Registrar of Voters
Election Advisory Committee Meeting
Friday, March 17, 2023, 9:30 AM
Zoom Meeting
Minutes
Attendees
Becky Bingea, Greg Brockbank, Robin Diederich, Cathleen Dorinson, Bonnie Glaser, Anne Layzer, Tom Montgomery, Sean Peisert, Bob Richard, Steve Silberstein
Representing the Elections Department: Lynda Roberts, Registrar of Voters; Megan Stone, Elections Technician; Danny Straub, Elections Technician
Welcome
Lynda Roberts opened the meeting and thanked everyone for attending. Ms. Roberts let the committee know that Anne Layzer was stepping down. She thanked Ms. Layzer for serving on the committee since its inception and for her support and dedication. Ms. Layzer referred to her years of civic service and said it has been most important that people can participate in the voting process.
Voter’s Choice Act—Election Administration Plan revisions
The Voter’s Choice Act requires a review of the Election Administration Plan that includes the outreach and education plan (EAP) two years after implementation, and then every four years. Ms. Roberts, Ms. Stone and Mr. Straub are working on a revised draft with assistance from Liz Acosta, who was the project leader during the 2019-2021 implementation phase.
Ms. Roberts reviewed the process and timeline:
- Advisory committees will have an opportunity to review the first draft and provide feedback.
- A preview copy will be sent to the Secretary of State for feedback before holding the public workshop.
- The department plans to hold the public workshop during the summer and will post a copy of the revised draft online for the required 14-day public comment period prior to the workshop.
- The final version will be posted online and submitted to the Secretary of State for approval by the September 7 deadline.
Ms. Stone and Mr. Straub will revise the outreach/education portion of the EAP and will incorporate lessons learned from the 2022 election cycle and the recent March 2023 local election. They will consider a proportional response to outreach/education based on the type of election, which will provide flexibility and allow the team to properly scale their efforts. Feedback from the advisory committees about changes will be important.
Update about Student Elections Ambassador Program (SEAP)
Ms. Stone provided updates. Two ambassadors were invited last fall to function as liaisons and participate on the steering committee that includes the League of Women Voters and Marin County Office of Education. The liaisons suggested holding an in-person youth town hall that would allow participants to network with other young people and local officials. The event is scheduled for Sunday, April 23, 2-4 p.m. in the Civic Center Board of Supervisors chambers and will include snacks and giveaways. Many local mayors will be participating on a panel.
Ms. Stone will email program details to the Elections Department advisory committees, and requests that committee members share the information with their networks to promote the event. Student ambassadors will share event information with their peers.
Questions/Comments
May anyone attend? The event is focused on teens and young adults, but the board chambers can accommodate 200 people.
Are the organizers aware that April 23 is a massive Earth Day event at the Mill Valley Community Center? The youth town hall has been organized by the two ambassador liaisons and they specifically chose the weekend of Earth Day believing it to be the best day to target teens and young adults. The Elections Department is lending support for their effort.
There is a national non-profit called The Civics Center doing the same work as the student ambassador program. They are registering young people and educating them about how to vote and complete a ballot.
The League of Women Voters of Marin County monthly member meeting is scheduled for April 3 via Zoom and will focus on the Student Elections Ambassador Program. Anyone is welcome to attend: LWVMC April Member Meeting, Monday, April 3, 11:30am-1:00pm.
Zoom link to register: https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZ0vcemhpz8jHNd8cQG0ihOwekA_HK3i3CLU
New observer packet and ballot flowchart
Ms. Roberts reviewed the new observer packet and ballot flowchart. Jenny Sowry revised and expanded the previous handouts to make a more complete booklet for in-office election observers. Staff carefully reviewed the ballot flowchart for accuracy. Creating a detailed flowchart was intentional based on observers’ questions from the November 2022 election. A framed poster of the flowchart is hanging in the main office. The intent of the new booklet and flowchart is to provide more comprehensive information about ballot processing and additional transparency. A laminated copy of the flowchart will be posted in the sorter area and copies will be available at the front counter for observers to take.
A simplified version of the flowchart will be created for posting online. The team will ask for committee feedback prior to finalizing the chart.
Questions/Comments
The web version of the ballot flowchart could include 5-6 boxes with the basic information and details could be provided by clicking on each box. There could be a link to the PDF version of the chart. There are some suggestions from Adobe to make PDFs accessible: https://www.adobe.com/accessibility/pdf/pdf-accessibility-overview.html
One member suggested reviewing the wording on page 13 of the booklet regarding adjudication—it may be confusing as written.
In the flowchart, it would be good to have a glossary that defines key words like "challenged ballot", "challenged envelope signature" and "extraction and inspection".
Overview of Senate Bill 504 passed in 2022
Ms. Roberts reviewed two aspects of the bill.
First, qualified military and overseas voters and voters with disabilities may complete a conditional voter registration (CVR) and cast a provisional ballot starting 14 days prior to an election through 8 p.m. on Election Day. Before this bill was enacted, conditional voter registration had to be done in person, which eliminated the option for those unable to do so. With this new law, the department can offer CVR using the remote accessible vote by mail (RAVBM) option. SB 504 was passed as an urgency bill so this new option was available during the 2022 election cycle. The process allows people to register online and instructs them to notify their registrar of voters that they need a CVR ballot. After the voter registration form is processed, the department sends the voter a link to the RAVBM ballot. If a voter contacts the department prior to registering, staff will walk them through the steps. Some Marin County voters used this method during 2022.
Second, counties are now required to notify persons who have been released from imprisonment that their voting rights are restored. The Secretary of State prepared a form letter for this purpose. The workflow is as follows:
- On a weekly basis, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation provides the Secretary of State with information identifying persons imprisoned for conviction of a felony and persons on parole.
- The Secretary of State provides county elections officials with information about matching registration records.
- Elections officials will cancel voter registration of those imprisoned and notify those who are eligible to re-register.
So far, the Marin County Elections Department has received zero updates from the Secretary of State.
Miscellaneous
The department will certify the March 7 Special Election on March 24. Voters have until March 22 by 5 p.m. to correct a signature problem on their ballot envelope.
The next meeting is scheduled for Friday, April 21, 2023, 9:30-11:30 a.m. in person at the Civic Center, Room 125.
The meeting adjourned at 10:30 a.m.