Whats Coming In Californias Elections October 9 2016
What’s Coming In California’s Elections? October 9, 2016 Take Back The Vote Conference
About Jim • Author: Counted. As. Cast. org and Counted. As. Cast. com • Co-chair: Voting Rights Task Force • Member: San Francisco Voting Systems Task Force • Senior software consultant & mobile app developer • Jim. Soper 2@gmail. com
Outline • • • New election systems SB 450 AB 1970 (regulations) Lobbying in Sacramento Possible new laws in California
New Election Systems • • • Los Angeles (vsap. lavote. net) by 2018 San Francisco (seeking a project manager) Star-Vote, Travis County, TX (Austin) Galois. com OSET Foundation. org Prime. Voting. System. org (Univ. of Florida) countedascast. org/election-systems-2016/open-source-electionsystems/
Ballot Printing Device (BPD) • You vote on a (touchscreen) computer. • It prints a list of contests, and who you voted for.
LA’s New Voting Station (2018) • Ballot Printing Device (BPD) with printer and QR Code reader
QR Code Scanner The voter prepares their ballot on a mobile device at home, then shows the QR Code to the voting station, which displays the choices on the screen to the left. The voter may make any changes on the screen. They then print the ballot out for review and casting.
LA Ballot (Prototype) The QR Code will contain the votes read by the central scanner
10 Minute Video • “The New LA Voting System Prototype” – by Mimi Kennedy – https: //www. youtube. com/watch? v=9 qaf. BDXj. Gx. U
New California Laws (but were afraid to ask…)
Leg. Info. legislature. ca. gov
California Elections Code http: //leginfo. legislature. ca. gov/faces/codes. xhtml
California Testing • SB 360 (Sen. Padilla, 2013) • California does its own testing of election systems, bypassing Election Assistance Commission (EAC) testing • California testing regulations include red-team (hack) testing, and • Has better provisions for the disabled
SB 450 (2016) • Senator Ben Allen • http: //leginfo. legislature. ca. gov/faces/bill. Nav. Client. x html? bill_id=201520160 SB 450 • https: //countedascast. org/sb-450 -2016/
SB 450: County Opt-In • Opt-in means not a mandate -> counties pay • 2018: 14 counties: Calaveras, Inyo, Madera, Napa, Nevada, Orange, Sacramento, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Shasta, Sierra, Sutter, and Tuolumne • 2020: any county • LA has own rules for 2020 [§ 4007]
SB 450: Vote by Mail (Vb. M) • Vb. M ballots can be sent to everybody IF they have: • dropoff locations [§ 4005 (a)(1)] – 1 location/15, 000 registered voters (min. 2) – 28 days before election • vote centers [4005 (a)(2, 3)]
Vote Centers: Days -10 thru -4 • 1 vote center/50, 000 registered voters • minimum of two vote centers in jurisdiction
Vote Centers: Days -3 thru E-Day • 1 center/10, 000 registered voters • minimum of two vote centers in jurisdiction
Same-Day Registration • § 4005 (a)(2)(A)(ii) “Register to vote, update his or her voter registration, and vote pursuant to Section 2170” • See also: § 4005 (a)(4)(E)(i), and § 4005 (a)(7)(A) • Big issue: In-person ballot, including provisional, should override a Vb. M ballot.
Public Plans by COUNTY • § 4005 (a)(10)(B): “The county elections official, when developing the draft plan for the administration of elections conducted pursuant to this section, considers, at a minimum, all of the following”: proximity to (low-income) communities, population centers, public transportation, traffic patterns, etc… • § 4005 (a)(10)(C): “public comments on the draft plan for at least 14 days “ • § 4005 (a)(10)(D)(i) : public hearing • § 4005 (a)(10)(E)(ii) : So. S approval
ESL & Disability Plans & Meetings • § 005 (10) (A) The county elections official develops a draft plan for the administration of elections conducted pursuant to this section in consultation with the public, including both of the following: • (i) One meeting … language other than English • (ii) One meeting. . . individuals with disabilities.
County Groups Take Note! • The plans are made by county, with hearings! • With SB 450, precinct-based polling places will disappear! HCPB in precincts will disappear. If that is an issue for you, you need to stop your county from opting-in. • No, I do not know yet how they will conduct the manual tally of 1% of precincts. I hope it will be something reasonable. Risk-limiting audits are a good alternative.
SB 450: Vb. M Notice • § 4006: an official shall make a reasonable effort to inform a voter of either: • (a) If the voter’s vote by mail ballot envelope is missing a signature. • (b) How the voter can correct the missing signature. • See also AB 2089: required notification within 30 days if Vb. M not counted. Vetoed! • This is not enough!!!
Primaries & Crossover Ballots Division 6 of Elections Code – to be modified(? )
AB 1970 (Asm. Low, 2016) • § 3026: The Secretary of State shall promulgate regulations establishing guidelines for county elections officials relating to the processing of vote by mail ballots • § 14314: The Secretary of State shall promulgate regulations establishing guidelines for county elections officials relating to the processing of provisional ballots.
Padilla: Sept 15, 2016 • Conclusion: Any interpretation of Section 15360 that requires inclusion of provisional ballots and the inclusion of all voted vote-by-mail ballots will very likely lead to a realization of the concerns raised by counties during the 2006 legislative process. In addition, Section 15360(d) requires at least a five-day public notice prior to the commencement of the one percent manual tally. As provisional ballots are typically processed at the end of the canvass process, if provisional ballots were required to be in the one percent manual tally, for some counties the five-day public notice could delay the canvass and the certification of election results beyond the deadlines set forth in the Elections Code. Therefore, the Secretary of State’s position is that neither provisional ballots nor all vote-by-mail ballots are required to be included in the one percent manual tally. • http: //elections. cdn. sos. ca. gov//ccrov/pdf/2016/september/16295 sr. pdf
San Diego Trial (Lutz) • A court may decide that Vb. M and provisional ballots must be included in the 1% manual tally.
AB 1921 (Vb. M) • Unlimited “ballot harvesting”. • Anybody can deliver truckloads of Vb. M ballots – no questions asked – no records kept • Our best allies were republicans. • Signed by governor Brown.
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