Elections Commission
2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004 2003 2002 City andCounty of San Francisco
Elections Commission
Approved: November 20, 2007
Minutes of the Meeting at City Hall Room 408
October 17, 2007
1. CALL TO ORDER. President Jennifer Meek called the meeting to order at 7:03 pm.
2. ROLL CALL. PRESENT: Commissioners Gerard Gleason, Winnie Yu, Arnold Townsend and Richard P. Matthews, Deputy City Attorney Ann O’Leary, and Director of Elections John Arntz. EXCUSED: Tajel Shah.
3. CLOSED SESSION began at 7:07 pm.
Closed Session held pursuant to Ralph Brown Act, section 54956.9 and Sunshine Ordnance Section 67.10(d)
CONFERENCE WITH LEGAL COUNSEL, Deputy City Attorney
Anticipated litigation:______1___ As defendant _____1____ As plaintiff
FULLSESSION RESUMED at 7:32 pm.
4. Discussion and possible action regarding disclosure of Closed Session pursuant to Ralph Brown Act, section 54956.9, and Sunshine Ordinance, section 67.10(d). Commissioner Matthews MOVED and Commissioner Townsend SECONDED that the Commission not disclose the substance of the Closed Session. The Roll Call Vote was UNANIMOUS to not disclose.
5. Director’s Report.
Ballot Distribution: The Division has received approximately 10 pallets daily of ballots. These cards will be stored at 240 Van Ness which has now been red tagged – which means the DoE must vacate the location immediately. The interim solution is to move into Brooks Hall. The Director said that he hopes to get something in writing that acknowledges that this will be an interim solution. The Director applauded Ed Lee for getting involved in this problem and making this change, however, DoE facilities have other problem areas. Staff is currently being trained on the remake procedures because every ballot must be reviewed due to the Secretary of States’ (SoS) new conditions regarding the City’s use of Election Systems and Software’s (ES&S) voting systems.
Budget/Personnel: The Division is ensuring that new staff are inputted into the City’s personnel system to assure DoE divisions have their required staffing. In addition, Budget and Personnel is dealing with facility, budget, and voting system issues.
Campaign Services: The write-in period ends next Tuesday, October 23 for the November election. The Open House, which is an organized chance for the public to walk through the office and observe DoE staff at work, is scheduled for Wednesday, October 24, from 3:30pm to 5:00 pm. Charter and bond measures for the February election are due Friday, October 26. The Director reminded the Commission that both elections are running simultaneously.
Outreach: The Division has given 200 presentations since August. One of the highlights is a half-hour presentation made at Univision and will be aired soon. A partnership with the Northern California Service League will produce a model for ex-offenders. The ACLU contacted Director Arntz last week regarding profiling the DoE’s ex-offender program with the goal of going statewide.
Publications: The Voter Guides have all been mailed. The guides in Spanish and Chinese are now one line and will be mailed by Friday. Reading the screen text and listening to the audio content of the AutoMARKs is taking place, and over 500 machines have been received from Contra Costa County. These were borrowed since the ones San Francisco uses have an undetermined status. So far, the same problems we saw in our machines last June are coming to light with these borrowed AutoMARKs. Paid Arguments are being readied for online access. The Ballot Simplification Committee will reconvene during the week of this November’s election.
Poll Locating and ADA: The Division had secured 535 accessible sites, this is not 100% but it is a great improvement. The Director applauded the work of this Division. The DoE’s approach in accessibility, he said, has become a model for other counties and the state. The Division has written a chapter in the state’s accessibility guidelines. The distribution and retrieving of equipment to the polling sites is also the responsibility of this Division, and they have already developed the routes they will use.
Pollworkers: The Division has met all bi-lingual requirements for all poll sites. There are 1,002 Chinese speaking, 302 Spanish speaking pollworkers. Each site has one inspector and four clerks. Recruitment for inspectors continues because there will inevitably be inspectors who will cancel on election day. Fifty-five percent of the clerks (1,412) have been trained. This has been a huge undertaking and the Director had praise for the people who organized and carried out this effort. All Field Election Deputies (FEDs) have been hired.
Technology: The Division is working on the files necessary to send voter guides and absentee ballots to people who applied after the original mailing. Phone Bank phones and computers are being installed. The Early Voting counter has been set up. There is a new state law that requires the DoE to let people know if their absentee ballot has been received and counted. This report will be on the website. Currently a ballot tracking data base is being created.
Voter Services: The Division is handling changes and cancellations in registrations. The registration deadline is Monday, October 22. Early Voting started two weeks ago and 230 people have voted. 4700 Absentee Ballots have come in, four state initiatives have had their signatures checked and declined to state postcards have been sent to those permanent absentee voters for the February election (40,000).
Update on securing a voting system for 2007-2008: The Department will be able to use the ES&S system for the November election and AutoMarks borrowed from Contra Costa County. ES&S is transporting and doing maintenance on the machines from Contra Costa. The cost of the maintenance will be coming out of the City’s contract with ES&S. ES&S will provide personnel on 24-hour shifts starting October 26 and through November 14, 2007. ES&S has said that they will not reimburse the City for the conditional requirements set by the SoS, they will provide a formal response by next week. The Director said that the rough estimates of the cost is $200,000 for processing the ballots, and $100,000 for the manual audits. He said he asked the SoS if they would cover the costs, and he doesn’t think this will happen. The money will have to come from the general fund in the form of a supplemental appropriation.
The SoS held a hearing on Monday and the issue was not decertifying the AutoMARKs, although the media reported it as such. The issue was did ES&S sell the model 200 AutoMARK to San Francisco and four other counties without their being approved by the SoS. The state is not expected to make a decision until after the November election.
ES&S has exempted itself from the ‘top-to-bottom” review because the company has made upgrades to its operating system (the Unity Platform), and the review was for existing, not changed, voting systems. ES&S wanted, therefore, to go through a certification review. This has not begun and the Director doesn’t know the status.
The ballots from election night will be taken to Pier 29, as they have in the past. They will be brought to City Hall to be examined and counted on the IV-C machines (ES&S will provide four more of these machines) in increments of 25, 50 or 100 precincts. The ballots will then go to Brooks Hall for the canvassing.
The Director’s goal is to have 65% of the absentee ballots and 75% of the polling place ballots counted by the Friday after election day.
Director Arntz reported that the SoS approves the idea of conducting an audit of the Eagle data, probably after certification, to make comparisions with the IV-C tallies. The SoS wants a report generated from this audit to evaluate how well the City’s outreach efforts at the polls to get voters to use the proper pens worked.
Director Arntz warned that the audit could be a double-edged sword. If the results are not favorable toward the accuracy of the equipment, the SoS could disallow use of the equipment for the February and June elections.
Commissioner Matthews asked if the memory packs from the Eagles will be secured by the Sheriff Deputies. Director Arntz replied that they would be held in the locked compartment of the Eagles and be picked up days after the election.
Commissioner Gleason passed out reports from the November 2004 RCV election and explained the difficulties with remaking ballots in which voters use the wrong pen.
He explained a report he passed out that showed ballot image reports in one precinct and the number of undervotes in that report. Commissioner Gleason said that every undervoted ballot would have to be remade under the new SoS requirements for the City. He said that the SoS is probably not aware of this and the burden it places on the Department, and he hopes they will revisit the decision before the November election. The Commissioner said that, as a voter, he prefers that a human being not touch or remake his ballot once he has marked it. His preference is for the machine to record his vote.
Director Arntz said that prior to the SoS’s current conditions, the DoE had 40 to 50,000 outstacks (during RCV elections), but they all did not represent remakes, but they all needed to be inspected manually. Although the workload will be greater this election, it will be manageable. He spoke with the SoS and suggested lowering the percentage for the precinct voted ballots from 10 to 5% and absentee ballots from 25 to 10% at the onset and if there are discrepancies add more to the percentage. The SoS appears to have strong doubts regarding this voting system, i.e. the machines do not pick up a large percentage of the marks on the ballots. What the SoS has given the City is a compromise between a machine count and a hand count.
President Meek asked the Director to explain his plans for security of the ballots at Pier 29 until they are counted. Director Arntz said that the Sheriffs and DoE personnel will be providing 24 hour security.
Commissioner Matthews thanked the Director for bringing up these issues with the SoS and for getting approval for an audit.
Public Comment. Carol Bella said that if Sequoia had been certified in the winter of 2006 and had an RCV product, the contract would have been approved. Brent Turner said that he feels that San Francisco is setting the standard for the nation in its selection of voting equipment. President Meek said that the needs of the voters of San Francisco are the Commission’s priority for fair, safe and accurate election and not to set a national standard, as Mr. Turner implies. Rodger Donaldson said that he is glad that tax payers did not spend $12M for the Sequoia equipment because it is not worthy of the voters of San Francisco. Alec Bash said that it appears that there will be no discretion on the part of inspectors if they were to look at a RCV ballot and it was obvious that there was no mark for a second or third candidate for a position. Tim Meyer said that the foundation for a democracy is voting, and if there is a budget for voting it should be one that makes sure that when we vote it is counted exactly as the voter intended.
- Commissioners’ Reports
Commissioner Matthews reported that he attended two Logistics and Accuracy Tests, one in the Computer Room with the IV-C machines and one at Cor-A-Van. The Commissioner also attended two trainings which were excellent. One was a power point presentation for pollworkers, which keeps getting better each year, and the other was regarding the information kiasks (a stand alone board which will hold the VIP, information regarding how to use the equipment and Braille information card in three languages) which will be at each polling place. The Commissioner asked the Director to congratulate the person who came up with this great idea.
7. NEW BUSINESS
(a) Discussion and possible action to approve a method for assessing the November 6, 2007 Municipal Election. Commissioner Gleason asked if the Commission could contact the SoS and explain the hardships her restrictions have placed upon the DoE. Deputy City Attorney O’Leary explained that the Director of Elections has the authority to deal with the day-to-day operations of the Department and the Commission is a policy body. The Director is the point of contact for the SoS. It is appropriate for the Commission to indicate to the Director and the SoS any policy recommendations.
MOTION: To make a recommendation to the Department and the Secretary of States Office to re-evaluate the remake requirement for RCV votes in light of the workload burden on the Department of Elections and the infringement on the voters’ intent. Commissioner Gleason MOVED and Commissioner Matthews SECONDED this item for discussion.
Public Comment. Alec Bash suggested that the letter have a finding that there be no discretion involved in observing a ballot and noting that there are no marks for a second or third choice. He also suggested that the letter not go to Director Arntz alone but to the Secretary of State as well. This would not put the Director in the position of being an intermediary in an area he has already negotiated with the SoS. Rodger Donaldson suggested that the letter quote directly from the the SoS’s letter, i.e. the numerated bullet points. Brent Turner said that he is in favor of open source voting and that we, the City, are in a national leadership role. Tim Meyer said he appreciates what the SoS is trying to achieve with her letter but the letter needs to point out that she will not achieve her goal by recounting every RCV vote that is not completely voted.
President Meek asked the Deputy City Attorney if the letter could be copied to the SoS. Deputy City Attorney O’Leary said that this was appropriate because it was about a policy matter.
Commissioner Gleason asked that the letter be copied to Lowell Finley and Evan Goldberg in the SoS’s Office as well.
The Roll Call Vote FAILED with Commissioners Gleason, Matthews and Meek voting “yes” and Commissioners Townsend and Yu voting “no”.
President Meek reported that she has outlined seven areas for assessing the election, for example: How do we get information on the ballots, How do we get the votes counted, How do we report the votes, Voter Registration, Voter Education, Vote Tabulation, Compliance with the Code, Vote Integrity and Voter Communication. In November the Commission can begin the assessment and take public comment. In December the Commission can review all the activities completed (the vote should be certified by then), and again take more public comment on the election. In January the Commission can formally assess the election, given all the feedback from the public, news sources and input from the Commissioners. After the first run on this assessment, a policy on how the Commission will conduct future assessments can be made.
Deputy City Attorney O’Leary suggested that the Commission may want to amend its bylaws to include the assessment policy later.
(b) Discussion and possible action to approve the minutes of the September 19, 2007 and the October 3, 2007 Special Meeting. Commissioner Matthews MOVED and Commissioner Townsend SECONDED this item. A Roll Call Vote was UNANIMOUS.
8. OLD BUSINESS
(a) Discussion and possible action regarding securing a voting system for 2007-2008. President Meek suggested that the Commission send a letter to the Board of Supervisors requesting the Board take action regarding the RFP. The MOTION is to urge the Board of Supervisors, through a letter, to take action regarding the resolution to approve or disapprove the Sequoia Contract. Commissioner Matthews MOVED and Commissioner Yu SECONDED.
Public Comment. Alec Bash, Tim Meyer and Brent Turner urged the DoE to proceed with an RFP for a open source voting system for the November 2008 election.
The Roll Call Vote was UNANIMOUS.
(b) Discussion and possible action to approve the November 6, 2007 Election Plan. Commissioner Matthews offered an amendment that the memory packs be secured by the Sheriffs. Commissioner Townsend asked the Director if the memory packs, without this amendment, would be kept at the precincts. Director Arntz said yes. Commissioner Gleason said that leaving the memory packs, unattended, was a perception issue that should be avoided. Director Arntz suggested and agreed to changing the election plan to include having the pollworkers/inspector put the memory packs in the ballot bags on election night. MOTION to amend the Election Plan to have a policy to secure the memory packs. Commissioner Matthews MOVED and Commissioner Yu SECONDED this amendment. Commissioner Gleason said that he would not approve the motion if it is only a general policy because it could be said that the memory packs are secured inside the machine. If it is not in the plan, Commissioner Gleason said he would not approve it.
Public Comment. Brent Turner said this is like the “black box” issue and that security can never be obtained by the current system.
The Roll Call Vote was: Gleason: No, Matthews: Yes, Townsend: Yes, Yu: Yes, Meek: Yes. The MOTION PASSES.
MOTION to approve the Election Plan with the addition explaining that the ballots will be stored at Brooks Hall instead of 240 Van Ness, since that site is red tagged. Commissioner Townsend MOVED and Commissioner Yu SECONDED approval of the Elections Plan and with the discussed changes.
Commissioner Matthews asked Director Arntz if it is now his intention to have the memory packs placed in the ballot bags at the precincts. Director Arntz said that the memory packs would be captured in some manner on election night and he will work out the details of how and who later.
The Roll Call Vote was UNANIMOUS.
9. Discussion regarding items for future agendas
Commissioner Matthews suggested the following topics for upcoming meetings: (1) Exploring the possibility of starting future meetings at 6:00 pm, (2) Discussion and possible action to propose a policy to the Director about revisiting the SoS’s conditions for the February and June 2008 elections, depending upon what happens this November, (3) Discussion and possible action to help the DoE secure more suitable space, (4) Discussion and possible action regarding a policy, if the DoE goes to the Sequoia system, preferring that the voters use paper ballots and not the DRE that will be available at the precincts.
Public Comment. Alec Bash urged the Commission to calendar a meeting for an RFP for open source code software system. Brent Turner said he is against using the Sequoia system. Tim Meyer encouraged the Commission to look into open source software solutions.
Announcement. The Budget and Oversight of Public Elections Committee will not meet in the month of November.
ADJOURNMENT at 9:45 pm.