Elections Commission
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Elections Commission
Approved:________
Minutes of the Meeting at City Hall Room 400
(This meeting room changed due to Room 408 having a meeting that ran overtime)
August 15, 2007
- CALL TO ORDER. President Jennifer Meek called the meeting to order at 7:05 pm.
- ROLL CALL. PRESENT: Commissioners Gerard Gleason, Winnie Yu, and Victor Hwang, Arnold Townsend, Tajel Shah, and Richard P. Matthews, Deputy City Attorney Jon Givner, and Director of Elections John Arntz.
- Announcements.
Commissioner Tajel Shah presented her three week old daughter, Zareen. The Commission congratulated the Commissioner on the birth.
4. Public Comment. Jane Allen asked the members to speak into the microphones to be heard more clearly by the audience. Brent Turner said that regarding HR 811, the open source community was in dialogue with Congressional and Assembly members requesting open source requirements in HR 811. Mr. Turner handed out information regarding the Secretary of State’s top-to-bottom review which he said contained results/interpretations of the security of the voting machines. Mr. Turner characterized these results as “tragic and horrible”. Jennifer Kidder said that she and her friends welcomed the top-to-bottom review but that it does not cover “secret software” that may be coming from the equipment manufacturer. Ms. Kidder said that “hacking from the outside” was the lesser of what she considered to be the great problems with this equipment.
5. Special Presentation on Federal Bills That May Impact Voting Rights. President Meek reported that the speaker for this topic will attend a future meeting.
Public Comment. David Pilpel asked that when this item appears on future agendas, that information on the bills be included in the meeting packets.
6. Greg Wagner, Budget Analyst from the Mayor’s Office, will respond to questions from the Commission regarding this year’s budget.
- Why wasn’t the DOE given the increase for better facilities and what do we need to do to impress upon the importance of this issue?
Mr. Wagner’s Response: There was a provision in the contract (with Sequoia Voting Systems) which included significant monies for capital investment to keep voting machines at the Pier Facility. The uncertainty of what space would be needed, and the non-approval of the contract both happened at budget approval time. Therefore, the DoE submitted its budget request without the $700,000 to $800,000 needed to meet the level of rent contemplated with the Sequoia contract. The City Administrators Office and capital planning staff are aware that this may be a need in the future.
Commissioner Shah said it is possible that the DoE may have to go to the Board for money to cover a hand count. She said that when that happens, she hopes that long-term improved facilities will be a part of the discussion.
Mr. Wagner said that this would be the case.
- Given the state of our current, unanticipated elections situation for 2007-2008, it appears that the City may need to cover additional costs 2007-2008. If a new space is needed to accommodate a hand count, will it be considered a longterm solution or just a one year fix?
President Meek said that Mr. Wagner’s response to question “a” is appropriate to cover this question as well.
- How was it determined that associates with management roles within the DOE should still be designated as “Clerks” and not given the more appropriate title of “Managers”?
Mr. Wagner’s Response: Many competing priorities are weighed during budget discussions when departments are “scraping for money”. Upgrading positions can often be a “tough sale” during these times for all departments. Some favorable staffing changes were made after discussions with managers.
Commissioner Townsend said that no matter how badly the City is “scraping” it is never an excuse for underpaying people. People deserve to make what they are earning. In order to run an election, there are certain things that must be accomplished, such as delivery of voting machines to all the precincts. This cannot be accomplished if the vehicles that make that delivery are cut from the budget. The Commissioner said that the people in charge of funding the budget need to know what is involved in running an election.
President Meek said that she was impressed with the small number of staff she saw during a tour of the DoE who were performing a great amount of work, and that what concerns her is the Department be able to retain those good workers with appropriate titles and salaries. If that doesn’t happen, she said, the elections will suffer.
Commissioner Shah asked for more detail regarding the position changes that were made with the new budget.
Mr. Wagner responded that one position was upgraded to match others in the series, that changes were made to some IS (Information Systems) positions, and added a “good deal” of salary and work order money is being work ordered to the CAO. Discussions continue regarding how these changes will work.
Commissioner Shah asked what are the plans regarding making temporary positions permanent?
Mr. Wagner responded that two IS positions were made permanent (this was recommended in the Controller’s report two years ago), one administrative position was made permanent, and including the positions being work-ordered to the CAO, the Department is far in excess of where it was, regarding permanent staffing, last year.
Commissioner Yu reminded the Commission and Mr. Wagner that there is much institutional memory with the temporary staff and it is important that this knowledge is retained and strengthened.
- Why was the Commission’s Secretary position downgraded from full-time to ¾-time? Although the Commission’s budget is within the Department’s, the Commission should be responsible for defending its own budget. How can the Commission be more integrated into the budget process to defend and manage its own budget?
Mr. Wagner’s Response: The position has been retained at three-quarter’s time.
President Meek reminded Mr. Wagner that the Commission originally requested that the position be 100 per cent funded and that he replied that the possibility of full-time funding was very high. Subsequently, the position was reduced even further to 50%, but was restored to 75%. However, the Commission was not aware of this until recently. President Meek asked, “because the Commission’s budget is integrated within the Department’s budget, how can we function and support our own budget, so that the Director does not have to defend the Commission’s budget?”
Mr. Wagner’s Response: The Elections Commission is in a unique position because it has Charter status. He suggested that the Commission keep in communication with the Department regarding the budget’s status and said that most Commission’s do not have full-time dedicated staffing, and depend, as far as he knows, on department staffing for their administrative work.
(e) Regarding the Controller’s Statement on “E”, City Controller Edward Harrington issued the following statement on the fiscal impact of Proposition E which reads:
“Should the proposed Charter amendment be adopted, in my opinion, there would be an increased cost of government of approximately $100,000 per year to provide an Elections Commission secretary and cover the cost of meetings, public notices, and other requirements of a Commission. The provisions which prohibit city employees from working on election-related tasks, and which require the Sheriff to provide security for ballot materials, would incur a minimum cost of approximately $542,00 per year for a typical fiscal year with two elections.”
Commissioner Gleason said that when the Elections Commission was set up, what was needed to operate was not discussed. He said that he had just returned from watching the elections in Baja, Mexico, where everyone was given a copy of the Elections Code. Here in San Francisco, the seven member Elections Commission is funded only one copy of the Elections Code, and no operating budget. The Commission is at the mercy of the Elections Department.
Mr. Wagner’s Response: The Controller takes a stab when these things go on the ballot and I cannot comment until I’ve taken a look at what they used for their analysis. Commissioner Gleason’s point is well taken.
Public Comment. Jennifer Kidder said that a national law regarding a hand count paper ballot system has a provision for counting the ballots at the precinct level as soon as the voting is over and allows the public to watch. Jade Lai asked that, whenever possible, polling places be in large areas like schools instead of home garages. David Pilpel said that there is a requirement in the Charter that each department head, by the end of August, must either sign a statement saying that their budget is adequate in all respects to meet their department’s requirements or
not such a statement. Mr. Pilpel asked if the Director intends to send such a statement. Director Arntz replied that he had never signed such a statement and that he did send a letter stating the inadequacies of the last budget. However, the Director said he hasn’t contemplated his approach for this budget cycle.
7. Director’s Report.
Ballot Distribution: The Division is preparing facilities for the elections cycles: 240 Van Ness, Brooks Hall and Pier 29.
Budget/Personnel: The Division is currently in its support mode for all the managers. It is filling all the temporary positions required for the elections.
Campaign Services: The nomination deadline for the November ballot was last Friday. Tomorrow will be the proponent/opponent argument deadline, and next Monday will be the paid argument deadline. The Division has already received a measure for the February election from the Board. The Open House is being planned for the end of September or early October.
Outreach: The Division is now fully staffed with its temporary workers. They are making phone calls and setting up presentations (approximately 100 have already been set). Public Service Announcements (PSAs) have been completed for the media and are on our website. There are plans to send the PSAs to voters who have provided the DoE with their email addresses on their registration cards. This will be the first time the Department has attempted to communicate with voters by email. The Division is developing a mailer to encourage people to vote.
Publications: This Division has completed its work with the Ballot Simplification Committee. The Digest, that explains the measures on the ballot, has been sent to the typesetter and an early draft of the first of the two-card ballot for November is completed. The Division is working on translations of the ballot and voter guide. The Department of Justice has contacted the DoE for information regarding transliteration of election materials because of San Francisco long history of providing this service to its voters.
Poll Locating and ADA: The Division is identifying polling places constantly, because they change from election to election – former sites become unavailable. Currently, the staff is seeking 74 sites; this number does not include replacements for accessibility. There is a new accessibility website available to voters using the Elections Department website. Sensitivity training of all DoE staff regarding people with disabilities will begin soon and will be handled by this Division.
Pollworkers: The Division is sending out availability letters to former workers. There will be a fifty dollar bonus given to workers who sign up and work all of the next three elections (November, February and June). The bonus will be given with the pollworker pay for the June 2008 election. It is hoped that this will provide incentive that will help the Department retain these workers. Having three elections in such a short amount of time will cause some fatigue, not just in the Department and the voters, but with the people who support the elections, such as the pollworkers.
Technology: The Division has been setting up phones and computers for the arriving temporary staff, and getting the databases ready for their use.
Voter Services: The Division is maintaining the registration database. The current information is the cleanest and most organized in the last eight years. 20,000 new voters are being inputted. Records are being cancelled and activated constantly.
The Ballot Simplification Committee: This session was one of the most challenging due to the numbers of people making statements. This is the first time in five years that all positions (five) on the Committee have been filled. The group volunteers its time and is compensated only with Danish Rolls and coffee in the morning. They go through a process that is very tedious and can be contentious; and provide explanations of the measures that are understandable to a very wide range of voters.
President Meek commended the Director for the pollworker retention plan.
Commissioner Gleason said he was pleased to see that the Ballot Simplification Committee was fully staffed for this election and commended the group as one of the hardest working volunteer committees in the City. He commended the Director for San Francisco being sought out by the Department of Justice for its expertise regarding transliteration of election information.
Update on securing a voting system for 2007-2008: The Secretary of State (SoS) and Elections Systems and Software’s (ES&S) are communicating regarding a test plan for the system for San Francisco in the not too distant future. The Director said that he anticipates that the equipment will face conditions like those that went through the top-to-bottom review. The conditions will probably face more auditing at different points in the process to determine how the equipment is operating compared to a review by the DoE. The Director has informed the President of the Board and the Mayor that the Department is not funded for this extra work.
Public Comment. Jennifer Kidder said that she is an advocate for hand count paper ballots and commended the Director for putting information on the DoE website in the “html” format, his advocacy for languages and disabled access for information. Brent Turner said he sent a slide show presentation to the Director and that his group, Open Voting Solutions, is in communication with advocacy groups for the disabled and wants the Commission to know that there is a lack of compliance regarding disabled issues with the current voting systems. He urged the Director to cancel the Sequoia Voting Systems RFP because of a report that the company was using slave labor, in the Philippines, to make the machines. Roger Donaldson said he was glad to see the DoE doing work to retain good workers and that there will be more audit procedures during the election. He said that the current testing and disclosure of the results of that testing by the SoS is a first. Mr. Donaldson stated that the Sequoia system had “quite a number of issues” during the testing and that this should be a reason to terminate their system’s procurement.
Commissioner Matthews asked the Director if the SoS testing was purely performed on DRE, and not paper-based voting. Director Arntz replied that the SoS tested paper-based systems for Hart, Inter-Civic, Diebold and Sequoia. The SoS decertified these paper-based systems, then recertified them, putting extra conditions on these systems. He said that part of the conditions for the decertification for the DRE and optical scan were to restart the recertification process, to set it back to “zero” again because the SoS wants to get a clean slate based on the top-to-bottom reviews and the certification reviews which will be performed soon for our system.
David Pilpel said that he had heard rumors that counties might be considering bringing legal action against the SoS regarding the top-to-bottom review, and that the Commission should be kept informed of this possibility. Regarding sending Public Service Announcements (PSAs) to voters by email, Mr. Pilpel suggested to send a link to the PSA instead, and that the DoE should update voters’ records if emails are returned unopened.
8. COMMISSIONER REPORTS. Report of observations of the BajaState (Mexico) elections on Sunday, August 5, 2007. (Commissioners Gleason and Matthews) Commissioner Gleason asked that this report be postponed to the next full Commission meeting, September 19, 2007.
- OLD BUSINESS
- Discussion and possible action regarding securing a voting system for 2007-2008. President Meek explained that this item is a continuing one on the agenda to allow Commissioners opportunity to offer comments and/or ideas to help support the Director’s actions regarding securing a voting system, and asked the members if there was any discussion on this item. There was none.
(b) Discussion on amendments to the Bylaws and creation of a policy to conduct personnel reviews for the Secretary of the Elections Commission and the Director of Elections annually and to determine a formal process for these reviews. (This item was carried over from the July 16, 2007 meeting.)
President Meek informed the Commission that the forms for reviews were online and that the City offers training for performing reviews. She suggested to first set goals and expectations, that there be mid-year check points in case these change and an annual assessment which would take place in May of each year. President Meek added that there is usually a self-assessment. She said that she hoped the bylaw amendment, drafted by Deputy City Attorney Jon Givner and attached to the meeting packet could be voted upon and adopted at the next meeting.
Commissioner Matthews thanked President Meek for the draft and for the appraisal forms and said that he supported the incorporations of the standard City and County Performance Appraisal Report.
Commissioner Shah asked the Commission Secretary and the Elections Director if they were familiar with the forms and had any concerns or questions regarding the procedure.
Director Arntz responded that the evaluation was the same for other City employees and he had no problem with the Commission using it. His concern was that the next year will be a busy one with all the elections, and that he feels that he is evaluated monthly, as well as being evaluated upon the success of each election.
Commissioner Shah said that she has had experience with the City’s appraisal process, and has been a recipient of the process. The Commissioner added that the cumbersomeness of it, in many cases, means that it is seldom done. She said she would like to see it be a less protracted process, with focuses around the workplan and the setting of objectives, were those accomplished or not, and why weren’t they and what can be done to be successful in reaching them.
President Meek said that she would like to sit down with the Secretary and Director and to get their opinions on how it would work and what kinds of goals the Commission would be evaluating, and that this should following training on how to do evaluations. She suggested that this may not be something that can be accomplished this year. Within the next month, she said she hopes to make a decision about the timing. President Meek said that in the meantime she would put together more structure around the topic and get an official policy that can be voted upon at the next meeting.
Public Comment. Jennifer Kidder said she had a comment on item 10(b) which she failed to make and wanted to do so now. Ms. Kidder said that she needed to make clear that her stand on hand counting ballots is “radical, but only radical within the borders of this country.”
David Pilpel suggested that the line “at least once” be removed from the bylaws draft amendment since it is under the title “annual review” because “once” is already implied. He said that he agreed with Commissioner Shah’s comments that the procedure is cumbersome and that some Commissions do not do an annual review, but they should, and they shouldn’t wait until there is a problem. Mr. Pilpel said that the setting of the goals should be an open process. However, the actual evaluation should be in closed session.
10. NEW BUSINESS
(a) Discussion and possible action to approve the Elections Commission minutes for July 18, 2007. Commissioner Hwang MOVED and Commissioner Shah SECONDED to approve the minutes. The Roll Call Vote was UNANIMOUS to APPROVE the minutes with a final check for typos.
(b) Discussion and possible action to adopt suggestions from the Budget and Oversight of Public Elections Committee regarding the format, content and publicizing of the November 6, 2007 Election Plan and the post-election assessment of the Plan. (Committee Chairperson Gleason)
Commissioner Gleason said that he plans to update the template and will do so soon. The Committee suggested a more simplified first page of the plan, and directions or pointers to other public documents to be added so that the actual plan does not contain a redundancy of these documents. These changes will be available to the Commission at the next meeting.
Public Comment. David Pilpel said that the three basic requirements of the Commission are: to employ a director, adopt a plan and access the implementation of the plan as it relates to fair, free and functional elections. He said the plan should be a brief as possible, referencing other documents that already exist. If the Commission identifies issues that it would like to be able to assess both quantitatively and qualitatively during the election, the Director should be called upon to report on those with an opportunity for public input.
(c) Discussion and possible action to send a letter to the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor, in opposition of approving the appointment of Hans von Spakovsky to the Federal Elections Commission. (This item was carried over from the July 16, 2007 meeting so that Commissioner Townsend, who requested this item be on the agenda, could provide input in the discussion). Commissioner Townsend explained that Mr. Von Spakovsky was placed on the Commission by President Bush during a recess and that he can serve for one year until he is approved for a permanent appointment. Senator Feinstein and others have said that this particular appointment will be difficult. Commissioner Townsend stated that Mr. Von Spakovsky has spent much of his career limiting the rights of minorities to vote, one example of which is that he single handedly created the concept of voter identification cards in Georgia and Arizona. A federal judge struck down the I.D. cards, likening the plan to “Jim Crow” polling tactics. The Commissioner said that “90% of the voter fraud in this country has nothing to do with electronic equipment, but has everything to do with racism. {Votes are} not being stolen because we don’t have open source. They were stolen before voting was ever computerized and continues to be so. Hand counts are not a panacea, and hand counts have been fraudulent and stolen since the beginning of time and they probably did it to Caesar and the Roman Senate”.
Commissioner Townsend MOVED and Commissioner Shah SECOND the item.
Commissioner Gleason said that he had never heard of this nominee until he was brought to his attention by Commissioner Townsend. After further investigation, Commissioner Gleason said he became disturbed by the nominee’s opinions regarding provisional ballots, and how to count them, which are counter to what California does.
Public Comment. Jennifer Kidder said that it was “appalling” to her to hear the ridicule she had just witnessed toward the voting rights movement and the elections integrity movement. She said the voting rights of people of color and people of lower economic status should be protected. Brent Turner said he applauds Commissioner Townsend’s objection to the appointment of Han von Spakovsky. Jade Lai said election machines can be “used as a tool for their evil purposes” and that she approves of sending the letter. David Pilpel said that he originally had concerns about the Commission getting into the “letter writing business” but was now absolutely convinced after hearing Commissioner Townsend’s comments that the letter should be sent.
The Roll Call Vote was UNANIMOUS to send a letter to the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor to oppose the appointment of Hans von Spakovsky.
(d) Discussion and possible action to submit a request to the Board of Supervisors for a waiver allowing certain City employees or officers to work on the November 6, 2007 Municipal Election. Commissioner Townsend MOVED and Commissioner Hwang SECONDED this item.
Public Comment. David Pilpel said that an assessment of the number of City employees or officers the DoE required for the November 2007 election should be part of the Election Plan review after the election.
The Roll Call Vote was UNANIMOUS to submit the waiver to the Board of Supervisors.
(e) Discussion and possible action to submit an Alternative Transportation and Security Plan to the Board of Supervisors because the Sheriff will be a candidate in the November 6, 2007 Municipal Election. Commissioner Townsend MOVED and Commissioner Yu SECONDED this item.
Public Comment. David Pilpel stated that the document does not read as a plan but as a process by which the incumbent would be removed from the process and that Chief Waters would develop a plan. He added that at least one of the challengers to the Sheriffs’ office is a deputy sheriff and precautions should be included to remove that individual and any others who might be employees of the Sheriffs Department from the process. Additionally, Mr. Pilpel said that employees be cautioned to not support or oppose any candidate and just provide the services that are required.
A Roll Call Vote was UNANIMOUS to APPROVE the plan with the adjustment that any employees of the Sheriff’s Department who are candidates in the election be removed from participation in activities regarding the election.
11. Discussion regarding items for future agendas. Commissioner Gleason passed out a memo with a draft policy for Commissioner activities, observations and roles on election day which was created by the Budget and Oversight of Public Elections Committee he chairs. He asked that there be discussion and possible action on the policy at the next Commission meeting.
Announcements. Commissioner Townsend announced that on Saturday, August 25, 2007, there will be a backpack giveaway for school students at Ella Hill Hutch Community Center.
- Public Comment. Brent Turner said he wanted to read into the record a note by David Wagner from UC Berkeley, issued August 2, 2007, as part of the top-to- bottom review: In the end, our report strikes a careful balance between the public’s interest in transparency into whether their voting systems are secure and the public’s interest is being protected against the risks due to the disclosure of those flaws. We hope that future voting systems, better engineered than today’s systems, will eliminate the need for such trade offs. Mr. Turner said that the Secretary of State said that she hopes for open source systems.
ADJOURNMENT was at 9:28 pm.