Voting and Registering to Vote
The 2013 Report of the Nevada County Elections Office
From Gregory J. Diaz Nevada County Clerk-Recorder
and Registrar of Voters
www.mynevadacounty.com/nc/elections/Pages/2013-Election-Report.aspx
Mission Statement:
The success of the democratic process requires fair and open elections that accurately reflect the intent of the electorate. The Nevada County Registrar of Voters is responsible for protecting the integrity of the process, and promoting public trust and confidence through administration of fair and accurate elections.
Nevada County Clerk-Recorder/ Registrar of Voters
County Clerk - Recorder 950 Maidu Avenue, Suite 210 Nevada City, CA 95959 Phone: (530) 265-1221 Fax: (530) 265-9842 mynevadacounty.com/nc/recorder
Gregory J. Diaz County Clerk – Recorder
Gail Smith
Asst. County Clerk – Recorder
County Elections 950 Maidu Avenue, Suite 250
Nevada City, CA 95959 Phone: (530) 265-1298
Fax: (530) 265 –9829 mynevadacounty.com/nc/elections
Date: March 18, 2013
To: Board of Supervisors
Tina Vernon, Marcia Salter, Sue Horne, Keith Royal, Clifford Newell, Holly Hermansen, Rick Haffey, Alison Lehman, Joe Christoffel, Members of the Grand Jury Alison Barratt-Green, Scott McLeran, Steve Monaghan, Charlie Wilson, Jeffery Brown, Martin Polt, Media www.mynevadacounty.com/nc/elections/Pages/2013-Election-Report.aspx
From: Gregory J. Diaz Nevada County Clerk-Recorder and Registrar of Voters
Subject: 2013 Report of the Nevada County Elections Office
Ladies and Gentlemen:
Enclosed herein is a comprehensive report of the status and effectiveness of your Elections Office. Included is a 10-year analysis of the election process in our county, which highlights accomplishments and unmet needs.
Table of Contents
Executive Summary 1
Detailed Summary 4
Provisional Voting 5
Online Registration 8
Conclusion 10
Budget Questionnaire1 12
List of Appendices 17
1 The budget questionnaire is part of the county budget process and is submitted to the County Executive and his staff for analysis.
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Executive Summary
The process of conducting elections in Nevada County has evolved considerably over the past decade. And that evolutionary process will continue in the near future.
Just a few years ago, this symbol would have been meaningless:
http://www.mynevadacounty.com/nc/elections/Pages/Home.aspx
Now it is essential.
Among the most significant of election changes is voting by mail. Over the last decade, the number of voters casting ballots by mail has more than doubled, from 31% in the November 5, 2002, election, to 74% last November. Over the same decade, voter registration has been essentially flat, rising from 60,451 in 2002 to 62,853 in the last election, an increase of 3%.
While this large increase in mailed ballots is of great benefit to voters, processing these ballots is extremely labor intensive and will continue to be so because of a significant number of inherent errors by voters. With the rise in mail-in ballots is the rise in rejections because of these errors. The most frequent errors are mailing the ballot too late, signing the ballot envelope with a signature that doesn’t match the one on file, and failing to sign the ballot envelope at all.
Because we are devoted to assuring that every vote legally cast is counted, we strive to help voters correct their errors whenever possible. For example, all mail-in ballot envelopes are screened for signatures. If the signature is missing, we contact the voter directly, by phone if we have the number on file, or by mail if we don’t.
Another major change is a tripling in the number of provisional ballots. More than 3% of all ballots cast last fall were cast provisionally. Each of these provisional ballots must be vetted manually for legitimacy before they can be tabulated, and that tabulation must also be performed manually.
It seems clear that these trends will continue. The Elections Department currently has too few personnel to carry out its mission effectively, and its physical resources are cumbersome and inadequate.
What we are doing well
Reducing the rejection rate: Through a combination of helping voters correct
their errors and improved communications, we have cut the rejection rate by 1/3rd, to just under 7/10ths of a percent.
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Improving voter convenience: We added a secure drop box so that voters can cast their ballots in person, 24 hours a day, in front of the county office building. Truckee voters can drop off ballots inside Truckee Town Hall. We have developed resources to simplify and make more convenient voter registration.
Assuring all ballots are counted: We work with the local post offices so that
beginning five days prior to election day, all ballots are held in the post office rather than sent to the regional postal processing center. Teams from the Elections Office pick up these “trapped” ballots daily to assure they are counted on Election Day.
Voter instruction pamphlet: Starting last fall, we sent a printed pamphlet
with all vote-by-mail packets. The pamphlet includes detailed instructions and answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs).
Improving Overseas/Military ballot delivery: In 2008 the number one failure
for military and overseas voters involved transmission of ballots. Ballots received after the deadline accounted for most of these failures. Funding distributed to the Cal E-Promise Coalition, which includes Nevada County, will support integrated solutions with goals that include online voter registration, notification of ballot availability, the ability to retrieve ballots online, and to track ballot return status for military and overseas voters. We also anticipate an increase in ballot return rates for military and overseas voters with implementation of Democracy Live software.
Challenges faced and potential solutions
Technology: Essential technology is mandating every step of the elections
process, including compiling voters’ lists, drawing electoral boundaries, employing and training staff, printing ballots, conducting voter education campaigns, and publishing election results. We do not have a qualified Election Information Technology Technician. The result is two-fold: we are becoming less efficient in the conduct of the entire elections process, and we are missing opportunities to reduce costs.
Compliance: The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) requires
complex Campaign Filing and Disclosure Statements. We currently file and process paper documents by hand. Our system needs to become automated to save staff hours and to deliver this information in a timely, cost-efficient manner. This would also serve the public — and candidates — well, saving time and money.
Facilities: Our elections warehouse is located more than six miles from the
Elections Office. It lacks standard office resources, resulting in frequent trips back and forth for simple activities such as photocopying and printing.
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The warehouse is not temperature controlled and lacks fire sprinklers, putting approximately $1.3 million in equipment at risk.
Supervision: The warehouse activity lacks a dedicated manager, leading to the
possibility of mistakes that could threaten the integrity of the elections process. Elections workers are largely temporary staff, but without a manager at the warehouse these workers are often completely unsupervised, inevitably leading to errors that must be corrected by already overburdened permanent staff.
Certification: Laws, rules and regulations governing the conduct of elections
and the protection of the rights of all qualified to vote are complex. Administering elections requires state certified California Professional Election Administrators. Currently only two of our employees, the Clerk- Recorder and the Assistant Clerk-Recorder, have this certification. We need to qualify additional employees as Certified Elections/Registration Administrators through the National Association of Election Officials.
On the following pages each of these topics is examined in detail, as are others. A comprehensive set of appendices is also included that graphically examines these issues.
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Detailed Summary of Voting and Registration
Vote-by-Mail Vote-by-Mail has now become a significant portion of the ballots cast. In the past decade we have seen Vote-by-Mail ballots more than double from 30.90% of the total ballots cast in the November 5, 2002 General Election to 73.55% in the November 6, 2012 General Presidential Election. Rejection rates With the increase in Vote-by-Mail ballots we have also seen an increase in rejection rates due to late arrival, no signature match, or no signature submitted. This report includes our efforts to reduce rejected ballots due to these three common problems. Three methods are used to reduce rejection rates: each ballot envelope is checked on arrival for signatures; call backs to voters when there is no signature on the ballot, and voter information pamphlets inserted with each ballot package. Progress in Successful Vote-by-Mail ballots Our county has had great success with voters successfully returning Vote-by-Mail ballots over the years. Of course there is always room for improvement, and we are constantly reducing the number of rejected ballots, focusing especially on late returns and lack of signatures. During Presidential Elections our total rejected rate has gone down. In the November 2004 Presidential Election our rejection rate was 0.96% and in the November 2012 Presidential Election our rejection rate was 0.69% (see Attachment B). Besides rejections for late ballots or ballot envelopes lacking signatures, we also face the problem of the signature on the ballot envelope not matching the signature on file. When we receive a ballot envelope with no signature we immediately call the voter — if they have a phone number in our files — and ask them to come to the office and sign it. They can do this any time before 8pm on Election Day. If no phone number is on file we send a letter to the voter asking them to come to our office and sign their ballot envelope, before 8pm on Election Day, so we can count it. For invalid signatures, we send a letter asking the voter to reregister so we will have a current signature on file. In any case, we contact these voters and have them come in to sign correctly, thus assuring their votes are tabulated. Beginning in the presidential primary of 2012, we included a pamphlet with voter information and frequently asked questions (FAQs) with all Vote-by-Mail ballot packets we send to voters (see Attachment D & E). The pamphlet addresses the
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most common questions we receive from our voters. It covers when and where to send in the Vote-by-Mail ballot, and what to do if a voter would rather vote at a polling place instead of filling out the Vote-by-Mail ballot. In addition, it tells the voter what to do if they lose or damage their ballot, and informs the voter that they can use our Website to see if we have or have not received their mailed Vote-by-Mail ballot. Another feature we included in the pamphlet was a list of all polling locations and their addresses. In 2009 we added a secure 24-hour drop box in front of our building for voters to drop off their Vote-by-Mail ballots. This option is great for voters who are not comfortable mailing their ballots or if they can’t make it to our office during normal business hours and wish to cast their ballots before the day of the election. We check the drop box daily for ballots, and as we get closer to Election Day, we check multiple times a day. In addition to the drop box, our office practices ballot trapping in conjunction with the U.S. Postal Service. Ballot trapping occurs when we ask each post office to set aside ballots received that day, rather than sending them to the regional processing center like a normal piece of mail. At the end of each business day we send teams of election officials to all post offices in Nevada County to pick up the ballots and bring them back to our office. We start this ballot trapping process five days before the election. This method insures that our office receives all mail-in ballots from post offices by 8pm on Election Day, greatly reducing the risk of being rejected as too late. Return postage Return postage is not provided on Vote-by-Mail ballots if the voter requested the ballot. However in Vote-by-Mail Only Precincts (where there are 250 or fewer voters in a precinct) we provide the postage through use of a business reply, postage paid account with the post office. If we did not, requiring the voter to supply postage could be viewed as a poll tax.
Provisional Voting Provisional voting continues to increase and is most evident during presidential elections. Provisional ballots were just .98% of the ballots cast in the November 2004 Presidential Election and rose to 3.05% in the November 2012 Presidential Election (see Attachment F). Provisional ballots require vast amounts of time to process and must be processed at the end of canvass. Most Provisional ballots cast could have been avoided through re-registration and by voters voting at the correct polling place. Provisional voting is available to any voter when there are questions about the voter’s eligibility to vote. Reasons may include not being able to surrender a previously issued Vote-by-Mail ballot at a polling place, not being on the roster at
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the polling place, or not being registered in the county. Provisional voting is available to any voter at all polling locations. This method of voting allows a voter whose eligibility is in question to cast a vote, while also allowing the election officials time to thoroughly investigate the eligibility of the voter during the 28-day canvassing period. Because provisional ballots are thoroughly investigated, they take a large amount of time to complete and therefore very expensive to the county. Each ballot has to be checked to see if the voter is eligible to vote in the county, and if so, did he or she vote the correct ballot with the correct issues that pertain to their precinct. If they are eligible to vote but voted the wrong ballot, then the votes on the improper ballot must be duplicated onto the correct ballot type — a very time consuming process. While provisional voting is a great backup method, many provisional ballots could be avoided if voters either re-registered when required, or if voters simply identified the correct polling place. Many voters do not realize that every time they move they must register to vote again so they can be placed in the proper precinct and receive the correct ballot. Registering to vote is very easy, especially now that it is available online and at all post offices, DMV locations, and libraries. In addition, the Elections Office will mail a prepaid voter registration form to anyone in the county who requests one, and the forms are always available to the public in our office. Voters can determine online whether they are registered to vote with their current residence address. On our Website we have a page that will tell a voter if they are registered using just their address number, zip code, and date of birth. If they are not registered to vote with that residence address or are simply not registered to vote, the page will prompt the voter to fill out an online registration form. In addition, voters can call the Elections Office during business hours to clarify registration issues. Voters who do not know the location of their polling place can call the Elections Office, which will provide information about their polling place as well as directions. Another option available to the voter is our Website page called Polling Place Lookup. All voters have to do is type in their current address to find their correct polling place. Provisional voting, especially during the Presidential Elections has been on the rise. In the November 2004 Presidential Election provisional ballots were only .98% of the total votes, however in the November 2012 Presidential Election provisional ballots totaled 3.05% of the total votes. More than 80% of the submitted provisional ballots were counted in the 2012 Presidential Election. However, 364 were rejected because the voter was not registered in this county (see Attachment F).
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Why the increase in Vote-by-Mail and Provisionals Why are the number of Vote-by-Mail Ballots and the need for provisional voting increasing so precipitously? This question is not answered simply, but in our view at least three factors are in play: 1. An increasingly mobile population may mean people do not re-register
when they move. 2. Uncertain whether they will be able to go to a polling place, more and
more opt to choose Vote-by-Mail. 3. With time at a premium, voters opt to vote by mail to take advantage of
having time to study their ballot, as Vote-by-Mail Ballots are mailed to voters 29 days before the election.
We are working hard with voter education, including a pamphlet with each paper ballot mailed to all registered voters, as well as an ambitious education program in the news media. Signature recognition Every ballot envelope for Vote-by-Mail ballots must be signed by the voter. A machine called Vote Remote checks every signature. It has specialized software that allows it to scan the signature on the envelope and crosscheck it with the voter’s signature on file. If a discrepancy is found, an election official will check the signature manually and determine if it is that of the voter. When a ballot envelope is signed with a signature that does not match the voter’s signature on file, the ballot cannot be counted. Voters’ signatures can change over time, which is why we update our signature on file every time we get a new voter registration card. If we receive a piece of mail or a request from a voter at anytime and the signature doesn’t match what we have on file, we immediately send out a new voter registration card with a letter explaining that we need to place their new signature on file. This insures our signature files are up to date and lowers our rejection rate due to lack of valid signatures. Our rejection rates remain relatively low, with just .17% of the votes cast in the November 2012 Presidential Election being rejected for this reason; however, we continue to strive to reduce even that low number (see Attachment B). Costly Traffic at the Polling Place When someone shows up at a polling place to cast a ballot, a poll worker checks a paper file to see whether the person is properly registered to vote in that precinct. This paper file, called a Poll Book or Poll Roster, has been laboriously prepared by hand, one for each of the 56 polling places in our county, one week before the election. What’s more, these rosters must be supplemented, again by hand, to correct for late absentee voter information — for each polling place.
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Each time a voter tries to vote at an incorrect polling place, a poll worker must phone the Elections Office to verify the correct polling place. It requires eight staff members to handle this telephonic traffic.
Following each election, each name in every roster must be scanned into the record, an activity that takes three staff members two weeks to complete. Predictably, there will be errors in all of these labor-intensive, time-sensitive activities. There is a better way. Currently, two California counties, Merced and Marin, are utilizing an Electronic Poll Book system that automates many of the tasks, greatly improving accuracy — and reducing costs. We propose introducing this electronic system to Nevada County, which will put a touch screen in every polling place with up-to-the-minute, comprehensive voter information available. We predict that this system will reduce at least 75% of the calls from polling places to the Elections Help Desk. A significant cost benefit will result from a decrease in the number of Provisional Voters because all essential voter information will be on the screen. It costs the county between $5 and $20 for each affidavit related to provisional voting. There were 1,879 provisional voters in the last election. We expect to reduce this number by half with the electronic system. For each election the cost savings would be about $46,000; or $230,000 for five elections. Online Registration Online registration is a new way to register to vote in California. It became available on September 19, 2012 and is available to the public through a number of different Websites, including our own county elections Website and the Secretary of State’s Website. It is a simple step-by-step process that allows voters to register quickly and easily from a computer or mobile device. The online registration program works with the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to link the voter’s signature to the voter’s registration. If no signature is on file with the DMV then the voter is instructed to print out a voter registration form, sign it, and mail it to the Elections Office. Since it became available, our county has had 2,650 online registrations. This helped our office immensely during the November 2012 Presidential Election due
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to the fact that online registrations are far easier and quicker to process into our voter roles. Eliminating the paper aspect of voter registration cards saves our workers from having to sort the mail, then scan the registration cards into our computer, and finally enter the voter’s information manually into our voter roles. Online registration is very helpful, and we hope to see more and more registrations come into our office through the online program in the future. Information about registering to vote, and many other questions about voting, are available on line at http://www.mynevadacounty.com/nc/elections/Pages/Home.aspx How We Compare With Other Counties Nevada County’s election process compares favorably with other California counties. For example: • Our outreach program to correct deficiencies encountered in Vote-by-Mail is
perhaps the most aggressive in the state. We make every attempt to contact the voter who did not sign their ballot envelope to correct the deficiency, thus allowing the ballot to be counted.
• The interactive maps on our Website for results and polling place information
are viewed with admiration by Clerk-Recorders in other counties. • Although we have one of the lowest ratios of staff to registered voters — only
three full-time staff for 62,000 registered voters — we run a relatively error-free operation.
• We are one of only eight California counties certified to print ballots, a cost-
saving procedure that is also very convenient. We call it Ballot on Demand. Reliability of Our Voting System All paper ballots are counted on a scanning machine. The ballots are scanned and the votes are saved in a memory chip that is read on election night. All discrepancies are visually checked and resolved by an election official. To ensure that the scanning machine is working properly, our office does a 1% manual tally pursuant to Election Code § 15360. Precincts that are counted during this manual tally are chosen at random. We manually count each vote and check that the totals are the same as those on the scanning machine. This ensures that the machine is running properly and counting votes correctly.
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Conclusion With Vote-by-Mail becoming an ever-increasing portion of the voting in Nevada County, rejection rates (mainly due to late arrival, no signature match, or no signature submitted) have become a major concern. Rejection rates have gone down from 0.96% of the total votes in November 2004 to 0.69% in the November 2012 Presidential Election. While this is good progress, we want these numbers to get as low as possible in coming elections. We have used a number of different methods to lower our rejection rates, including call backs for lack of a signature, obtaining new signatures for a signature mismatch, a 24 hour drop box to provide for last-minute voting, ballot trapping to insure we receive ballots that have been sent in a timely manner, and providing informational pamphlets with all our Vote-by-Mail ballot packets. Hopefully, these methods will reduce our rejection rates further, but we are constantly seeking and testing new ways to cut the rate further. Provisional voting continues to rise and reached an all time high for our county during the November 2012 Presidential Election. The acceptance rate for these provisional ballots remains high at more than 80% since 2008 (see Attachment F). The number of voters qualified to vote could have been even higher if voters who move would register anew and if voters made the effort to vote at the correct polling place. This would have reduced the number of provisional ballots. Our office has implemented a number of different approaches to address these problems. Recently we began including with our Vote-by-Mail packets an information pamphlet that lists all polling places for the county. We have also added a polling place look up feature to our Website that provides voters with the correct polling location and directions on how to get there. We are hopeful these methods, in addition to the normal notification cards and sample ballots that include the address of the voter’s polling place, will steer voters to the correct polling place or encourage them to re-register when necessary and thus cut down on the number of costly provisional ballots. Our office strives to get people to re-register when appropriate, and the staff continues to think of new ways to help voters identify their correct polling places. Our county Website hosts a number of features that help voters do these things. In addition to the polling place look up feature discussed above, we also give the voter the ability to look up their registration status by inputting street address, zip code, and date of birth. If they are not registered they will be automatically directed to register online. Another benefit is the ability to look up election results by precinct through use of an interactive map that includes each election contest.
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We have hope that the ease of online registration, which only became available in September 2012, will reduce the number of provisional ballots by having more people properly registered at their current residence address. Another helpful feature our Website offers is the ability for voters to determine if our office has received their Vote-by-Mail ballots. Provisional ballots are counted last during the 28-day canvass period that follows an election. Provisional voters might wait several weeks before all the provisional ballots are counted. On the Elections Office Website provisional voters can find out quickly and easily if their ballots have been counted merely by providing their initials, year of birth, and home address.
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Service Budget Unit Questionnaire
Budget Development
2013-14 Service Budget Unit
Unmet Needs
SBU Title (Not Org Code)
10501 Elections
Conversion of one Senior Clerk-Recorder position to Election Information Technology Technician – Technology is essential to the conduct of modern elections. Elections have to be done properly, open to public gaze, and they have to be done right the first time. Technology is used at every stage of the election process; compiling voters’ lists, drawing electoral boundaries, employing and training staff, printing ballots, conducting voter education campaigns, and publishing election results. The appropriate application of technology to elections can increase administrative efficiency, reduce long-term costs and enhance political transparency.
The lack of a full-time Election Information Technology Technician has had an adverse effect in conducting elections. With a full-time Election Information Technology Technician, more time would be devoted to increased operating efficiencies and previously missed opportunities for election cost savings. Immediate, upcoming duties for a full-time Election Information Technology Technician would include working with GIS to “clean up” the street index in DIMS, re-precincting, and re- drawing precinct lines to include all LAFCO additions and changes. The full time Election Information Technology will research, recommend, test, implement, maintain and provide the critical support for elections and business processes in the Election Office. The full time position would help ensure the office and county maintain security of the voting system and the integrity of Nevada County Elections.
FPPC Management- The Nevada County Elections Department has a paper-based, manual filing process for Fair Political Practices
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Commission (hereinafter, FPPC) Campaign Filing and Disclosure Statements. Our system needs to become automated to save staff hours and to deliver this information in a timely cost-efficient manner. The leading software for California Election Offices is CampaignDocs. CampaignDocs is an automated database system that manages the business process associated with the FPPC mandated filing and tracking of the Campaign Financial Disclosure Statements. The system creates an entity account for each filer (Candidates, Committees, Officeholders, Major Donors and Slate Mailers). Each filer is assigned an account number and information is stored in tables regarding the organization, treasurer, contact information and filing requirements. The system provides business process reports of what filings are due and tracks which filers have filed statements as they are received. The forms are scanned into the system using bar code technology. This process automatically links and stores the images with data in the repository. The database is updated and reports are created to indicate compliance status. The system user can then select from the list of filers who have not filed. The system creates the mailing labels and using a “mail-merge” technology generates reminder letters. Various reports are created to track the entities response and the action taken by our staff. The system also includes a “Public Access” module. This allows staff and the public to search the database and retrieve electronic documents images of the campaign financing disclosure statements for viewing and printing using kiosks in our office. Space Limitations - The election warehouse is located more than 6 miles away from the Elections office. The warehouse lacks standard office resources, such as a copier and a high-volume printer. Many trips are made back and forth between the office and warehouse because of the lack of resources and the need to instruct and supervise the temporary staff members, resulting in high mileage charges. More importantly, the lack of management directly correlates with mistakes which threaten the integrity of our elections.
Warehouse Manager - There is a need for at least one permanent- half time staff member to maintain the warehouse year round, the voting equipment, and see that office standards are met by ensuring compliance with election laws and departmental policies. Because of limited staff in the election office, current staff is not able to constantly monitor and supervise activity in the warehouse, which often causes confusion, costly mistakes, including making sure there are no issues with the $1,300,000 equipment due to not having a temperature controlled storage with fire sprinklers. Without constant guidance
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and instruction in proper election procedures, temporary staff makes decisions that can have huge ramifications for the department trying to conduct a successful election. Temporary workers should not be left unsupervised, but because the warehouse is not physically within the Election office, on many occasions we have little choice but to do so. Most temporary staff members work as elections temporary workers for just one to two elections at the most, creating staff turnover and the constant need to keep training workers in a highly-specified, detail-oriented field a major issue. Additionally, there is not enough space in the warehouse or the office to do the state mandated tasks of preparing the equipment and supplies for Election Day. Staff constantly shuffles the various supplies around, creating more work and opening up an opportunity for mistakes to be made. A warehouse manager is needed for supervision.
The warehouse staff must be comprised of people who are able to work with voting equipment and have a familiarity with technology, but who can also handle the manual labor of loading, transporting, and delivering the voting equipment. The challenge we face in staffing the warehouse comes when recruiting new staff members. The applicants we pull from for the warehouse crew have applied for a custodian position and many of them have no computer skills. Applicants for the Clerk-Recorder Assistant position that do have the needed computer skills sometimes cannot meet the physical demands of the warehouse duties.
CERA Certification – There was a time when the administration of elections and voter registration was a straight forward, relatively simple matter of occasionally organizing election workers, maintaining registration lists, and holding periodic elections. That time is no longer. Civil rights concerns (racial, ethnic, disabilities, language minorities) as well as a variety of other considerations ranging from increasing participation to the demands of modern technology have forever and radically altered the nature of the elections/registration process. As a result, thoughtful election and registration officials have come to believe that this profession is one that requires expert, trained administrators who understand the subtleties of the myriad of factors now making the administration of the elections process a specialty for which specific knowledge and abilities are essential. Nevada County Election officials must have the opportunity to gain continuing education units to enhance our core skills required for modern elections/registration administration. The Nevada County
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Clerk-Recorder and the Nevada County Assistant Clerk-Recorder have completed CalPEAC classes and are now state certified California Professional Election Administrators. The CERA certification is a professional education program created by The Election Center with the cooperation and guidance of Auburn University’s Master’s in Public Administration faculty who also serve as the principal instructors. Participants receive Election Center credit towards the achievement of the profession’s highest designation as Certified Elections/Registration Administrator.
Resource Management
This budget does not allow for a full-time Information Technology Technician. Therefore, a member of the HART Intercivic staff will be brought in during the election cycle for training and support of full time staff members.
Community Partners
Town of Truckee
State 2013-14 Budget
None User Fees
This budget does not assume any fee increases but does account for two Nevada County Resolutions establishing a method for recouping actual costs of conducting municipal, school and special district elections when consolidated with the County’s regularly scheduled election cycle pursuant to California Election Code 10520.
Copies -
Certified Copy of Voter Registration card $1.50 Certified Copy of any paper or record (except VRC) $11.00 Searching records or files $5.00 Photocopy of any orig. paper record, FPPC Filings .10 per page Map of Supervisorial & School District $4.00
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Vendor Services- Printed voter list $50.00
Voter file on CD $50.00 (county wide) Voter file on CD $37.00 (1 district) Absentee Ballot Voter List $8.00, $29.00 setup + per/M FPPC Late Filings $10.00-$100.00
Election Services –
Filing an initiative. Fee is refundable if measure qualifies for the ballot. $200
Candidate Filing Fees –
Pursuant to EC8104 & EC13307, sec C Grants Prop 41 Grant, Voting Modernization Board 3 to 1 Match.
Revenues 2012-13 Projected 2013-14 Projected
Election Services $177,234 $ 87,489 Filing fees & Cand Stmt $ 20,000 $ 35,000 Vendor Services $ 3,500 $ 1,500 Copies, Maps & Misc. $ 200 $ 200
Staffing and Related Salary and Benefit Costs
Part-time (temporary) services are required for every federal, state, and local election. The success of every election is dependent upon these people and the 320 pollworkers, inspectors and FEDS needed at our precincts.
Capital Assets
None
General
The top 3 Class 2 expenditures in this budget are IS service, office expense, special departmental expenses.
Nevada County Elections Division will advocate Nevada County being a pilot county for vote by mail legislation. The fiscal impact could represent a 50% decrease in overall election costs.
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List of Appendices
A — Vote History for Nevada County
B — Vote-by-Mail Balloting Rejection Statistics
C — Total Rejected Vote-by-Mail Ballots
D — Voter Informational Pamphlet (obverse side) E — Voter Informational Pamphlet (reverse side) F — Disposition of Provisional Ballots
Vote History for Nevada County Attachment A
Election Date
Voter Registration
Total Turn Out
% Turn Out
VBM Vote % Voting VBM
No. of Precincts
Nov. 6, 2012
62,853 52,173 83.01% 38,375 73.55% 140
June 5, 2012
60,638 31,333 51.67% 24,925 79.55% 74
Nov. 2, 2010
61,411 49,637 80.74% 36,655 73.85% 87
June 8, 2010
61,217 31,274 51.10% 24,159 77.25% 73
Nov. 4, 2008
63,769 56,177 88.09% 39,046 69.51% 99
June 3, 2008
60,056 28,423 47.33% 22,231 78.21% 64
Feb. 5, 2008
59,379 40,159 67.63% 26,469 65.90% 63
Nov. 7, 2006
63,174 43,996 69.64% 24,284 55.20% 101
June 6, 2006
63,575 28,892 45.45% 15,982 55.30% 94
Nov. 8, 2005
64,238 38,838 60.46% 19,828 51.05% 89
Nov. 2, 2004
65,411 54,508 83.33% 27,042 49.60% 138
Mar. 2, 2004
60,180 36,353 60.41% 17,970 49.40% 90
Oct. 7, 2003 61,059 44,794 73.36% 20,208 45.10% 90
Nov. 5, 2002
60,451 40,350 66.75% 12,473 30.90% 121
Mar. 5, 2002
57,336 31,230 53.56% 9,450 30.30% 121
Nov. 7, 2000
59,725 47,978 80.33% 14,044 29.27% 119
Mar. 7, 2000
55,996 37,973 67.81% 10,239 26.96% 120
Attachment B
Vote-By-Mail Balloting Rejection Statistics
Election Date Total Submitted
Total Rejected
Late No Signature No Signature Match
November 6, 2012
38642 267 0.69% 188 0.49% 12 0.03% 67 0.17%
June 5, 2012 25242 317 1.26% 238 0.94% 44 0.17% 35 0.14%
November 2, 2010
37029 374 1.01% 218 0.59% 77 0.21% 79 0.21%
June 8, 2010 24531 372 1.52% 253 1.03% 61 0.25% 58 0.24%
November 4, 2008
39376 330 0.84% 180 0.46% 32 0.08% 118 0.30%
June 3, 2008 22750 519 2.28% 357 1.57% 30 0.13% 132 0.58%
February 5, 2008 26915 446 1.66% 225 0.84% 143 0.53% 78 0.29%
November 7, 2006
24550 266 1.08% 199 0.81% 35 0.14% 32 0.13%
June 6, 2006 16272 290 1.78% 212 1.30% 50 0.31% 28 0.17%
November 8, 2005
20214 386 1.91% 210 1.04% 35 0.17% 141 0.70%
November 2, 2004
27304 262 0.96% 168 0.62% 39 0.14% 55 0.20%
Attachment C
Attachment D
Attachment E
Attachment F
Disposition of Provisional Ballots
Election Date Cast Good Percentage Good
Percentage Vote Cast
Nov. 6, 2012 1955 1591 81.38% 3.05%
June 5, 2012 539 513 95.16% 1.64%
Nov. 2, 2010 1302 1162 89.25% 2.34%
June 8, 2010 572 542 94.76% 1.73%
Nov. 4, 2008 1270 1087 85.59% 1.93%
June 3, 2008 320 303 94.68% 1.07%
Feb. 5, 2008 139 116 83.45% 0.29%
Nov. 7, 2006 155 115 74.19% 0.26%
June 6, 2006 301 197 65.45% 0.68%
Nov. 8, 2005 112 98 87.49% 0.25%
Nov. 2, 2004 998 533 53.41% 0.98%
