Elections Commission
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002
City and County of San Francisco
Elections Commission
Approved: July 21, 2004
Minutes of the Meeting held
July 7, 2004
1. CALL TO ORDER. President Townsend called the meeting to order at 7:00 pm.
2. ROLL CALL. PRESENT: Commissioners Safire, Trasviña, Townsend, and Mendelson. Commissioner Gleason arrived at 7:05 pm. ABSENT: Commissioner Kenealey.
3. FLAG SALUTE. The flag salute was led by President Townsend.
4. Public Comment: Terry Baum, from the Green Party, said that she had been a write in candidate in the March election and has a case pending in court in which she is suing the City to get her contested votes counted. Ms. Baum urged the Commission and Department to program vote counting machines to reject any ballot that has a candidate’s name written in but the arrow beside that candidate’s name is not joined so the vote can be corrected at the polling place.
5. PRESIDENT’S REPORT. President Townsend asked the members to consider the vacancy of the Vice Presidency and to be prepared to discuss and possibly take action to elect a new Vice President at the next Commission Meeting.
President Townsend said he attended the July General NAACP Meeting and a Townhall Meeting at the A. Phillip Randolph meeting in which DoE staff member Charlie McNaulty gave a presentation on Ranked Choice Voting. The Commissioner commended Mr. McNaulty for doing an excellent job.
6. DIRECTOR’S REPORT.
Ranked Choice Voting (RCV)– The Director reported that the greatest obstacle to implementing RCV has been the certification of the firmware. Earlier today, the ITA (Independent Testing Authority) issued a report that was favorable to the system presented. Mr. Mark Kyle, the Undersecretary of State, indicated that the largest obstacle has been met and it appears that RCV will be used this November. There are a few procedures which must be developed before full certification can be realized. However, it is not anticipated that these will not be completed. Having this favorable determination means that the funds for Outreach can be released by the City. The process to have the funds released from the Finance Committee of the Board of Supervisors and Controller’s Office will commence tomorrow.
The Director announced that the Department has chosen a Grant Coordinator for Outreach and an ethnic media organization. Their contracts are being finalized. The funding commences once the contracts are awarded. The application period for the grants has been reopened for districts 2, 7 and 8 because those districts have shown poor response to the RFP (Request For Proposals). The Supervisor and organizations for those districts have been notified. The extension deadline is next Friday, July 16, 2004. The DoE is currently in contract negotiations with community organizations in the remaining districts.
Commissioner Trasviña asked why limited education dollars were being spent on districts that will not have RCV this year. Director Arntz replied that only district two will be on the ballot. He said that immediate outreach to the entire City was important because the whole City will be involved in RCV eventually. Mr. Arntz added that the information in the Voter’s Handbook (VIP) will include ranked choice voting information that will probably inform voters that even if there isn’t an election in their district this November, RCV will be used in future elections.
Deputy City Attorney Julia Moll added that this was not a policy decision by the Department, but that the Board of Supervisors imposed this as a condition of the funding.
The Director said that more monies and efforts will be assigned to districts that have elections this year.
Demonstration Ballots are available on the Department’s website and final changes to the ballot design are still possible. An interactive component of the site that will allow voters to actually go through the process of voting an RCV ballot and get feedback as to whether they used the procedure properly is being developed, and brochures and posters in three languages are being prepared.
The Department will be meeting tomorrow with the public relations firm provided by Elections Systems and Software (ES&S). Public Service Announcements will be discussed.
The development of a hand count for Ranked Choice Voting continues.
Poll Worker Training Division - This division is considering how to provide instruction to poll workers about RCV so that the workers can be supportive of the voters. Well-trained poll workers will be the last chance the Department has to instruct voters on how to mark their ballots properly.
Voter Services Division – The division received two initiatives yesterday - one has 19,000 signatures and one has 17,000 signatures. The Department has thirty days in which to verify these signatures. This is accomplished by making sure that a certain range of accuracy applies to a sampling of the signatures. If the range is not met, then every signature must be checked.
Of the 42,000 address confirmation postcards that were sent to voters last month, voters have returned 20,000. These are being processed by the Voter Services Division.
Twelve Thousand voters’ records have been cancelled or activated and 13,000 records have been added. Keeping the voter’s rolls current takes much of the staff in this division’s time.
Campaign Services – This division received two petitions in lieu of signatures yesterday. Candidate workshops are continuing. The nomination period begins on Monday, July 12, 2004 and ends Friday, August 6, 2004. This means there will be a lot of activity at the Department’s front desk between those dates. For the Department, the Election process starts Monday.
Poll Locating – This division handles the Department’s ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) compliance. On July 26, from noon to 4:30 pm there will be a touch-screen demonstration of five voting systems directly in front of the Department’s entrance. This is being coordinated with the Mayor’s Office on Disability and the Department’s Voting Accessibility Committee.
Ballot Distribution – This division is conceptualizing how the Department will handle the ballots for this fall because new procedures will be necessary due to RCV. The work should be completed within the next few weeks.
Technology Division – The look of the main website and its content has been redesigned and updated. The division is preparing to have online poll worker applications on the site as well. The division is currently transferring information from the Department of Motor Vehicles in order to update and verify our records for the Help America Vote Act. The Logic and accuracy testing for RCV continues.
Budget / Personnel Update – Submission of all requisitions and invoices for the last fiscal year are a priority for this division. Getting this information submitted is important in eliminating any carryover expenses into the new fiscal year.
Director Arntz invited the Commission members, two at a time, to come to the DoE for a guided tour, orientation, a close up look at the Department, and to spend time with the Director personally. He said he would like to start these visits within the next week.
7. NEW BUSINESS
(a) Discussion and possible action to approve the minutes for the Commission meeting of June 16, 2004. Commissioner Mendelson MOVED and Safire SECONDED this item. The MOTION CARRIED.
(b) Update of the voting equipment certification for Ranked Choice Voting by a representative of Elections Systems and Software.
Joseph Taggard stepped to the podium. Commissioner Mendelson asked Mr. Taggard if the mechanical process was in place to implement RCV. Mr. Taggard answered, “yes it is.”
Mr. Taggard introduced Mr. Mark Kyle, Undersecretary of State. Commissioner Mendelson asked Mr. Kyle if there will be any referral of the provisional certification to the Voting Systems Policies and Procedures Panel (VSP) and if, in the Secretary of State’s (SOS) point of view, San Francisco is ready to proceed with RCV. Mr. Kyle reported that the SOS has reviewed the latest review from the federal Independent Testing Authority (ITA), and the report meets the provision laid out by the SOS. Mr. Kyle said that he is the chair of the VSP, and that the panel believes the report is complete and satisfies the conditions outlined. As far as he is concerned, it is good to go forward. There are still some conditions that exist. For example, it is required that the City allow a SOS observer on election day. This does not mean that there is no certification until the observer walks in the door on election day. Another condition deals with voter education, and the SOS understands that this will be happening.
Mr. Kyle stated that from a technical point of view, the SOS considered the system to be certified.
Commissioner Gleason asked Mr. Kyle if the federal testing authority examines firmware, audit log and tie-break. Mr. Klye answered that the ITA looked at the source code software and not the audit log. The Commissioner asked if the audit log is an issue. Mr. Kyle answered that he didn’t think it was but that if he’s wrong about this, it will be one of the “on going, time correctable issues.”
Mr. Kyle said that he was confident that the audit log could be worked out between the Department and the vendor.
Commissioner Gleason asked if it was correct that September 1st is the deadline for a tie-break procedure and does the SOS have to review it? Mr. Kyle answered that he felt that the SOS would probably be involved in conversations regarding tie-break but would not “pull the plug” if it was not resolved before the deadline.
Commissioner Townsend asked if the system needs to go before the VSP Panel. Mr. Kyle answered that currently, it does not.
Commissioner Trasviña asked whether leaving aside the possibility of surprises, are there any issues that Mr. Kyle sees that are currently outstanding for which there is not a plan or time to resolve between the SOS and the City. Mr. Kyle responded that time and plans do exist but that the matter is not just between the SOS and the DoE. He said the third component, the vendor, is the one the SOS is relying upon.
President Townsend asked Mr. Joseph Taggard if he had anything he wanted to add. Mr. Taggard said that he would add the following: “At no time throughout this process has the SOS ever asked us for an unreasonable amount of information or have they ever delayed the process. There has been a swirl of innuendo and discussions surrounding this entire thing. People forget that there was a gubernatorial recall in the middle of it. I think that everyone’s best efforts have gotten us to this point. I am reluctant to even listen to anybody who would say there w(ere) any parties to blame or dragging their feet. I think that everybody tried as hard as they could and we are at this point. I would also say to Commissioner Gleason that the auditing that was asked for has already been submitted for approval to elections division staff. Director Arntz and I went over that some 60 or so days ago and that’s been submitted in. From our standpoint, we are as Commissioner Mendelson asked, ready to go. And I would like to thank, not only the Department but the Secretary of State’s Office for their participation and assistance throughout this.”
- (c)Discussion and possible action to approve the Annual Report of Former Commission President Alix Rosenthal. Commissioner Mendelson MOVED and Commissioner Gleason SECONDED this item. The motion 07-07-04-1 CARRIED.
Public Comment – Steven Hill asked where the public could see a copy of the Annual Report. Commission Secretary Rodriques answered that a copies are on the table for this meeting, a copy is in the Elections Commission’s binder in the lobby of the DoE, and that it will be posted on the Elections Commission’s website shortly after it is approved by the Commission.
(d) Discussion of updates for the Elections Commission’s Strategic Calendar for March – December 2004. This item was TABLED.
8. Discussion regarding items for future agendas.
Commissioner Trasviña asked that the process to count write-in votes be placed on the next meeting’s agenda.
9. Public Comment – James Bryant, President of the S.F. Chapter of the A. Phillip Randolph Institute, said he was proud that the DoE is moving forward with RCV and that the education of voters needs to begin. Steven Hill, of the Center for Voting and Democracy, said that it is important to get the education monies released as soon as possible and that a press release should be sent out announcing that the DoE is going forward with RCV. Mr. Willie Ratcliff, Publisher of the San Francisco BayView Newspaper, said that he is against paying for a special election and hopes the DoE will finish its verification of the signatures on the petitions his group is collecting in time for the special election to occur during the upcoming November 2nd election.
10. AnnouNcements - Commissioner Trasviña announced that the Superintendent for Schools will be announcing her selection for the Ballot Simplification Committee tomorrow.
ADJOURNMENT at 8:00 pm.