August 4, 2010

MINUTES

Wednesday, August 4, 2010 at 4 p.m.
City Hall, Room 370
1 Dr. Carlton B. Goodlett Place, Room
San Francisco, California


1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
The meeting was called to order by Task Force Chair Jody Sanford at 4:20 p.m.

Present:
Roger Donaldson
Jody Sanford
Gregory Miller
James Soper
Beth Mazur
Tim Mayer

Absent:
Ka-Ping Yee

2. APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES
By motion of Mr. Soper, seconded by Ms. Mazur, the minutes of the June 16, 2010 meeting were approved as written.

3. PUBLIC COMMENT
No members of the public were in attendance.

4. NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Donaldson raised the question of whether members of the VSTF wished to pursue an extension of the Voting Systems Task Force. The ensuing conversation examined the quantity and type of work that remains to be completed before December 2010, the schedules of various members, and the length/function of the report that this body will ultimately produce. Mr. Donaldson agreed to look into what would be required to request an extension of the task force. Consensus was that we would continue our work assuming the current December 2010 deadline but would revisit the topic of extension again at the next meeting.

5. DISCUSSION OF DRAFT RECOMMENDATIONS UNDER CONSIDERATION TOPIC AREA RESEARCH
Rather than discussing the recommendations or research, conversation focused on the structure and organization of the document that will ultimately be produced (i.e., how to blend our various research areas into a coherent and consistent narrative, how to communicate effectively with our audiences, and how to clarify what we will ultimately recommend).

The team developed draft “principles” from which VSTF recommendations may flow. These include:
1) Transparency in technology and data
2) Cost aware
3) Improved capture of voter intent
4) Any voting system must produce a durable paper ballot record
5) Verifiability of election results
6) Any system must provide accessibility features to mitigate mobility and language impediments
7) Any voting system must allow City and County of San Francisco to adhere to all federal, state, and local law.
Beth Mazur will prepare a draft introduction which will further inform the structure and organization of our document

6. DISCUSSION OF VSTF NEXT STEPS AND TIMELINE
As noted previously, the team will continue preparation of our recommendations document given the current deadline, and will revisit Task Force extension at a future meeting.


7. ITEMS FOR NEXT MEETING AGENDA

a. Continued discussion of VSTF draft recommendations and work plan
b. Reviewing inventory of documents on the VSTF website

8. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 6:09 p.m.