Elections Commission
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City and County of San Francisco
Elections Commission
Approved: ______________
Minutes of the Meeting at City Hall Room 400
December 21, 2005
1. CALL TO ORDER. President Matthews called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm.
2. ROLL CALL. PRESENT: Commissioners Gerard Gleason, Richard P. Matthews, Arnold Townsend, Michael Mendelson and Jennifer Meek. EXCUSED: Sheila Chung. ABSENT: Eric Safire.
3. DIRECTOR'S REPORT
Report on Canvass – The Canvass was completed December 4, 2005. The total number of voted ballot cards from each precinct are compared to the number of voted ballots recorded on each optical scanner at the polling places. The unvoted ballots are also counted to assure that the number of ballots sent to the polling places equals the number returned. Seven precincts are chosen randomly in a 1 percent manual tally which is compared to the machine tabulations in those precincts. Additionally, the write in votes are hand tallied, and signatures in each precinct’s roster are counted and compared to the number of voters on the optical scan machine’s tape.
Certification of the November 8, 2005 Election – The Election was certified December 5, 2005. The SOS (Secretary of State) was provided the results so that the Charter Amendment to move the Assessor-Recorder and the Public Defender race from the June Primary to the November General Election, which was passed by the voters, could be put into law. The Board of Supervisors was provided documentation of the election.
Update of the Voting Equipment Contract – The contract negotiations to provide each polling place with one optical scan unit and one touch screen unit for the June 2006 election are ongoing. The Department’s primary goal is that the touch screen unit meet the HAVA (Help America Vote Act) requirements. The Director reminded the Commission, however, that the City will still be a “paper ballot” city and most voters will still vote using paper ballot cards.
The Sequoia Voting Equipment is not certified for a Primary Election because it cannot report those results, or provide a character based language at the present time. That certification is expected in January from the Independent Testing Authority and then will be reviewed for certification by the SOS.
Department’s Activities Since Election Day – The Canvassing has been completed, voter history reports are being updated into the database, petition signatures are being reviewed, voted ballots are being prepared for storage, unvoted ballots are being prepared for destruction, budgeting and staffing needs for the June election are being considered for transmittal to the Controller and Mayor’s office, general and election specific inquiries from the public are being answered, the materials for the Retirement Board Election which will be happening soon are being readied, equipment and supplies for the June election are being reviewed, new registrations are being inputted and databases are being purged.
The Director reported that 138,000 absentee ballots were mailed to voters: of those, 121,000 were permanent, 17,000 were from voters who came to the DoE counter or requested them by mail or telephone. Approximately 95,000 absentee ballots were turned in by voters.
Public Comment. Jennifer Hammond and Carol Bella said they were concerned about the security of electronic voting and asked the Commission to review the GAO report titled “ELECTIONS – Federal Efforts to Improve Security and Reliability of Electronic Voting Systems Are Under Way, but Key Activities Need to be Completed”. Jim Soper explained that the Sequoia and Diebold voting machines need further testing.
4. Commissioners’ Reports. Commissioner Townsend reported that he and Commissioner Chung attended a meeting with Director Arntz in the Mayor’s Budget Office. Their goal was to inform the Mayor’s Office of the necessities to run a department that is required to perform successful elections. He reported that the Controller will visit the DoE and conduct an audit in January. Commissioner Townsend said that this will give the staff an opportunity to show the Controller how all the equipment and staff perform their duties. A report will be made to the budget office and the Mayor’s Office of the findings of the audit, and there will be another meeting.
Commissioner Townsend said that he has spoken to Supervisors Peskin and Mirkarimi about a presentation to members of the Board regarding the Department of Elections’ budget and the work involved in putting on an election.
It was agreed that no action of any kind regarding the budget would take place until after the audit is performed.
Commissioner Matthews said that he too has been involved in budget discussions with the Mayor’s Office and he has had some social discussions with Controller Harrington. During Canvassing, the Commissioner observed the RCV race tallying at Brooks Hall. Commissioner Matthews advised that Supervisor Elsbernd is seeking to alter the rules for free ballot arguments, and reminded everyone that the supervisor spoke before the Commission on this topic last August. The Commission took no stand on this subject at the time and last week the Rules Committee of the Board of Supervisors has taken up the issue. Commissioner Matthews spoke before the Committee, expressing his concern that what is decided might put additional strain on the DoE.
5. Commissioners’ Reports of their observations and activities on Election Day.
This was a continuation of the individual Commissioners’ reports. Commissioner Mendelson reported that he made his observations at four precincts and asked voters if he could interview and video tape them regarding their opinions about an all mail election instead of voters coming to a polling site. He said the two hour video will be edited and put on a disc for the Commissioners to screen. He said that older voters seemed to prefer going to their neighborhood polling places. The Commissioner said his goal is to see how people perceive the future of voting, and to find ways to make voting more user friendly.
6. New Business
- (a)Discussion and possible action to approve the minutes for the Commission meeting of November 15, 2005. Commissioner Townsend MOVED and Commissioner Mendelson SECONDED the item. Commissioner Gleason asked that more information be included regarding the title of the GAO report mentioned on page 3. The Roll Call Vote was UNANIMOUS to approve the minutes with Commissioner Gleason’s addition.
- (b)Discussion and possible action of post-election assessment of the Election Plan. President Matthews informed the Commission that no action was needed for this item as long as there was compliance with the Election Plan. Commissioner Gleason said that he’d like to meet with the Director before the next election to make the plan more reflective of what actually happens. He asked the Director if the plan worked for him. Director Arntz replied that this is a Commission document in which the Commission asks the Department to provide information regarding the Department’s plan. Since the Department provided the information that was requested, the Director said that from his standpoint the plan worked. The Director said that he is happy to provide any information the Commission requests. Commissioner Gleason said that he had concerns about the organization of the Plan and has ideas for an improved template that will flow more closely to the way an election flows.
- (c)Discussion and possible action of the Commission’s support of the supplemental budget request made by the Department of Elections. Director Arntz reminded the Commission that the primary need for the June Election will be staffing. He pointed out that the DRAFT budget has no mention of “Outreach”. The Director asked that the Commission consider this a very rough DRAFT and asked members to contact him if there’s something more that should be listed. This budget will go forward, at the earliest, in mid-January, when he, the Controller, and the Mayor must sign off on it. This is followed by the report by the Budget Analyst and then hearings. The Director suggested a Committee meeting in January to discuss the appropriation and then report back to the full Commission. DECISION: This item is to be on the January 18, 2006 Commission meeting after a referral from the Budget and Policy Committee.
- (d)Discussion and possible action concerning what the Commission can do to ensure that the Department’s budget is adequate. President Matthews reminded the Commission that this item will be on the agenda every month to keep this topic at the forefront for the Commission. The Commission will await the Controller’s audit. Director Arntz clarified that the subject of the audit is not the Department’s finances, but its staffing needs.
President Matthews asked the Director what else the Commission could do to help. Director Arntz answered that he’d like to see the Commission take ownership of the budget so that when the time comes to speak about it, the Commission can do so with authority; ask the Department questions and the Department will provide the information.
Director Arntz asked the Commission if members would like to see any new programs that will be more effective in providing services to the voters, that the Commission let him know so that the Department will have time to develop information and time lines so that it can inform the Commission about what steps need to be taken to provide more and better services.
- Discussion and possible action to send a letter of thanks and congratulations to the California Association of Election Clerks and Officials for championing AB 1757 into law, so that counties no longer have to publish lists of pollworkers in newspapers. Commissioner Gleason said that the letter is his suggestion. Commissioner Townsend said that he was concerned about not publishing the lists in newspapers because he wants the process to be as “transparent” as humanly possible, and that for pollworkers, having their names in the newspaper was a small reward for all the work they do. Director Arntz reminded the Commission that the names are posted on the Department’s website and that the list could be provided to persons who request it. Commissioner Gleason passed out an invoice of the cost for publishing the list from the last election which was $30,294.00. Director Arntz reminded the Commission that in the future, if this new law had not passed, the costs would be greater because the lists would be published in foreign language newspapers as well.
Public Comment. Christopher Bowman said that he agreed with Commissioner Townsend. He said the published list is used in recruiting people to work in the polling places.
Roll Call Vote: Meek – Yes, Mendelson – No, Townsend-No, Gleason-Yes, Matthews-Yes. The MOTION to send a letter to the California Association of Election Clerks and Officials for championing AB 1757 into law FAILED.
- Discussion and possible action whether to hold an open forum regarding the feasibility of voting systems that operate with open source code. Commissioner Mendelson MOVED and Commissioner Meek SECONDED. Commissioner Gleason said that he would like to hold this forum after the budget is finalized.
Public Comment. Jim Soper and Roger Donaldson said that they were pleased to know that the Commission will be holding this forum.
The Roll Call Vote was UNANIMOUS that Commissioner Gleason, as chair of the Budget and Policy Committee create a forum to discuss the voting systems within the first three months of 2006.
(g) Discussion and possible action to approach the Secretary of State to implement state legislation for outreach to ex-offenders, using San Francisco’s success as a model. Commissioner Townsend MOVED and Commissioner Mendelson SECONDED. Commissioner Townsend thanked the Department for taking the lead in producing the pamphlet “Your Right to Vote – A Voting Guide for Ex-Offenders”.
Public Comment. Jim Soper agreed that the letter should be sent.
The Roll Call Vote was UNANIMOUS for the Commission to send a letter to the Secretary of State’s Office and to Assemblyman Mark Leno encouraging outreach to ex-offenders.
(h) Discussion and possible action to review the programming of ballot reading equipment to allow voters to skip one or more selections for a candidate without the equipment rejecting the ballot as being under voted, and possible associated concerns such as voter annoyance, delay and privacy. Commissioner Mendelson MOVED and Commissioner Meek SECONDED this item. The Roll Call Vote was UNANIMOUS that it be the “policy” of the Commission that the Department reprogram ballot reading equipment to allow voters to skip one or more selections for a candidate without the equipment rejecting the ballot as being under voted.
(i) Discussion and possible action regarding the identification of “unvoted” and “over voted” Ranked Choice votes within the “exhausted” ballots category for purposes of reporting results. President Matthews reminded the Commission of the public comments and written correspondence about confusion regarding the ballots in the first pass that do not continue on to the second pass. Director Arntz said that the Department added a chart to the RCV results for the November 8, 2005 election that lists the number of over votes and under votes separately from the exhausted ballots.
10. Public Comment on any issue within the Elections Commission’s general jurisdiction. Chris Bowman presented his report of voter turnout for the November 8, 2005 and made comments regarding his findings. Jim Soper and Roger Donaldson reminded the Commission that they were not in support of the Sequoia contract because the process is not transparent.
11. Announcements. President Matthews voiced his thanks and appreciation for the good work of Commissioners, Director Arntz, Deputy City Attorney Moll, and Commission Secretary Shirley Rodriques in the past year. President Matthews also extended his thanks to the interested members of the public who attend our meetings and provide their perspectives.
ADJOURNMENT 8:57 pm.