Elections Commission
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002
Elections Commission Meeting
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
At 6:00 pm
City Hall Room 408
Order of Business
1. Call to Order & Roll Call
2. Announcements
3. Public comment on any issue within the Elections Commission’s
general jurisdiction
4. Approval of Minutes
(a) Discussion and possible action to approve the Minutes of the September 16, 2009 Elections Commission Meeting.
5. Commissioners’ Reports
(a) Meetings with public officials
(b) Oversight and Observation activities
(c) Long-range planning for Commission activities and areas of study and assignment of Commissioner(s) to these studies to be reviewed.
6. Director’s Report
· Division Updates
| Division Updates |
|---|
· Ballot Distribution
|
· Poll Locating/ADA
|
· Budget/Personnel
|
· Poll Worker Division
|
· Campaign Services
|
· Technology Division
|
· Outreach
|
· Voter Services
|
· Publications
|
·
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7. NEW BUSINESS
(a) Discussion and possible action to approve the Budget and Oversight of Public Elections Committee’s Draft Resolution on The Voter Profile. (Committee Chair, Richard Matthews)
(b) Discussion and possible action to approve the Election Plan for the November 3, 2009 General Municipal Election.
8. Discussion and possible action regarding items for future meeting agendas and meeting dates.
Adjournment
ATTACHMENT:
DRAFT RESOLUTION ON THE VOTER PROFILE
Whereas, vote-by-mail use in San Francisco County has increased from 25% of all ballots cast in November 1996 to 46% of all ballots cast in November 2008; and
Whereas, vote-by-mail ballots that are submitted without the required voter signature on the exterior ballot return envelope cannot be processed or counted; and
Whereas, if a vote-by-mail envelope arrives at the San Francisco Department of Elections without the required voter signature, the Department is contacting such voters by telephone and/or e-mail to inform them of the error and options to correct the error before the end of election day and have their ballot counted; and
Whereas, if the Department of Elections does not have a telephone number or e-mail for a voter, options to notify a voter of an error with their vote-by-mail ballot are limited to slower postal communications; and
Whereas, California voter registration forms state that providing telephone number or e-mail information is optional; and
Whereas, a voter's telephone number and e-mail information, when provided, becomes part of the voter's public profile; and
Whereas, some voters choose not to provide the optional public profile information because such information is posted outside of polling places on election day and voter profile information also becomes available to political campaigns and improperly to commercial enterprises, often resulting in unsolicited and unwanted telephone calls, which often cause registrants not to provide their phone number when registering; and
Whereas, if a voter does provide telephone and e-mail contact information, the Department of Elections is better able to assist the voter by contacting the voter in a timely fashion should there be an error that may prevent their ballot from being counted,
Therefore, be it resolved,
That the Elections Commission of the City and County of San Francisco requests that the State Legislation Committee of the City and County of San Francisco urge that the California Secretary of State and the California State Legislature consider changes and modifications to the California Elections Code which would allow San Francisco County to accept a voter’s telephone number and e-mail on voter registration forms and update requests, with the enhanced option allowing a voter to provide telephone number and e-mail information for the restricted and exclusive use by the San Francisco Department of Elections for notifications regarding issues directly involving a voter’s registration status, a voter’s ability to cast a ballot, and issues involving the ability to process and count a voter’s ballot.
Done this _____day of October 2009
__________________________________
Joseph B. Phair, President, San Francisco Elections Commission
I so attest:
_________________________________________
Shirley Rodriques, Secretary, San Francisco Elections Commission
Disability Access
The Elections Commission meeting will be held in Room 408, City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA. The Commission meeting room is wheelchair accessible. The closest accessible BART station is the Civic Center Station at United Nations Plaza and Market Street. Accessible MUNI lines serving this location are: #42 Downtown Loop, and #71 Haight/Noriega and the F Line to Market and Van Ness and the Metro Stations at Van Ness and Market and at Civic Center. For information about MUNI accessible services call (415) 923-6142. There is accessible curbside parking adjacent to City Hall on Grove Street and Van Ness Avenue and in the vicinity of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue adjacent to Davies Hall and the War Memorial Complex.
The following services are available on request 48 hours prior to the meeting; except for Monday meetings, for which the deadline shall be 4:00 p.m. of the last business day of the preceding week: For American sign language interpreters or the use of a reader during a meeting, a sound enhancement system, and/or alternative formats of the agenda and minutes, please contact The Elections Office at (415) 554- 4375 or our TDD at (415) 554-4386 to make arrangements for the accommodation. Late requests will be honored, if possible.
In order to assist the City's efforts to accommodate persons with severe allergies, environmental illnesses, multiple chemical sensitivity or related disabilities, attendees at public meetings are reminded that other attendees may be sensitive to various chemical based products. Please help the City accommodate these individuals. Individuals with chemical sensitivity or related disabilities should call our accessibility hotline at (415) 554-6060.
Know your rights under the Sunshine Ordinance (Chapter 67 of the San Francisco Administrative Code)
Government's duty is to serve the public, reaching its decisions in full view of the public. Commissions, boards, councils, and other agencies of the City and County exist to conduct the people's business. This ordinance assures that deliberations are conducted before the people and that City operations are open to the people's review. For more information on your rights under the Sunshine Ordinance or to report a violation of the ordinance, contact the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force, Donna Hall, Clerk, City Hall, Room 409, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA 94102-4683 at Phone No.: (415) 554-7724; Fax No.: (415) 554-7854; E-mail: [email protected] Copies of the Sunshine Ordinance can be obtained from the Clerk of the Sunshine Task Force, the San Francisco Public Library and on the City's website at www.ci.sf.ca.us.
Materials contained in the Commission packets for meetings is available for inspection at the Elections Department, City Hall Room 48, in the Commission's Public Binder, no later than 72 hours prior to meetings.
If any materials related to an item on this agenda have been distributed to the Elections Commission after distribution of the agenda packet, those materials are available for public inspection at the Elections Department, City Hall Room 48, in the Commission's Public Binder, during normal office hours.
The ringing of and use of cell phones, pagers and similar sound-producing electronic devices are prohibited at this meeting. Please be advised that the Chair may order the removal from the meeting room of any person(s) responsible for the ringing or use of a cell phone, pager, or other similar sound-producing electronic devices.
Lobbyist Registration and Reporting Requirements
Individuals and entities that influence or attempt to influence local legislative or administrative action may be required by the San Francisco Lobbyist Ordinance [SF Campaign & Governmental Conduct Code §2.100] to register and report lobbying activity. For more information about the Lobbyist Ordinance, please contact the Ethics Commission at 30 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 3900, San Francisco, CA 94102; telephone (415) 581-2300, fax (415) 581-2317; web site at http://www.sfethics.org/.