Elections Commission Special Meeting
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
6:00 p.m.
City Hall, Room 421
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place
San Francisco, California 94102
Order of Business
- Call to Order & Roll Call
- Discussion and possible action to set general policy for the Department of Elections in support of making the franchise available to all electors in accordance with the law, and requiring the Department to undertake all reasonable actions to enact this policy.
Proposed Motion:
IT SHALL BE THE POLICY OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO DEPARTMENT OF ELECTIONS TO EXTEND THE RIGHT AND OPPORTUNITY TO VOTE AS BROADLY AS POSSIBLE TO ALL ELECTORS, INCLUDING ALL REASONABLE EFFORTS TO ENABLE VOTING OF ELECTORS CURRENTLY ELIGIBLE TO VOTE AS WELL AS SUPPORTING ALL EFFORTS TO EXTEND THE RIGHT TO VOTE TO ALL ELECTORS.
[Relevant background:
The Department of Elections is a nominal defendant in litigation challenging the Secretary of State's interpretation of voter eligibility requirements, particularly as they apply to low-level felony offenders in county jail or on post-release community supervision. In December 2011, the Secretary of State issued a memorandum stating that these persons are not eligible to vote. On March 7, 2012, the American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California and others filed a lawsuit challenging this determination. The Elections Commission is not named in the lawsuit and does not have any direct role in connection with this litigation. It believes, however, that the litigation raises important policy issues regarding qualifications for voting, and the Commission will hold a hearing, take public comment, and possibly adopt a motion related to these issues.
Adjournment
There will be an opportunity for public comment on each agenda item.
Materials contained in the Commission packets for meetings are available for inspection and copying during regular office hours at the Department of Elections, City Hall Room 48. Materials are placed in the Elections Commission's Public Binder no later than 72 hours prior to meetings. Any materials distributed to members of the Elections Commission within 72 of the meeting or after the agenda packet has been delivered to the members are available for inspection at the Department of Elections, City Hall Room 48, in the Commission's Public Binder, during normal office hours.
Cell phones, pagers and similar sound-producing electronic devices: The ringing of and use of cell phones, pagers and similar sound-producing electronic devices are prohibited at this meeting. The Chair may order the removal from the meeting room of any person responsible for the ringing or use of a cell phone, pager, or other similar sound-producing electronic devices.
Disability Access: The Elections Commission meeting will be held in Room 408, City Hall, 1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, San Francisco, CA. The Commission meeting room is wheelchair accessible. The closest accessible BART station is the Civic Center Station at United Nations Plaza and Market Street. Accessible MUNI lines serving this location are: #42 Downtown Loop, and #71 Haight/Noriega and the F Line to Market and Van Ness and the Metro Stations at Van Ness and Market and at Civic Center. For information about MUNI accessible services call (415) 923-6142. There is accessible curbside parking adjacent to City Hall on Grove Street and Van Ness Avenue and in the vicinity of the Veterans Building at 401 Van Ness Avenue adjacent to Davies Hall and the War Memorial Complex.
To obtain a disability-related modification or accommodation, including auxiliary aids or services, to participate in a meeting, please contact the Department of Elections at least 48 hours before the meeting, except for Monday meetings, for which the deadline is 4:00 p.m. the previous Friday. Late requests will be honored, if possible. Services available on request include the following: American sign language interpreters or the use of a reader during a meeting, a sound enhancement system, and/or alternative formats of the agenda and minutes. Please contact the Department of Elections at (415) 554- 4375 or our TDD at (415) 554-4386 to make arrangements for a disability-related modification or accommodation.
Chemical-Based Products: In order to assist the City's efforts to accommodate persons with severe allergies, environmental illnesses, multiple chemical sensitivity or related disabilities, attendees at public meetings are reminded that other attendees may be sensitive to various chemical-based products. Please help the City accommodate these individuals.
KNOW YOUR RIGHTS UNDER THE SUNSHINE ORDINANCE (Chapter 67 of the San Francisco Administrative Code): Government's duty is to serve the public, reaching its decisions in full view of the public. Commissions, boards, councils, and other agencies of the City and County exist to conduct the people's business. This ordinance assures that deliberations are conducted before the people and that City operations are open to the people's review. For more information on your rights under the Sunshine Ordinance or to report a violation of the ordinance, contact the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force, CITY HALL, ROOM 244, 1 DR. CARLTON B. GOODLETT PLACE, SAN FRANCISCO CA 94102-4689; PHONE: (415) 554-7724; FAX: (415) 554-7854; E-MAIL: [email protected]
Copies of the Sunshine Ordinance can be obtained from the Clerk of the Sunshine Task Force, at the San Francisco Public Library, and on the City's website at http://www.sfgov.org.
Lobbyist Registration and Reporting Requirements: Individuals that influence or attempt to influence local policy or administrative action may be required by the San Francisco Lobbyist Ordinance (San Francisco Campaign and Governmental Conduct Code sections 2.100 – 2.160) to register and report lobbying activity. For more information about the Lobbyist Ordinance, please contact the Ethics Commission at 25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 220, San Francisco, CA 94102; telephone (415) 252-3100, fax (415) 252-3112; and website: http://www.sfethics.org/.
DRAFT POLICY
IT SHALL BE THE POLICY OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO TO EXTEND THE RIGHT AND OPPORTUNITY TO VOTE AS BROADLY AS POSSIBLE TO ALL ELECTORS, INCLUDING ALL REASONABLE EFFORTS TO ENABLE VOTING OF ELECTORS CURRENTLY ELIGIBLE TO VOTE AS WELL AS SUPPORTING ALL EFFORTS TO EXTEND THE RIGHT TO VOTE TO ALL ELECTORS
WHEREAS, the right to vote is the most important right in a democracy, and
WHEREAS, it is the history of California to extend the right to vote to more electors in part by eliminating disqualifications from voting which do not relate to the ability to vote intelligently or honestly, such as in Otsuka v. Hite, 64 Cal.2d 596 (1966), in which the California Supreme Court struck down the disqualification of otherwise valid voters on the basis of a conviction for “infamous crimes,” finding it not relevant to the ability to participate intelligently in the electoral process (citing the United States Supreme Court decision of the same year, Harper v. Virginia State Board of Elections (1966) 86 S.Ct. 1079), and
WHEREAS, the San Francisco Department of Elections in co-operation with the Sheriff Department has done an exemplary job in facilitating voting by electors who are in county custody at the time of elections, and
WHEREAS, there is broad and national push by some organized groups to impose new restrictions on voters for this presidential election cycle, all too often placing new and insurmountable burdens on longtime voters with the apparent aim of blocking certain voters from exercising this sacred right, and
WHEREAS, the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law estimates that some five million valid registered voters might be affected adversely by new voter identification laws nationwide, which is a number less than the margin of victory in two of the last three presidential elections, and finds that these changes were consciously contrived to have the effect of making it more difficult for certain classes of people to vote (see ‘Voting Law Changes in 2012,’ available in summary or comprehensive form at www.brennancenter.org/content/resource/voting_law_changes_in_2012),
THEREFORE, IT IS NOW RESOLVED BY THE ELECTIONS COMMISSION OF THE CITY AND COUNTY OF SAN FRANCISCO,
THAT it shall be the policy of the San Francisco Department of Elections to continue its efforts of extending the right and the opportunity to vote to all electors within budgetary and operational limits, and
THAT it shall be the policy of the San Francisco Department of Elections to support the elimination of all disqualifications of otherwise qualified electors from voting if those restrictions do not bear directly on the ability to participate in the electoral process intelligently or honestly.