Elections Commission
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City and County of San Francisco
Elections Commission
Approved: February 18, 2004
Minutes of the Meeting held
February 04, 2004
1. CALL TO ORDER. President Rosenthal called the meeting to order at 7:09 pm.
2. ROLL CALL. PRESENT: Commissioner Robert Kenealey, Vice President Michael Mendelson, Commissioner Richard Shadoian, Commissioner Tony Winnicker, President Alix Rosenthal. ABSENT: Commissioners Schulz and Townsend.
3. Closed Session. Began at 7:12 pm. Ended at 7:21 pm.
Commissioner Kenealey MOVED to not disclose the deliberations of the Closed Session. SECONDED by Vice President Mendelson. CARRIED.
President Rosenthal introduced the CityTreasurer’s new appointee to the Commission, Tony Winnicker, and asked him to make a few comments.
Commissioner Winnicker expressed his pleasure at joining the Commission and thanked his appointing authority, Treasurer Susan Leal. He said that he looked forward to working with Director John Arntz, the Department staff and the Commissioners. Commissioner Winnicker explained that he brings his background in increasing voter participation, campaign and election finance as well as financial management to the Commission. He stated that he wanted to be clear to all that he is very committed to do all that he can to honor the will of the voters and implement Ranked Choice Voting in November 2004.
5. Director’s Report.
March 2 Election – The election plan has been given to the Commissioners tonight for review. The draft budget for fiscal year 2004-2005 will be forwarded to the Commission the end of this week or early next week. It is due to the Mayor’s Budget Office later this month. The March 2 election is a “Semi-Open Primary.” This means that non-partisan voters can choose to vote a ballot for the American Independent Party, the Democratic Party or the Republican Party. Postcards have been sent to all non-partisan, permanent absentee voters asking if they want to choose one of these parties for which to vote or do they want to vote non-partisan. If they choose to vote non-partisan, they can only vote for the measures on the ballot, not the candidates. They will receive a ballot that only has the measures. All staff are being trained with this information and we are doing everything we can to get the message out to the voters.
There are new identification requirements which will commence this election. The Help America Vote Act requires that anyone registering to vote by mail since January 1, 2003, must provide the DoE a form of identification. If they haven’t done so, they will be asked to provide identification when they go to the polls to vote. If these voters still haven’t provided identification, their ballots will be handled in the same manner as Provisional Ballots. This means that their signature will be checked with the DoE’s signature files and then their vote will be counted.
Outreach – The big issues are the identification requirements and the cross over voting for the non-partisan voters. This division has been working on translating the materials to get this information to voters. Staff also goes to communities and gives presentations. Additionally this division recruits bi-lingual poll workers. Years ago, the Department of Justice often had issues with the City’s low numbers of bi-lingual poll workers. This has not been the case in recent years because our recruitment has been enhanced. The Outreach Division and the Poll Worker Recruitment Division deserve all the credit for this turn around.
Voter Services Division – The division recently sent out postcards to the non-partisan/declined-to-state voters. The division has sent out over 23,000 cards and approximately 7,000 have been sent back to us. These cards are being processed as quickly as possible. An insert has been placed in the absentee ballots that the DoE sends to non-partisan voters informing them that they were sent only the measures ballot because they did not choose a party for the primary.
Campaign Services – The division will be holding their open house on February 18, from 3:00 pm until 5:00 pm. Campaign Services has begun its phone bank, and calls are averaging 200 a day with questions about registration, polling locations and party affiliation questions. The division plans to fully man the phone bank with eleven staff beginning next Wednesday. Among these staff will be Russian, Spanish, Cantonese, Mandarin, and Tagalog speakers. This division is also preparing for public observation on our elections procedures on election day.
Poll Location Division – The division has located all polling sites. However, it is not unusual for sites to change due to property owners changing their minds. Additional locations are also sought. Routes for the trucks that deliver the voting supplies are being mapped and the deliveries are expected to take five days to complete.
Poll Worker Recruitment Division - The division has obtained at least one inspector and two clerks for every City precinct. The High School Poll Worker Program is beginning and we expect a high turnout for the March Election. There were 800 high school students in last October’s election, 500 for November and a few less for December.
Training Division – This division has already begun the clerks’ classes. Inspector classes begin February 25th. Emphasis in the training will be given to the “cross over” voting for the non-partisan voters.
Ballot Distribution – The division has received all of the absentee and early voting ballots. Fifty thousand absentee ballots have been mailed to date and permanent absentee ballot mailing should be completed by this Friday. Precinct ballots will be coming in next week and should be delivered to all the inspectors beginning February 25th. These ballots have been reviewed and I don’t foresee any problems.
Technology Division – The staff here has been very busy. The highlight of their activity, currently, is the upgrade of the voter database. There is a new version of this information and the division has trained staff on how to use it. The polling place “look up” module is in place and voters can visit our website and type in their address to find out where their polling place is located. Beginning tomorrow, the division will commence its logic and accuracy testing of the voting machines that will be used at the polling sites.
Budget - Staff worked with the Controller’s Office and the Mayor’s Budget Office to make projections for this fiscal year because the Department requested a $2.2 M supplemental appropriation from the Finance Committee. That supplemental appropriation has been tabled or continued, therefore, the monies are currently not being allotted to the Department. We are looking at our expenditures and budget forecast through to June 30, 2004, to stretch our resources without the funding. It is very difficult, but we think we have made enough adjustments in our operations to be successful. This is possible, too, because of the savings we made from the three previous elections. I want to commend our staff for doing this because it was a monumental task!
Personnel - We have posted a 1408 - Chief Clerk position. This person will oversee the ballot distribution for the DoE. This is our effort to make this temporary position a full time, permanent, provisional position. In a week, we plan to post a 1054 – Information Technician position. This will also give the person running our division a permanent, full time position. Additionally, we will advertise for three 1471 - Elections Worker positions. These will give the DoE eight permanent provisional permanent staff to be added to the Department within the last two months and we plan to continue to increase our permanent and provisional staff and decrease our temporary staff.
Ranked Choice Voting (RCV) Update. – Election Systems & Software (ES&S), our vendor for our voting equipment, was to have tested their RCV system in Omaha this week. However, it was postponed yesterday. There is no set date for the testing to begin. Both the Secretary of State’s Office (SoS) and ES&S have assured me that the testing will be done in the short term.
President Rosenthal stated that she had spoken with Mr. John Mott-Smith of the SoS’s office today and was told that the SoS had provided ES&S with a list of equipment or tasks that must be completed before federal testing could commence, but had to cancel because the tasks had not been completed. The SoS has agreed to send representatives of their office to Omaha when the testing takes place so that state and federal testing can happen concurrently. If the testing is successful, the state can then give the required 30-day notice so that the state’s Voting Systems and Procedures Panel can hold their hearing and make a decision regarding certification.
Vice President Mendelson asked the Director about the DoE’s current staffing levels comparing temporary and permanent/provisional workers. Director Arntz answered that the temporary numbers far out number the permanent but this is because the Department is in an election season. However, the plans are to have 200 people on staff, excluding poll workers, as we go into the election. Twenty people will be permanent or provisional. When the fiscal year began, this number was eight. Mr. Arntz estimated that the number will be 25 permanent or provisional staff before the current fiscal year ends with the number rising to 30 or 32 – and this will be within the existing budget.
Commissioner Winnicker asked if there was an opportunity for a non-partisan voter to get a partisan ballot AFTER the voter has been mailed the measures only ballot. Mr. Arntz answered yes. He said that the voter has several choices, which include: (1) coming to the Department to turn in the measures-only ballot, and be issued a partisan ballot, (2) surrendering the measures-only ballot at a polling place on election day and choosing another ballot, or (3) sending the Department a signed letter that reaches the Department BEFORE February 24th ( at which time the DoE suspends the first ballot in its tracking system and will send out the new one).
Commissioner Winnicker said that there are many new voters preparing to vote in March and asked what the difference was in the polling places used in December and the ones planned for March. Mr. Arntz answered that voters are notified of their polling location by cards, Voter Information Pamphlets, on the Department’s website, signs posted at polling sites, and even at former polling sites. Signs are posted at the old sites directing voters to the correct one.
Commissioner Winnicker asked what the plans were for developing the ballot for RCV. Director Arntz said that the ballot design currently is a “stacked” design. This is the design preferred by the vendor. Mr. Arntz said that the design depends on the technology available to make RCV happen.
Commissioner Shadoian stated that he had just received information from the SoS stating that there has been a change in state law about using school sites as polling places. Mr. Arntz stated that it was not a change in state law but a recommendation by the SoS to the statewide school system. He stated that the DoE has been working the City’s schools for many years and that the memo that was sent by the SoS probably applied more to other counties than to San Francisco.
6. President’s Report. President Rosenthal reported that she continues to edit the draft Commission’s Annual Report for 2003, and invites input from other Commissioners. February 21, 2004 is the date for the Commission Retreat, however, the Rules Committee will be considering applicants for the Board of Supervisor’s appointment to the Commission on February 25. The date for the retreat may change.
8. New Business
(a) Discussion and possible approval of the Elections Commission Minutes for January 7, 2004. Commissioner Kenealey MOVED to exclude the new Commissioner from this vote. SECONDED by Commissioner Shadoian. CARRIED. Commissioner Shadoian MOVED to accept the January 7, 2004 minutes for approval. SECONDED by Commissioner Kenealey. Motion CARRIED.
(b) Discussion and possible action to approve the Budget & Policy Committee recommendation regarding the process for selection of official ballot arguments. The Budget & Policy Committee did not meet. This item was CANCELLED.
(c) Discussion regarding the job description for the Commission Secretary, for evaluation purposes. President Rosenthal explained that the description handed out at the meeting was taken from the original job posting for the position.
(d) Discussion and possible action to approval procedure for evaluating the Commission Secretary. President Rosenthal proposed that the Commission and the Secretary take the Performance Appraisal form and evaluate the Secretary independently. Those evaluations will then be submitted to the President who will put together a composite of the evaluations. A closed session meeting of the full Commission will then be held to discuss the evaluations including the Secretary’s self-evaluation. Commissioner Mendelson MOVED that the Commission create a form to evaluate the Commission Secretary’s position based on the form designated by the President of the Commission. Further, that each Commissioner use that form for the evaluation of the position, and that those forms be submitted to the Commission President for integration of the evaluations into a composite evaluation and that the Commission Secretary fill out a self-evaluation on the form to be used in this process, and that the Commission meet as a committee-of-the-whole in closed session to discuss and determine the over all performance of the Commission Secretary based on the gathered evaluations. Commissioner Kenealey SECONDED.
Commissioner Winnicker asked if the Commission Secretary would be allowed to review all the Commissioner’s individual evaluations. President Rosenthal and Secretary Rodriques agreed that this should be the case.
Commissioner Winnicker MOVED to add this amendment. Commissioner Mendelson SECONDED. This amendment to the motion CARRIED. The main motion also CARRIED.
(e) Discussion and possible action to approve the agenda for the Commission’s retreat scheduled for February 21, 2004. Commissioner Mendelson MOVED to adopt the agenda. Commissioner Kenealey SECONDED.
Commissioner Kenealey said that he didn’t understand the need for discussion of the relationship of the appointing authority to the Commissioner that the authority appointed. He said that he had no such relationship, his appointing officer no longer sits in her position she held at the time of his appointment. He asked what the purpose was of having this subject on the Retreat Agenda. President Rosenthal answered that the question had come up in the past regarding whether there should be some kind of reporting relationship between the appointee and the appointing authority. Initially, some Commissioners felt that they should report back to or take input from their appointing authorities on issues before the Commission. The Charter gives some indication regarding what the ballot argument, creating the Elections Commission, intended and that this may need further discussion, for clarification, at the retreat.
The motion to approve the agenda for the retreat CARRIED.
7. Discussion regarding items for future agendas
President Rosenthal reminded the Commission that at the February 18, 2004 meeting, the Commission will need to approve the March 4, 2004 Election Plan and the proposed budget for submission to the Mayor’s office. She suggested that the Budget Committee may have to meet before the February 18th meeting.
Commissioner Shadoian suggested that there be discussion and possible action to approve a proposal that the Commission be provided Election Plans 45 days before each election.
Commission Mendelson suggested that there be discussion and possible action to propose the maintenance of a strategic calendar, taking into account the Department’s election schedule, so that the Commission can begin to schedule more effectively our meetings as well as to consider a one meeting per month schedule.
President Rosenthal reminded the Commission that if they have further items they want on future agendas, they should contact the Commission Secretary and she will inform the President.
Commissioner Winnicker asked when the subject of outreach for increased voter participation will be calendared. President Rosenthal replied that Commissioner Townsend had taken the lead on this item and that he had suggested that the first meeting after the March election would be an appropriate meeting to calendar the subject.
ADJOURNMENT at 8:04 pm.