2010 Advisory Committee Meeting Minutes

Registrar of Voters
Election Advisory Committee Meeting
Friday, December 17, 2010, 9:30 a.m.
Room 324A, Marin Civic Center

Minutes

A meeting of the Election Advisory Committee was held on Friday, December 17, 2010. Present were: Greg Brockbank, Marcia Hagen, Morgan Kelley, Anne Layzer, Jeanne Leoncini, Bob Richards, Steve Silberstein, Eva Waskell for Linda Bagneschi Dorrance, and Cat Woods. Also present were Suzanne Brown Crow, Sean Peisert, from UC Davis, and Chris Grace. Present from the Registrar of Voters’ Office were Tony Aquilino, Melvin Briones, Elaine Ginnold and Colleen Ksanda. Present from the County Administrator’s Office was Clarissa Daniel.

Minutes from October meeting

Ms. Ginnold distributed the minutes of the October meeting which included an addendum with language about a demonstration of the Humboldt Transparency Project from Eva Waskell. Bob Richards suggested that the minutes be revised to say, “see addendum.” Eva asked that the minutes of all of the Election Advisory Committee meetings be posted on the Registrar of Voters’ website. Ms. Ginnold will make sure minutes of all meetings are posted.

November 2, 2010 General Election

Melvin Briones gave a report on turnout, vote by mail and provisional ballots for the November 2 election. Turnout in Marin was 76.17%, compared with the statewide average of 46%. Of the 115,685 voters who voted, 69,832 (60.36%) voted by mail and 45,854 (39.63%) voted at the polls. See report attached.

ACCURATE election research project

Ms. Ginnold reported that researchers from the ACCURATE Project (A Center for Correct, Reliable, Auditable, and Transparent Elections) chose Marin for an observational study of election processes and were here as observers for the November 2010 election. The Project is funded by the National Science Foundation and is composed of a consortium of universities, including UC Berkeley and Stanford.

UC Davis study of election processes

Sean Peisert, Computer Science Professor from UC Davis, spoke about his study of election processes that is funded by the National Science Foundation. UC Davis is partnering with the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Their goal is to make a model of the election process, including Marin County’s process, from beginning to end and to identify single points of failure and introduce redundancy into the process where needed. Study is designed to increase reliability. Sean has written a paper about his work which Ms. Ginnold will forward it to the Committee.

VBM tracking and web updates.

Steve Silberstein recounted his experience tracking his VBM ballot to find out whether it had been received. When he looked at our website to see if his ballot was received, it had not been updated to show the information about his ballot. Tony Aquilino explained that he is the one responsible for updating the system daily, but did not do it in a timely manner during the days before the election because of his workload. In the future, he will put web updating on his checklist so it will be done on a daily basis. Tony reported that the VBM tracking system on the web is not updated in real time from the election database. A report must be produced and then sent to the IST Dept. for posting on the website. This causes a delay of 1-2 days. However, the ROV phone system can access the database directly, so that the information is updated as soon as the ballot is accepted for counting. Steve suggested that the website state that the VBM information posted there is not shown in real time.

Committee feedback on the election.

Committee members provided the following feedback on the November 2 election based on their experiences at the polls and voting by mail:

• Poll workers need clearer instructions for putting together the VBM overflow ballot box as some had problems assembling the box.
• Would be good to inform voters and poll workers that VBM ballots turned in at the polls are always counted. Poll workers didn’t seem to know this when asked.
• Some VBM voters didn’t know they had to return both their VBM ballot and envelope in order to vote a polls ballot. Continue stressing to VBM voters that if they want to vote at the polls, they must first surrender both their VBM ballot and envelope.
• Tracking VBM ballots on website needs to be done in a timely manner – every day.
• In precincts with multiple polling places, use better methods to let voters know which table they should be voting at. Doesn’t help to ask voters what their precinct number is because they don’t generally know this.
• Some poll workers are poorly trained with checking names on roster and, if they can’t find the name, offer voters a provisional ballot. Let deputies know to put more capable workers at Roster position.
• Provide better street guides for precincts.

Chris Grace, a Marin County voter, read a statement about a demonstration of the Humboldt Transparency Project that he had attended. He said he was impressed by the work done by Humboldt County and feels like it would be a good idea for Marin because it seems like a way to lower the cost of recounts in close races.

Update on VoteCal – Statewide voter registration database

Ms. Ginnold reported on a presentation given by the Secretary of State about progress on the VoteCal project. The original contract had to be cancelled because the company that held the contract was unable to provide the state with a performance bond. The new contract will be scaled back, but will include all of the functionality that the Help America Vote Act and State law requires, including on line voter registration. Bidders will be pre-qualified by February 2011. Final contract proposals are due September 2011. The date for award of the contract is December 2011, with complete deployment by June 2014. For information about Cal Voter, go to the Secretary of State’s website. www.sos.ca.gov/elections.

Highlights of new election legislation effective in 2011

• AB1717 (Ch 119) – allows voters to opt out of receipt of Voter Information Pamphlet by mail and get it electronically instead. The Registrar of Voters’ office will be deciding on how to implement this legislation.
• AB2023 (Ch. 122) – Authorizes 5 counties to participate in a “risk limiting audit” process after elections held in 2011. Marin will be one of the five counties to participate in this type of audit. Other volunteer counties are: Orange, Sacramento, Santa Cruz, and Yolo. UC Berkeley Statistics Professor, Philip Stark, will be the lead investigator in this research project. Findings from the research could lead to an alternative to the required one percent manual tally.
• SB1404 (Ch. 333) – Imposes penalties on voting equipment and ballot printing vendors for failure to disclose known defects in voting equipment and ballots.

Election projects in 2011

Ms. Ginnold reported that the ROV office would be working on the following major projects during 2011:

• Conduct risk limiting audits after elections in 2011 as one of pilot counties under AB 2023.
• Redraw precinct boundary lines to conform to the new political boundary lines and new census data. Will discuss this process at a meeting early next year.
• Prepare for “Top Two” Primary election in 2012. This type of primary election could result in every Marin voter receiving 2 ballots, which will increase the cost of the election. Secretary of State is working on revisions to SB6, the implementing legislation for the new primary, that may address some of counties’ concerns about ballot capacity.

Election Advisory Committee Meeting schedule in 2011

Ms. Ginnold distributed the schedule of election advisory committee meetings for next year. The schedule may need to be changed depending on whether or not a statewide election is called for spring of 2011. See schedule attached.

Other business

Committee members expressed interest in placing the following items on the agenda for discussion at its January meeting.

• Election transparency project – independent recount of vote
• Possible special election
• Potential ballot items such as referendum in San Rafael and repeal of the Smart tax - % of vote needed to repeal;
• Campaign fraud
• Vote Cal – what does the requirement to “remediate” the county Election Information Management Systems (EIMS) systems mean and what does it mean for Marin in particular.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 11:30 a.m. The next meeting will be on Friday, January 21, 2011.

Registrar of Voters
Election Advisory Committee Meeting
Friday, September 17, 2010, 9:30 a.m.
Room 324A, Marin Civic Center

Minutes

A meeting of the Registrar of Voters’ Election Advisory Committee was held on Friday, September 17, at 9:30 a.m. in Room 324A of the Civic Center. Members present were: Barbara Gaman, Marcia Hagen, Cris Jones, Morgan Kelly, Mark Kyle, Carolyn Placente, Steve Silberstein, Eva Waskell for Linda Bagneschi Dorrance, and Cat Woods. Also present was Sabrina Gloria from Dominican University, Matthew Hymel, County Administrative Officer, Clarissa Daniel, Deputy County Administrator, and Melvin Briones, Elaine Ginnold, Colleen Ksanda and Michael Smith, from the Registrar of Voters.

November 2, 2010 General Election

Ms. Ginnold distributed a revised FAQ flier showing important dates and facts for the November 2 General Election. The number of registered voters as of September 3 was 149,434 and is expected to increase. The number of vote by mail ballots that will be mailed to voters on October 4 is 88,387, 59% of the registered voters. This mailing includes permanent VBM, VBM precincts, military and overseas voters and voters who have requested a ballot for this election.

Registration and voting issues

• Mail ballot precincts – there will be 30 mail ballot precincts with approximately 2000 voters in mail ballot precincts for this election. Committee suggested revisions to the language of a letter to be sent to voters in VBM precincts letting them know their ballots are in the mail.
• Youth voting and registration – there are 3 high schools which have signed up to conduct mock elections on October 26: San Rafael HS, Terra Linda HS and Madrone HS. The deadline to sign up to receive materials in the mail is Sept. 20. After that date, materials are e-mailed to the schools. Several committee members said they would call their school district and urge their high schools to participate.
• Voters who leave home due to foreclosure – Ms. Ginnold reported that the Secretary of State has advised election officials that voters who are forced out of their homes due to foreclosure may use their old address for voting purposes. This advice is based on a ruling issued by the CA Supreme Court in Walters v. Weed in 1988.
• New registrations in Marin County with % VBM – Ms. Ginnold reported that the office receives an average of 158 new registrations every week. Approximately 136 (86%) of these voters request permanent vote by mail status. Postcards with a VBM application are sent to the remaining voters. Of those, approximately 10% sign up for permanent VBM status.

Update on new organizational structure for Registrar of Voters’ Department

Matthew Hymel spoke to the Committee about the planned reporting structure for the Registrar of Voters. As of January 1, 2011, the Registrar of Voters will be a separate County department, with the department head reporting to the County Administrator. A professional recruitment process will be used for future ROVs, with possible overlap to assure a smooth transition. Clarissa Daniel will be the management contact at the CAO’s office for the Registrar. The Election Advisory Committee will continue to act in an advisory capacity to the Registrar of Voters on election issues.

Open source voting systems

Brent Turner, open source voting specialist, spoke about how the first count of ballots should be the proper count and if a voting system uses vendor-free open source software, rather than proprietary software, then anyone can see the code. He described his vision of a voting and counting process at the polls. For more information go to www.openvoting.org.

Humboldt Transparency Project Demonstration in San Francisco.

Eva Waskell described a demonstration of a process used in Humboldt County where the ballots are rescanned with a digital scanner to provide another count to compare with the first count. Ms. Ginnold will notify the Committee if there is a demonstration scheduled in Marin County.

Election Legislation

Ms. Ginnold reported on new election legislation, most of which has already been chaptered. Following is a summary of the bills discussed:

• AB 1717 (Chapter 119) Voters can opt to receive their sample ballots electronically or on ROV website. They will also be able to opt out.
• AB 2023 (Chapter 122) establishes a pilot program for 5 counties to conduct risk limiting audit after the canvass. Marin County has been participating in research on this process conducted by Professor Philip Stark from UC Berkeley and may be one of the 5 pilot counties.
• AB 1531 and SB 1140 – one stop registration and voting. This bill will take effect after Vote Cal is implemented. Ms. Ginnold reported that the Secretary of State will be issuing a new RFP for VoteCal and expects the system to be completed by 2014.
• SB 6 – This bill is the implementation legislation for the new open primary election. There is talk in Sacramento that the legislature will vote to move the 2012 Presidential Primary from February to be the same date in June (or another month) as the Direct Primary.
• SB 1342 (Chapter 111) – allows election official to subtract the number of permanent VBM voters when establishing election precincts. It is unclear how the formula in this legislation can be interpreted.

Other business

The committee suggested that elections in 2011 be put on the agenda for the December meeting.

Eva Waskell asked that the wording of her announcement about a demonstration of the Humboldt Transparency Project in the minutes include the following underlined language to add additional information.

Eva Waskell described a demonstration of a process used in Humboldt County where all of the ballots are rescanned with a digital scanner to provide an independent count using open source software to compare with the first count that used a proprietary system. Ms. Waskell also announced that Lori Grace had called her right before the meeting to tell her that she was working with a member of the Marin County Board of Supervisors named Charles. Charles and Lori were going to arrange to have a demo of the Humboldt Transparency Project at the Civic Center in October, and Ms. Waskell asked that Ms. Ginnold notify the Election Advisory Committee of the time and date once Lori and/or Charles got back to Ms. Ginnold with the information. Ms. Ginnold said that she will notify the Committee when there is a demonstration scheduled in Marin County.

There being no other business, the meeting adjourned at 11:20 a.m. The next meeting will be on Friday, December 17, 2010, at 9:30 a.m. in Room 324A of the Civic Center.

Registrar of Voters
Election Advisory Committee Meeting
Friday, August 20, 2010, 9:30 a.m.
Room 324A, Marin Civic Center

Minutes

A meeting of the Registrar of Voters’ Election Advisory Committee was held on Friday, August 20 in Room 324A of the Marin Civic Center. Members present were: Esther Beirne, Greg Brockbank, Barbara Gaman, Bonnie Glaser, Marcia Hagen, Caroline Placente, Anne Layzer, Jeanne Leoncini, Steve Silberstein, Hoa Long Tam, Eva Waskell for Linda Bagneschi Dorrance, Also present were Suzanne Brown Crow and Lori Grace. Present from the Registrar of Voters were: Melvin Briones, Elaine Ginnold, Maureen Hogan, and Colleen Ksanda.

June 8, 2010 Direct Primary Election

Committee members reviewed two reports relating to the June 8th election: Report on turnout in Gubernatorial Primary Elections in Marin County from 2002 to 2010. This report showed that turnout in Gubernatorial Primary Elections in Marin County has increased from 47.52% to 51.31% from 2002 to 2010. The report also showed that during this time period, the number of voters voting at the polls has decreased from 57.23% to 34.68% while the number of voters voting by mail has increased from 42.77% to 65.32%. While there appears to be a correlation between the increase in vote by mail voters and the increase in turnout, turnout is also driven by the type of election and candidates and issues that are on the ballot.

Report on Vote by Mail and Provisional voting in the June 8th Primary Election.

This report showed the number of vote by mail and provisional ballots counted and not counted for the June 8th Primary Election. Total turnout was 51.31%, with vote by mail turnout at 65.31% of total turnout. Of the 50,235 vote by mail ballots counted, 703 or 1.38% were not counted because they were too late, the voter had not signed their envelopes, or the voter’s signature on the envelope didn’t match the signature on the voter registration card. The number of VBM ballots returned too late to be counted as a percentage of the total VBM ballots returned has declined since the June 2006 Primary Election, while the number of ballots rejected because the signature didn’t match has increased. The Committee suggested that the Registrar of Voters attempt to find out if the same voters are returning their ballots too late or with mismatching signatures in every election and let them know. Steve Silberstein pointed out that the percentage of rejected VBM ballots is very small compared to the number of VBM ballots returned and counted. Greg Brockbank asked that a small discrepancy in the percentages between the VBM percent counted and the percent rejected be corrected on the report – see attached corrected report.

Speakers from public

Suzanne Brown Crow reported that she had organized a group of observers to check on the posting of the results tapes outside of the polling places after the June 8th election and found that only 30% of the polling places had the tapes posted and some of the poll workers didn’t know what they were. At our next poll worker training classes, we will explain to all poll workers what the results tapes are and the importance of posting them.

Lori Grace spoke to the committee about her involvement with election integrity issues and reported that her Grace Foundation was offering a grant to recognize an election official who participates in a project similar to the one used in the Humboldt County Transparency Project. The project involves using a scanner that makes digital images of the ballots after the election and puts the images on CDs for the public. There will be a presentation about this system on Sept. 15th in San Francisco at 7:00 p.m. Ms. Grace will e-mail information about it to Ms. Ginnold who will pass it on to committee members.

November 2, 2010 General Election

Ms. Ginnold reported that Marin County would have a very large ballot with many candidates, 9 State propositions, and 21 local measures. The Committee reviewed a report of important dates and facts for the November election. There are 52 different ballot styles and 202 precincts, 32 of which are mail ballot precincts for this election. The number of mail ballot precincts is a result of the location of the boundary lines of the jurisdictions on the ballot.

Colleen Ksanda reported that there will be one polling place change due to remodeling at the First Presbyterian Church in San Rafael. Voters in the precinct will be assigned to nearby polling places and will receive notification of the change.

Ms. Ksanda also distributed Marin Votes, a newsletter she prepares for poll workers. The newsletter is published once each year and sent to poll workers with their recruitment letter in August. (80% of poll workers in Marin County are returning workers.) The current issue, #4, includes articles on how the census could impact voting in Marin, an explanation of a mail ballot precinct, information about turnout in the Primary Election, and more. Ms. Ksanda reported that the newsletters from the past 4 years are posted on the ROV website.

National Voter Registration Act (Motor Voter) – report on implementation in Marin.

Maureen Hogan, who is in charge of Voter Registration and Outreach in the ROV Office, distributed a report with voter registration statistics for the past year. The report showed that in the past year 5,454 voters were added to the rolls, and 12,281 updated their registrations. Of the new voters, 1,902 registered at the DMV.

Update on VoteCal

Ms. Ginnold reported that the contract with Catalyst Consulting for the statewide voter registration database was cancelled and that the Secretary of State is preparing a request for proposal to find a new vendor.

New voter outreach materials.

The Committee reviewed the following new voter outreach materials which were created at the suggestion of the Committee:

• VBM Brochure: Both the English and Spanish versions of a new brochure How to Vote by Mail in Marin County were distributed to committee members.
• Video on voting by mail: Melvin Briones showed committee members the new video about how voting by mail works in Marin County. The video is now on U-Tube and there is a link to it on the ROV website. Marsha Hagan requested that the link to the video be published in the next printing of the VBM brochure and also put on the website in the link to Voting by Mail under Common Voter Questions.

ROV website:

Mr. Briones showed committee members the new ROV website, www.marinvotes.org which has new look-ups for voters. Voters can check to see if they are registered to vote, to look up their districts and elected officials, and check to see if their mail ballot or provisional ballot was counted. The new site should be up by next week.

Election Legislation – the following bills will be discussed at the September meeting.

• AB 1717 (Chapter 119) Voters can opt to receive their sample ballots electronically or on ROV website.
• AB 2023 (Chapter 122) establishes a pilot program for 5 counties to conduct risk limiting audit after the canvass.
• AB 1531 and SB 1140 – one stop registration and voting (after Vote Cal is implemented)
• SB 6 – implementation of new primary election rules
• SB 1342 (Chapter 111) – allows election official to subtract the number of permanent VBM voters when establishing election precincts.

Caroline Placente announced that Grassroots has started a new initiative called, “Take Power over Poverty.” The goal of the initiative is to encourage citizens to participate in the electoral process of registering and voting and to show them how voter participation can impact their communities in a positive manner.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 11:40 a.m. The next meeting will be at 9:30 a.m. on Friday, September 17, in room 324A of the Civic Center.

The meeting was cancelled this month.

Registrar of Voters
Election Advisory Committee Meeting
Friday, March 26, 2010, 9:30 a.m.
Room 324A, Marin Civic Center

Minutes

A meeting of the Election Advisory Committee was held on Friday, March 26, 2010 in Room 324A of the Civic Center. Present were: Laurel Druke from Dominican, Barbara Gaman, Marcia Hagen, Cris Jones, Morgan Kelly, Jeanne Leoncini, Hoa Long Tam, Cat Woods. Also present was Pashia Lord from St. Vincent’s, Present from the Registrar of Voters were Tony Aquilino, Melvin Briones, Elaine Ginnold and Colleen Ksanda.

Committee members reviewed the minutes and made a correction to the item on Mock Elections in the Schools. The mock election will be for 3rd and 4th graders, not 4th and 5th graders.

June 8, 2010 Direct Primary Election

Ms. Ginnold distributed an Election Fact Sheet with key dates and information about the election. There will be 104 polling places and 185 precincts for the election. (See Fact Sheet attached) Committee members made suggestions for revisions to the Guide to Ballots that will be printed in the sample ballot for the June election (see revised Guide attached)

VoteCal – discovery sessions report

Tony Aquilino reported on the discovery sessions held in Sacramento in February and March as part of the development of VoteCal, the new statewide database of registered voters that is required by the Help America Vote Act. The Secretary of State has contracted with Catalyst to build the new system from the ground up. Tony and Melvin Briones, along with representatives from 10 other counties were selected to participate in the discovery sessions held to provide information to Catalyst about current county processes for voter registration and related tasks and how they should be done with the new system. Under the new system, each county will be connected to the database with a T-1 line. These lines have already been installed in most of the counties, including Marin. Voter registration will be on-line and synched up with the DMV and its signature database as well as the social security database to check voter registration information. What is currently a 2-day checking process will become a 2-second process with the new system.

The Secretary of State expects the system to be in place by November 2011. One of the issues under discussion is the possibility that the State will assume responsibility for mailing the Voter Confirmation Cards to voters who register or change their registrations, thereby freeing the counties from this duty.

Voting accessibility at the polls report

Colleen Ksanda reported on the background of the Registrar of Voters’ Dept. efforts to comply with the federal and state requirements for accessible polling places. Colleen reported that she and Tony surveyed all polling places in 2005. They re-survey when there is a room change or the polling place changes. The surveys begin at the property line and include path of travel and parking lot. The ROV Dept. has purchased mitigation equipment such as ramps, cones and signs to make the polling sites as accessible as possible. Colleen reported that the department uses a moving company to deliver and set up the mitigation equipment before the polls open. As of 2005, 64 sites were accessible, 20 sites were inaccessible and 21 were usable by most people with disabilities, but not fully accessible.

The Secretary of State has revised the Polling Place Accessibility Survey, which includes more precise details of what needs to be checked at polling sites to determine whether or not they are accessible. Colleen plans to use the new survey to check the inaccessible polling places in July and August.

The Dept. will be forming a Voter Accessibility Advisory Committee (VAAC) to advise us on polling place accessibility issues and is recruiting members of Marin County’s disabled community to be members. Members of the Registrar of Voters’ Election Advisory Committee are also invited to participate. The VAAC will help interpret the surveys, determine the best form of mitigation, choose the best site and recommend change of site. The first meeting of the VAAC Committee will be in August 25, 2010 at 9:30 a.m. at the Registrar of Voters Office.

Website status report

Tony Aquilino reported on the progress of the redesign of the ROV website. The basic structure is ready and the vendor is designing the landing pages for the main topics and will conduct usability testing of the site. Tony will assist them to link our existing material to the new structure. The new site should be up and running by May 1.

Report on voting by mail in precincts with highest and lowest turnout in the Nov. 2009 General District Election (attached)

The committee discussed a report it had requested on the percentage of voters voting at the polls and by mail in the 10 precincts with the highest turnout and the 10 precincts with the lowest turnout for the November 2009 election. The report showed that the Marin Valley Mobile Country Club (precinct 5013) in Novato had the highest turnout at 68.00% with 48% of the voters voting by mail. The Marin Community Services District (precinct 3023) in Marin City had the lowest turnout at 16.03%, with 13.85% of the voters voting by mail. The Committee suggested that in future reports, mail ballot precincts with registration of less than 100 voters not be included.

Ms. Ginnold will revise the current report to eliminate the VBM precincts and is working on a similar report for the November 2008 election.

Election Legislation

The Committee briefly discussed each of the following election-related bills:

• AB 2154 – vote by mail, telephone application – would allow voters to request a vote by mail ballot by phone. Currently, a vote voter can only request a vote by mail ballot in writing.
• AB 2616 - vote by mail voter can track VBM ballot on line – this bill would allow voters to see if their vote by mail ballots have been counted by looking on line. Marin already provides this service to voters.
• AB 2731 - IRV in special vacancy elections (SB1346 also) – these two bills set forth an instant runoff voting (IRV) process for special elections called to fill a vacancy.
• SB 1140 - Election Day registration – this bill would allow persons to register to vote on Election Day at the ROV office and at the polls.

Other business

Cris Jones reported that census workers would be going out to interview homeless people in the night and was concerned that the people awakened in the middle of the night would be frightened.

Pashia reported that she would be setting up tables in Marin City to provide information about the census, voter registration, and voting.

Laurel reported that she, Michael and Pashia would be meeting to plan the mock election which will be held for 3rd and 4th graders at the MLK School in April on a date to be determined.

Carolyn reported that Grassroots will also be providing information about the census and voting in Marin City and other locations as part of their healthy communities program.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 11:30 a.m. The July meeting will be rescheduled for either late June or late July, depending on the availability of room 324A. The April 26, 2010 meeting was cancelled because Ms. Ginnold broke her leg and could not be there.

Registrar of Voters
Election Advisory Committee Meeting
Friday, February 19, 2010, 9:30 a.m.
Room 324A, Marin Civic Center

Minutes

A meeting of the Election Advisory Committee was held on Friday, February 19, 2010 in Room 324A of the Civic Center. Present were: Esther Beirne, Greg Brockbank, Laurel Druke from Dominican, Bonnie Glaser, Marcia Hagen, Cris Jones, Morgan Kelly, Anne Layzer, Jeanne Leoncini, Carolyn Placente, from Grassroots, Bob Richard, Carlos Sanchez, Steve Silberstein, Eva Waskell, representing Linda Bagneschi Dorrance, and Cat Woods. Present from the Registrar of Voters were Elaine Ginnold, Colleen Ksanda and Michael Smith. Also present was John Ortega.

Mock Elections in schools

Ms. Ginnold reported on the participation of Marin County High Schools in the Secretary of State’s high school mock election program. Nine high schools in Marin County held mock elections for the November 2009 General Election. The Secretary of State will repeat the program before the November 2010 elections and plans to send invitations to participate to all high schools in the state later this Spring. As part of the program, the Secretary of State provides ballots with state wide candidates, tally sheets, I voted stickers and easy voter guides. The program coordinators at each high school are usually the History or Government teachers.

Laurel Druke, a student at Dominican, presented a proposed curriculum for a mock election for 4th and 5th graders. She and other Dominican students will be working with Michael Smith to conduct a mock election in one elementary school for the June Primary Election. Committee members discussed the proposal and suggested that the school selected be one that serves Marin City students.

John Ortega spoke about the importance of educating students about the election process so that they would be more likely to participate in the process as adults. Mr. Ortega stated that he has been a long time advocate of mock elections in the schools.

June 8, 2010 Primary Election notices and information

Notice to Decline to State Voters - Committee members reviewed the notice that the Registrar is required to mail to all non partisan voters who are also permanent vote by mail voters. The notice will inform non partisan voters that the Republican and Democratic parties will permit them to vote a partisan ballot in the June election. The Committee made suggestions for revisions which will be incorporated in the Notice and mailed to voters.

Information pages for Voter Information Pamphlet – Committee members made suggestions for revision to the Vote by Mail FAQ page and the Voter Registration Page. The revisions will be included in the voter information pamphlet for the June 2010 election.

Vote by Mail statistics

Ms. Ginnold reviewed a report of statistical information on voter turnout and vote by mail participation in the two Pickleweed Park precincts. The report showed that the number of vote by mail voters has increased in these two precincts since 2002 and the increase in the number of voters voting by mail parallels the increase in turnout in these precincts over the last eight years.

Information to voters about VBM

Ms. Ginnold distributed a draft brochure on how vote by mail works in Marin County. Committee members provided suggestions on revisions, which will be incorporated into the final copy and posted on the ROV website.

Cost comparison of voting at polls and by mail vs voting only by mail

Committee members received a report showing a comparison between the costs of an all vote by mail election vs. an election that includes both vote by mail and polling places. The report shows that the cost of an all mail ballot election is $2.00 per registered voter less than the cost of an election that has both voting by mail and polling places.

Secretary of State hearing on the future of voting

Ms. Ginnold reported on the Secretary of State’s hearing on the future of voting which was held in Sacramento on Monday, February 8. Three panels discussed the future of voting from the federal, state and local perspectives. Panel members made presentations on military and overseas voting, the federal and state certification process, the challenges of the voting equipment certification process; the development of an open source, digital voting system; ballot on demand; the LA County voting systems Assessment Project; and King County’s transition to vote by mail elections. More information about this hearing is available on the Secretary of State’s website, www.sos.ca.gov.

Other business

Michael Smith reported on the status of the reporting structure for the Registrar of Voters and the status of the County budget. The current plan is for the Registrar of Voters report to the County Administrative Officer. County budget projections show that there will be an increasing gap between revenues and expenditures, due mainly to a reduction in revenues from property taxes. This gap is currently at $20.1 million and projected to increase to $52.1 million over the next five years.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 11:40 a.m. The next meeting of the Election Advisory Committee will be on Friday, March 26, 2010 at 9:30 a.m.

Registrar of Voters
Election Advisory Committee Meeting
Friday, January 22, 2010, 9:30 a.m.
Room 324A, Marin Civic Center

Minutes

A meeting of the Election Advisory Committee was held on Friday, January 22, 2010 in Room 324A of the Civic Center. Present were: Greg Brockbank, Laurel Druke from Dominican, Bonnie Glaser, Marcia Hagen, Cris Jones, Anne Layzer, Jeanne Leoncini, Carolyn Placente, from Grassroots, Bob Richard, Carlos Sanchez, Steve Silberstein, and Eva Waskell, representing Linda Bagneschi Dorrance. Present from the Registrar of Voters were Melvin Briones, Elaine Ginnold, Colleen Ksanda, and Michael Smith.

Minutes

Minutes of the meeting of December 18, 2010 were approved. Bonnie Glaser asked that the name “statewide database” be changed to “Statewide Voter Registration Database” when referring to the VoteCal system to avoid confusing it with the “Statewide Database” which is housed at UC Berkeley and collects election data used for analysis and redistricting.

June 8, 2010 Primary Election

The committee reviewed an abbreviated timetable of deadlines for the June 8, 2010 primary election. The Candidate’s Manual for the election was also distributed at the meeting. The deadline for the Secretary of State to notify election offices of the political parties which will allow Decline to State voters to crossover and vote a party ballot for the Primary Election is on Monday, January 25. (NOTE: On January 25, the SOS notified election offices that the Democratic and Republican parties will allow Decline to State voters to vote for partisan primary candidates except for central committee members.)

Outreach to Spanish Speaking voters

One of the goals of the Election Advisory Committee is to provide outreach and voter education services in low-turnout areas of the county. Since 2006, the Registrar of Voters’ Office has partnered with Grassroots Leadership network to provide voter outreach and education services in low turnout precincts. Ms. Ginnold distributed a report of turnout for 6 low turnout precincts that have larger than average Spanish speaking populations. The report compared turnout in the 6 targeted precincts to countywide turnout for November elections from 2002- 2008. The report suggests that the turnout gap is closing in these precincts. For example, in Canal area precinct 4600, the turnout gap shrank by 4.35% between November 2004 and November 2008. The turnout gap in Novato precinct 5225 shrank by 17.55% during the same period and turnout there was 1.82% higher than the county average in November 2008. The Registrar of Voters’ Office will expand its analysis of turnout to precincts in Marin City, which had the lowest turnout in the county for the November 2009 election. Committee members had the following comments and suggestions to increase voter participation:

• Revise the report to include the percentages of vote by mail and polling place voters to analyze how vote by mail impacts turnout. Do the same type of analysis for the Marin City precincts. Inform voters about the VBM option.
• Outreach to voters could be combined with outreach efforts on the census.
• There can be distrust of government functions, such as mail delivery, in some communities so more information about the VBM process would be helpful. The ROV office could prepare information on the VBM process, including chain of custody of the ballots, how to apply, etc. for the website in order to demystify the process for the public.
• Encourage students to conduct mock elections in their schools so that the election process becomes more familiar to them. Families could also be involved in this effort.
• Translate the VBM outreach card and application into Spanish and send it to voters in precincts with high numbers of Spanish speaking voters.
• Equip a mobile voter registration truck to go from neighborhood to neighborhood to provide voter registration services and information about the election process.
• Laurel Druke reported that she has worked as a voter registration volunteer at Dominican, where she is a student, and that her group had registered 125 students before the November 2008 election. She is interested in continuing these efforts for elections in 2010.

Webpage revisions

Ms. Ginnold distributed a handout showing the most recent website structure which was revised to include suggestions made by Election Advisory Committee members at the December meeting. The next step is to link all of the pages together and create landing pages for the main topics. The revisions should be complete by the end of April. Committee members suggested removing or changing the label of the e-store link unless we plan to use it.

CA redistricting commission

Committee members received copies of information pages from the wedrawthelines.com website, which tracks applicants to the new CA Redistricting Commission. The deadline for applications is Feb. 12. Of the applicants to date, most are white, male and from N. California. Bonnie Glaser distributed detailed statistics on the applicants to the Commission and a brochure prepared by the Redistricting California Alliance which describes the selection process for the new commission. Bonnie reported that she is researching the implementation of the new redistricting process. The census will take place in 2010, but most of the work of the commission will take place from January to September 2011. Commissioners will serve until 2020.

Other Business

At the February meeting Ms. Ginnold will bring statistics on VBM levels, a plan to inform voters about the permanent VBM option for voting, a draft informational brochure about the VBM process, and a cost comparison of voting by mail vs voting at the polls.

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 11:30 a.m. The next meeting will be on Friday, February 19 at 9:30 a.m.