Elections Commission
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002
City and County of San Francisco
Elections Commission
Approved: April 21, 2004
Minutes of the Meeting held
March 10, 2004
1. CALL TO ORDER. Vice President Mendelson called the meeting to order at 6:05 pm shortly before President Alix Rosenthal arrived.
2. ROLL CALL. PRESENT: President Alix Rosenthal, Vice President Michael Mendelson, Richard Shadoian, Arnold Townsend, Tony Winnicker. EXCUSED: Robert Kenealey, Tom Schulz.
3. Closed Session. Began at 6:05 pm. Ended at 6:37pm.
Commissioner Townsend MOVED and Commissioner Shadoian SECONDED not to disclose the nature of the discussion that occurred in Closed Session.
4. Director’s Report
Mr. Arntz reported that the March 2nd Primary Elections went well. All polls opened on time except for one that opened at 7:10 am, but voting at that site began at 7:00 am. Statewide the voter turnout was 41%, however San Francisco’s turnout was 42%. Phone calls into the Election Center were under one thousand and this is the least number of calls in recent memory. San Francisco was the first county of its size to report precinct results to the Secretary of State’s Office. Mr. John Mott-Smith called the Director to tell him that San Francisco’s can now be considered one of the “premiere” election departments in the state. Kevin Shelley, Secretary of State, sent his fourth congratulatory letter to the Department.
Thirty-Six Hundred people voted at City Hall. The Department mailed 103,000 absentee ballots and 73,000 were voted and returned. 5,500 provision ballots were cast with nearly 4,300 of these accepted. It is expected that the canvassing will be complete in three weeks. The Department is setting up a free access system which will allow voters who used provisional ballots to check if their ballot was counted and if not, they will receive information explaining why their ballot was not counted. Staffing in the Department during this election reached 240 workers. That number will drop to 100 next week.
Commissioner Shadoian asked the Director how many more votes the Green Party write in candidate needed to proceed to the November ballot. Director Arntz explained that the candidate needs 1% of the ballots cast for that office in the primary two years ago. That number is between 1400 and 1600. Currently the candidate has 1200.
The Director reported that the testing of the Ranked Choice Voting system began today in Rockford, Illinois, and is planned to be completed by this Friday. The Voting Procedures Panel is planning to meet on March 30th.
5. President’s Report
President Rosenthal congratulated the Director and the Department on a job well done, particularly in light of the challenges presented, including numerous ballot types, new federal requirements, new procedures at the polling places.
She pointed out that many other California counties experienced serious problems on election day, which San Francisco was able to avoid. For example:
· In Orange County, as many as 7,000 voters may have received the incorrect ballot type. One central committee race was affected by the error.
· Napa County mailed the incorrect ballot type to 98 permanent absentee voters, and 34 of these ballots were voted and returned. The error may have affected the outcome of a close Supervisorial race.
· In Tuolomne County, 79 voters in one precinct received the incorrect ballot type, and those voters cast ballots in a bond election even though the voters were not eligible to vote in that election.
· In both San Diego and Alameda Counties, Diebold's touchscreen system had some technical problems. Because poll workers were not trained to deal with the problem, many polling places opened late.
· In Fresno, some of the optical scan ballots were not printed to specifications, and this caused problems on Election Day. The faulty ballots had to be set aside and counted by hand.
· In Sacramento County, many voters were not adequately educated about new optical scan ballots, and marked their ballots incorrectly. A large number of remakes were necessary to count the ballots.
The President said she had spoken with John Mott-Smith of the Secretary of State’s office who remarked that the Department and Director did a great job and that he was surprised at how quickly the department has turned around.
Commissioner Winnicker asked the Director if there was information regarding a lawsuit filed on behalf of disabled voters who are seeking changes at polling places. Director Arntz replied that he was aware that a group is requesting that each polling place be supplied with at least one touchscreen or similar system so that a disabled voter can have more privacy when voting. Mr. Arntz reported that this was a federal suit that was filed in Los Angeles. Deputy City Attorney Julie Moll reported that the City has not yet been served with a copy of the complaint, when the complaint is served, she will distribute copies to the Commissioners.
Commissioner Rosenthal passed out the March-December 2004 Strategic Calendar and asked the Commission to make any additions necessary. She reminded the Commission of the Special Hearing at the March 17, 2004 meeting regarding ways to increase voter turnout.
Commissioner Townsend said that he would be placing calls on Sunday to church ministers as follow up to the Media Alert mailing sent to over 100 San Francisco churches by the Commission Secretary.
Commissioner Winnicker said that he had spoken with several people regarding ways to increase turnout and that increasing permanent absentee voters has been suggested.
The President said that she would present her draft of the 2003 Annual Report to the Commission for review at the April 21, 2004 Commission Meeting. The evaluation forms for the Commission Secretary will be distributed at the March 20, 2004 Retreat Meeting.
7. New Business.
(a) Discussion and possible action to approve Elections Commission Minutes for Commission Meeting held on February 18, 2004. Commisisoner Mendelson MOVED and Commissioner Shadoian SECONDED to approve the minutes. The Motion CARRIED.
(b) Individual Commissioners report of their observations of the March 2, 2004 Primary Election. Commissioner Winnicker reported that he spent time at Election Central and visited several polling places with Sheriff’s Deputy Rick Koehler. The Commissioner said he learned about ballot security and how important training is to a successful election. He complimented the Department on its training program for poll workers and the Sheriff’s training, which he attended. Finally, the Commissioner stated, for the record, that the Chronicle’s story of five votes being cast by deceased persons was a disservice to the citizens of San Francisco. He said there was no organized plan by any political group to affect the outcome of the election and the story had blown the entire situation out of proportion.
Vice President Mendelson reported that he was very impressed with the system used at Election Central to categorize complaints as they are received by the phone bank so that the most serious calls are handled immediately. He said he observed that the problems were remedied in a short amount of time, and he was impressed with the “patina” of calm that prevailed throughout City Hall. Having a less obvious police presence in the building added to this appearance, and helped to make City Hall appear more “voter friendly.” The Commissioner said he spoke with people at one polling place and the workers there told him they have never felt more confident. He called to the Commission’s attention the letter Secretary of State Shelley sent to the Director. The letter complimented the Director on the election with a personal, handwritten note.
Commissioner Townsend said that he votes absentee but visited several precincts to observe the election. He said he was extremely disappointed with the low voter turnout in the Bayview District precincts he visited. The Commissioner complained that candidates do not give these communities the attention they do in other communities and that the candidates “just write them off.” He spent some time at City Hall and observed how smoothly the election was run and was impressed with the ethnic make up of the workers.
Commissioner Shadoian reported that things were very calm at Election Central . He observed that the staff was very confident and weren’t exhausted as they were a couple of years ago. The Commissioner visited the holding area in the North Light Court of City Hall. This is where staff are posted awaiting assignment if a worker needs to be replaced and drivers are stationed at this location as well. He said the signage and atmosphere in this area has greatly improved. The Commissioner said he was impressed with the quality of these people – at the end of the day, they looked as ready as they had at the beginning of the day. He wanted to especially thank the Department of Parking and Traffic workers who always do a great job, and the high school students who were full of energy throughout the day. Commissioner Shadoian said he was happy to find that the list of voters at the Light House For The Blind had been changed to show the names in alpha order.
Commissioner Rosenthal said that she observed two precincts and Election Central. She observed nothing remarkable and this was very good. The only remarkable thing was that voters and staff were smiling and going about their work as though they really liked what they were doing. The Commissioner commented that once people have had adequate training and are comfortable in their assignments, it shows in their demeanor.
Pubic Comment. Gerard Gleason said that he met with former Commissioner Thomas Schulz who asked him to bring his observation to this meeting. Mr. Schulz had a concern about signage at a school where the entrance was not apparent. Mr. Gleason said that he thought the “I Voted” sticker/badge was a great touch.
Jay Martin said that during the December Runoff Election he observed a provisional ballot that he feels was mishandled. He wrote a letter to the DoE describing what he saw and making a couple of suggestions. He also asked, in his letter, whether a letter was appropriate or if he should take another avenue. Mr. Martin says he has not been contacted.
Commissioner Townsend announced that the Commission is invited to attend the African American Art and Culture Complex for the opening of a new professional recording studio facility for youth. The event is March 23rd, at 5:30pm, at 762 Fulton Street near Webster Street. He said he hoped to use the recording studio to help increase voter turnout.
ADJOURNMENT at 7:27 pm.