Marin County Elections Department
Language Accessibility Advisory Committee Meeting (LAAC)
April 4, 2023, 2:30, PM
Virtual (Zoom) Meeting
Minutes
Attendees
Sietse Goffard, Asian Americans Advancing Justice / Asian Law Caucus
Lynda Roberts, Registrar of Voters
Megan Stone, Elections Outreach Coordinator
Danny Straub, Elections Outreach Coordinator
Colleen Ksanda, Sr. Program Coordinator
Welcome
Ms. Roberts opened the meeting and thanked the members for their participation.
Poll Observation Report—Asian Americans Advancing Justice / Asian Law Caucus
Sietse Goffard reviewed the report produced by the AAAJ / ALC volunteer poll monitors in the November 2022 General Election. Overall, the Marin County operation of vote centers was well done. The report included a review of accessibility since AAAJ / ALC works with Disability Rights California. Volunteers noted an absence of signature guides for voters with visual impairment, and also noted that some workers asked for more trianing on the ballot marking devices (BMDs). Otherwise, observations were very positive.
Mr. Goffard continues to look for contacts to assist Marin County with recruiting Chinese and Vietnamese bilingual workers.
Discussion
Collen Ksanda mentioned that the Elections Department has not provided signature guides in the past because they were never requested. The standard has been to provide needed supplies to keep the volume manageable. The Elections Department team can get feedback at the upcoming Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee meeting about signature guides. Ms. Ksanda noted that recruiting bilingual workers is an ongoing challenge, especially when people drop out at the last minute.
Mr. Goffard said that some counties over-recruit for bilingual workers in order to have a reserve pool and some counties have had success by hiring high school students with bilingual skills. He will continue asking his contacts about resources.
In response to a question about the location or locations where workers indicated needing more training on the BMDs, Mr. Goffard said he would email more detialed information.
In response to a question about vote center locations, Ms. Ksanda indicated the intent to maintain the same locations if they remain available since consistency is beneficial to voters.
Ms. Roberts said this report was helpful and asked if ALC will continue reviewing vote centers. Mr. Goffard said their intent is to visit vote centers in various counties during statewide elections.
Ms. Ksanda gave a report about the March 7, 2023, local election.
- The City of Mill Valley and Novato Unified School District were in this election with a combined total of about 50,000 registered voters.
- There were four vote centers: Three 11-day centers and an additional center that opened on Election Day.
- The staffing consisted of seventeen workers, with two bilingual Spanish speakers and two bilingual Chinese speakers.
- The total in-person voting turnout was 125 voters.
Voter’s Choice Act—Election Administration Plan Revisions
The Voter’s Choice Act requires a review of the Election Administration Plan (EAP), which includes the outreach and education plan, two years after implementation and every four years thereafter. 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.
Mr. Straub is editing the outreach portion of the plan and Ms. Acosta will help draft the plan based on his changes.
Ms. Roberts asked for ideas about how to promote the public workshop. Mr. Goffard offered the following ideas used by other Bay Area counties:
- Provide grants to nonprofit spaces to host workshops.
- Market as an invitation to an event.
- Use social media; advertise on buses.
- Hang posters at community centers, grocery stores, and ethnic businesses.
Vote Center Turnout
Ms. Roberts reviewed a chart showing in-person voting in the first three elections using the new vote center model.
- Vote centers in Marin County were implemented starting with the June 2022 primary election.
- Voter turnout was low during the early period 4-10 days before the election.
- Voter turnout was higher starting 3 days before the election, with the highest turnout on Election Day.
- Other vote center counties have this same pattern.
Discussion
It is a challenge to find locations available for 11 days; first-choice locations typically are not available. There is also a concern that election workers will lose excitement about participating because there are so many days of having no voters.
Early voting is important for certain demographics and voting rights groups feel strongly about maintaining the longer period.
Perhaps a tiered system based on county size would be a reasonable change to the legislation.
Quarterly Meeting Schedule
Ms. Roberts asked for feedback about the current meeting schedule.
Discussion
A quarterly schedule is standard for most counties and they usually meet on Tuesday, Wednesday, or Thursday. Some counties meet after 5 p.m. The virtutal format is also preferred.
Closing Remarks/Next Meeting
Ms. Roberts thanked everyone for participating. The next quarterly meeting will be in July, date to be determined.
The meeting adjourned at 3:30 p.m.