending. It will be argued on May 7th.
“Paralyzed Veterans of America vs. McPherson” was filed by several non-profit organizations and individuals against the State and four counties (including San Francisco) alleging that the voting system used does not provide adequate access to people with disabilities. The trial date is set for early fall.
Public Comment. Brent Turner said his business experience leads him to think that once someone talks about litigation, especially before they enter into a contract, that this is a company you with which you want to avoid doing business.
- Commissioners’ Reports. Commissioner Hwang reported that he met with representatives of an organization called “Protection and Advocacy”. The group mentioned that they were considering a legal suit over the lack of disability accessibility due to the breakdown rate of voting equipment. The group asked for a copy of the report that Commissioner Hwang drafted regarding his experience during the last election with equipment failures. Commissioner Hwang said that he wonders about the usefulness and the risks involved in commissioners monitoring and documenting their observations on Election Day in the future.
Commissioner Hwang said that he contacted Supervisor Daly’s office about the language involved in Item 9 (b) on today’s agenda. The Commissioner did not get a response, but said that it appeared to him that Supervisor Daly was the main Supervisor who wanted to see some kind of language included and the Commissioner wanted to add something that would make the Supervisor more comfortable.
Deputy City Attorney Givner said that if Commissioners are considering drafting documents, it is a good idea to call the City Attorney’s Office; and if the Commission would like to discuss potential litigation risks, the Commission can schedule a closed session for that discussion.
Commissioner Gleason asked that this item be added to the agenda for the upcoming Elections Commission Retreat.
Commissioner Shah announced that she would be attending a luncheon tomorrow at the Commonwealth Club to hear Director Arntz and others discuss Ranked Choice Voting.
Public Comment. Steven Hill said that the Commission should be separate from the Department and be able to make reports about problems.
9. OLD BUSINESS
(a) Discussion and possible action regarding an amendment to the Elections Commission Bylaws to include a regular meeting date and a new meeting time for the Budget and Oversight of Public Elections Committee. Commissioner Gleason MOVED and Commissioner Townsend SECONDED this item for approval.
The Roll Call Vote was UNANIMOUS to amend the Bylaws.
(b) Discussion and possible action to recommend approval of a Commission general policy statement regarding transparency in all San Francisco Elections Department activities involving voting systems technologies as well as providing voting systems security. (Commissioners Victor Hwang and Arnold Townsend)
Commissioner Hwang said that what was presented to the Commission at this meeting was the result of his “tinkering” with the original resolution by Commissioners Townsend and Mendelson. He said he now feels he did too much, and wants to clarify his main change in the wording. Commissioner Hwang said that he wanted to clarify that the Commission supports in principle the idea of public disclosures and that it is not the same as open source, although the language of open source does appear in the resolution. He said that the principle difference is the issue of copyright and intellectual property. The idea behind this resolution, he said, is to encourage the Department to adopt a voting technology system that maximizes the ability of folks to review and have trust in the system. It doesn’t convey a license to any third party.
President Meek said that, because she had only just received this statement, it didn’t appear that it locks the Department into using open source. It is her intent that the Department uses whatever is the best application for San Francisco. Deputy City Attorney Givner agreed after reading the statement, that it does not lock the Department into anything and if it did, then the Commission would be over stepping its bounds regarding directing the Department. That line, he said, may be approached at other points in the document.
Deputy City Attorney Givner wanted to call the Commission’s attention to the second paragraph of non-italicized text: “Whereas the San Francisco Board of Supervisors have recently refused to ratify a contract”, he said that is not accurate. Deputy City Attorney Givner said that the Board has acknowledged that negotiations are on-going with Sequoia. He also noted that at no point did the Commission approve or ratify the Sequoia contract, nor was it the Commission’s responsibility to do so.
Commissioner Hwang asked that other Commissioners, who may have questions, let him know their comments or suggestions for this policy statement so that he can include them in his next version.
President Meek reminded Commissioner Hwang that the Task Force mentioned in the last paragraph of the policy does not exist.
Director Arntz said the Task Force is on hold until the Department has a voting system.
Commissioner Townsend said that Commissioner Matthews had emailed him and asked that he inform the Commission that he would like this item held over until he could be present to vote.
Commissioner Townsend said that he wanted to see that in no way does the Commission support that the vendor’s information be on-line. He said that if open source means that anyone can access our vendor’s information at any time, he is NOT in favor.
Commissioner Gleason said that regarding the last paragraph, perhaps the wording should say “involving public working groups” instead of “task force”.
Commissioner Hwang said that this policy statement was something that the Committee should have addressed and that it could have been hashed out there, but instead he was very disappointed when it came back. He said he will attempt to draft a neutral statement with which everyone will be comfortable in terms of the Commission valuing public input and dialog in the creation or transition into open source.
President Meek asked Commissioners to individually contact Commissioner Hwang with any further comments and suggestions for the policy statement.
President Meek asked that this item be HELD OVER the next Commission meeting.
Public Comment. Brent Turner said that open source is well defined and there are international standards. Chris Jerdonek suggested that policies in the statement should begin with “it should be the policy of the Department to…” to make it clear. He said it was not clear to him whether “urges” and “recommends” is more informal than establishing a policy or if those words were an establishment of a policy. Roger Donaldson applauded the Commission for taking up this issue. He said there are computer scientists who say that there is greater security through transparency and scrutiny, than in keeping things secret.
- (c)Discussion regarding holding an Elections Commission Retreat in May. (President Jennifer Meek) After discussion, it was decided to hold the Retreat on Wednesday, June 20, 2007.
10. NEW BUSINESS
- Discussion and possible action to approve the Elections Commission minutes of the March 21, 2007 meeting. Commissioner Gleason MOVED and Commissioner Hwang SECOND approval of the minutes.
A Roll Call Vote was UNANIMOUS to approve the minutes for March 21, 2007.
(b) Update from the Budget and Oversight of Public Elections Committee. Committee Chairperson Gerard Gleason reported that the Committee is in the process of going through the Election Plan to streamline it, particularly to highlight quantifiers for post-election evaluation. The Committee asks all Commissioners to review the past Election Plan and let the Committee know of any suggestions for improvement, with the goal of streamlining it to make it more readable for the public.
President Meek asked if the Committee would have a draft ready in time for the Retreat in June. Chairperson Gleason responded affirmatively, and said it was the Committee’s goal to have the draft ready as soon as possible, in order to not make these changes burdensome to the Elections Department when staff are preparing for the November Election.
(c) NOTE: This Item was taken out of order and discussed during the Director’s Report earlier in these minutes.
- Discussion and possible action to propose a resolution of appreciation for Commissioner Michael Mendelson for his service on the Elections Commission. President Jennifer Meek said that Commissioner Mendelson was one of the original members of the Elections Commission when it was first established in 2002. Commissioner Gleason MOVED and Commissioner Yu SECONDED this item. Commissioner Gleason said that he was sorry that there hadn’t been an opportunity to thank the Commissioner before he left, and that he has had many interesting discussions with him over the years.
Commissioners Gleason and Townsend said that they felt this resolution was inadequate and wished there was more that the Commission could do. Commissioner Townsend said that the resolution should include the fact that Commissioner Mendelson served as President of the Commission during a very difficult period.
Director Arntz said that the San Francisco’s Election Department was facing different and difficult times when Commissioner Mendelson first too office when the Commission was formed, and that Commissioner Mendelson had served on the Commission through times of extensive and positive change.
Commissioner Hwang suggested an additional “whereas” for Commissioner Mendelson’s expertise of Robert’s Rules of Order.
A Roll Call Vote was UNANIMOUS to present former Commissioner Mendelson with a Resolution of Appreciation.
- Discussion regarding items for future agendas. Commissioner Hwang suggested a letter to the Secretary of State supporting the certification process.
- Public Comment. Brent Turner said that if the Director needs assistance, monetarily or physically, in moving in the direction of open source, “we should consider what it takes to get him what he needs to accomplish this sort of philosophy”. Tim Mayer said that he agreed with Commissioner Hwang that the Commission should make sure that the ES&S equipment is certified, and that a letter to the SoS will have an impact. He said that he could direct the Commission and the Director to on-line locations where they can see open source systems and demonstrations.
ADJOURNMENT at 9:08 pm.