To: Elections Division, San Mateo County

From: Legal Services for Prisoners with Children

Subject: Public Comment on Draft EAP

Date: August 21, 2023

Public Comment on EAP Draft

Legal Services for Prisoners with Children (LSPC) was pleased to see our efforts acknowledged in the draft report and look forward to continuing our collaboration with San Mateo County Elections officials and with other community non-profits and engaged individuals so as to improve the numbers as to voter registration and turnout of persons incarcerated in the County jail system.

We applaud the sincere enthusiasm about this issue that has been demonstrated by the active participants and leaders in the Voter Education and Outreach Advisory Committee (VEOAC).

The draft Report currently has reference to ideas for voter education and outreach efforts (“providing voter education and registration in the local facilities. We support this as an option.” p. 27) and actual vote collection (“Initial ideas include a one-day pop-up voting set-up at Maguire and Maple Street Correctional facilities and/or a ballot box at each for Election Day.” Ibid.) We recognize that a considerable amount of further planning and dialogue between community groups, the Elections Division, and the Sheriff’s Office will need to take place this fall to make the project a reality. Nonetheless, we would like to add a bit more specificity to the EAP in order to clarify expectations.

LSPC thinks a sensible set of goals for the next two elections would look roughly as follows. We would like to work with the Sheriffs Office to be allowed to conduct a series of voter education days, consisting of several structured visits to the jails and transitional facilities in the weeks leading up to each election (throughout February for the March election; in October for the November election). Our staff, volunteers, and community partners (as well as the Elections Division if it has capacity) would obtain clearance and conduct registration and educational sessions on the voting process and on civic engagement.

For voting turnout and ballot collection, we think the aim should be to have drop boxes (exact number per location to be determined based on architecture and institutional logistics) in each location for March as well as a “pop up” voting center at one facility in March on election day. (Likely, Maple Street.) By “pop up” we are following the nomenclature, as far as we understand it, as used in the draft EAP report (p. 4) to refer to a site where an eligible voter can cast their ballot, or do same-day conditional registration and provisional ballot voting, and which thus has the functionally equivalent performance of a voting center but that does not meet the formal definition of a “voting center” due to the time requirements.

Subsequently, in November, we would like to again do voter education days in the weeks leading up to the election. We believe that a reasonable goal for the November elections is to have a either a full-fledged (four-day) voting center or, at a minimum, pop-up voting centers at both Maguire and Maple Street jails; and (depending on estimates of efficiency) either a pop-up or drop boxes at the Men’s and Women’s Transitional Facilities.

Though the challenges for implementing this vision are not slight, we believe it is workable and necessary to truly achieve the fullest exercise of voting rights. The population inhabiting either of the big jails is at least comparable to the customer base of most of the proposed locations chosen as voting centers in the draft Plan (p. 35) and exceeds the daily visitors to the sites chosen for drop-box locations (p. 36-37). The factor of scale is thus appropriate. The will to achieve these goals is not lacking. The key will be coordinating the relevant stakeholders so as to formulate a workable detailed process. We believe it can be done, and we look forward to continuing the discussion.

Sincerely,

Eric C. Sapp, Staff Attorney erics@prisonerswithchildren.org

Jesse C. Burleson, In-custody Program Coordinator jesse@prisonerswithchildren.org

LEGAL SERVICES FOR PRISONERS WITH CHILDREN

August 24, 2023

Via Electronic Mail <registrar@smcacre.org>

Mark Church
San Mateo County Assessor-County Clerk-Recorder
40 Tower Road
San Mateo, CA 94402

Re:   DRC’S Comments on San Mateo County’s Draft 2024 EAP

Dear Mr. Church:

Disability Rights California (DRC) appreciates the opportunity to comment on the draft of San Mateo County’s 2024 Election Administration Plan (EAP) that was circulated by email on August 15, 2023, for discussion at the public consultation on August 24, 2023. DRC is the protection and advocacy system for Californians with disabilities. Under the Help America Vote Act of 2002, DRC is charged with ensuring “full participation in the electoral process for individuals with disabilities, including registering to vote, casting a vote and accessing polling places."¹

We thank you and your staff for incorporating some of our feedback into the final version of the 2020 EAP. The current draft of the 2024 EAP provides clear and useful information about most aspects of the Voter’s Choice Act (VCA) model, as well as about many of the accessible voting options for people with disabilities. We are pleased to see information about accessibility throughout the document, including information about the available accessible voting options, including ballot marking tablets (BMTs) at vote centers, curbside voting, remote accessible vote-by-mail (RAVBM) and the signature-guide holes in ballot return envelopes.

E-Pollbooks

We appreciate your explanation of how San Mateo County has used electronic pollbooks (“e-pollbooks”) during the COVID-19 pandemic continuing at least through the March 2024 Presidential Primary. We also appreciate the County’s willingness to offer a paper check-in for voters with disabilities who are unable to sign on tablet even with a stylus.

Ballot Marking Tablets (BMTs) and Audio Tactile Interface (ATI) Units

The last two sentences of the last full paragraphs read:

For some people with disabilities, the BMT may make private and independent voting possible. For others, the ATI features may be needed to make private and independent voting possible for people with a variety of disabilities.

These two sentences are confusing. They sound like the BMTs and the ATI units are two separate voting options, where the ATI unit is a feature to make the BMT more accessible. Here is alternative language:

For some people with disabilities, the BMT alone may make private and independent voting possible. For other people with disabilities, they might need an ATI unit to operate the BMT features to make private and independent voting possible.

BMT Training

We appreciate that Vote Center Representatives (VCRs) will be trained to assist the voter to at least start the voting session how they need to. We further appreciate that the County is developing an instruction sheet for every accessible voting station. We are not sure why you are limiting the information to the ATI unit, and not the BMT itself.

Vote Center Accessibility

The first sentence of the fourth paragraph is not accurate insofar as 40 Tower Road in San Mateo is still one of the vote centers. That sentence says that all vote centers are accessible. As mentioned on page 9 of the Draft EAP, the County is currently making renovations to make the building accessible. As I mentioned in my letter to you in 2019 and in comments on the pre-draft of the 2024 EAP, the VCA requires that all vote centers meet accessibility standards. Since 40 Tower Road is not accessible, it should not be a vote center.

Voting Accessibility Advisory Committee (VAAC)

We recommend on your website including either how to join the VAAC or a call to join it. The EAP mentions this in the appendix on page 51, and it would be great to also include it on the website as well.

Voter Hotline

We appreciate that the Draft EAP includes DRC’s Voting Hotline. We respectfully request that the Draft EAP clarify that the phone number listed, 888-569-7955, is DRC’s Voting Hotline. We do not want people calling the Voting Hotline thinking it is our intake hotline so that we can serve them as soon as possible.

Curbside voting

We appreciate that curbside voting is offered at each vote center and that it is explained in detail on your website and on page 22. We recommend also having a more in-depth discussion of curbside voting and/or mentioning that it is discussed in detail earlier in the EAP, for example on page 4, in the “Curbside Drop-Off and Drive-Thru Voting” section.

Other Edits

• On page 5 in the second sentence of the "Voting Technology" section it should read "separate" not "separated".
• There is a typo on page 25 as there should be a space after the comma in the last sentence of the “Required Workshops” section.

Conclusion

Thank you for the opportunity to provide these comments on this draft of the 2024 EAP and for planning to use upcoming VAAC and LAAC meetings to receive such feedback. We plan to participate in that VAAC meeting but also invite you to contact us at any other time if you have questions about our comments or any other subject on which we may be able to provide assistance.

Sincerely,

Fred Nisen
Managing Attorney
Voting Rights Practice Group

¹ 52 U.S.C. § 21061(a).

One of the challenges we have is it usually takes about 30 days to certify the election and a lot of that is because of the mail-in ballot and adjudication. Probably a lot of people don't know that if they undervote, overvote or have an extra line on the paper, that chances are their ballots or their ballot will go to judicate soon, which will take longer to complete the process.

Whereas if a person goes into a vote center and he prints out the ballot, it probably not going to be touched by humans, you know, by adjudication.

I was just wondering if there's a way to better inform our voters on the process of adjudication and there is a real advantage of voting at the vote center to make sure your vote is counted on Election Day.

Does that make sense?

Good afternoon.

I didn't have a chance to read through the entire document prior to this meeting, so forgive me if it's already in there, but I'm wondering what sort of chain of custody you have in in your plan for all the voter drop boxes?

All of the movement from one to another, from one area to another, the counting or the I'm sorry, I'm getting my terminology mixed up, but what I mean is from the moment they vote into the tabulator right?

Is there a chain of custody and all of those ballots, are they kept in a locked room with cameras?

Is that correct?

When the Dropboxes are delivered, somebody has certified that they are empty and then from the time that they are picked up and transferred to the location of counting, there is chain of custody locked, sealed under multiple people watching these?

I'm a veteran and we're told that there's about 30,000 veterans in San Mateo County but not sure. As a veteran advocate, I'd like to get the veterans out to vote but I'm not sure who they are.  I don't know if there's a way to find that out or not.

Hi, Eric Sapp, staff attorney at Legal Services for Prisoners with Children.

I submitted a written comment a few days ago, and I won't duplicate that here, but I do want to add some additional points not addressed in that written comment.

I appreciate the fact that the Draft EAP refers in numerous places to the voting rights of formerly incarcerated persons and system-impacted persons as well, and applaud the efforts that the Elections Division has made with its flyer to educate people about their eligibility to vote when they're on parole or on post release community supervision or mandatory supervision, as well as those in jail. I did want to raise a concern.  Last election cycle, in 2022, I personally found numerous voter registration cards in public facilities in San Mateo County, like post offices, libraries, et cetera, that had out of date registration forms, pre-Prop 17 forms that are now inaccurate in terms of the eligibility criteria on the affidavit for registration. I was pleased to see that at the actual Elections Office all the forms were the correct, up-to-date ones and the officials there took this matter very seriously.

However, I have noticed that there's no discussion in the draft EAP about ensuring that all or you know, to the extent practically feasible and workable, ensuring that registration information is not misleading within the County of San Mateo.

Thank you very much.

The other question I have is regarding ineligible voters.

Since the DMV is auto-enrolling everyone to vote, including non-citizens, what is San Mateo County doing to ensure that ineligible voters are not voting?

I just want to make sure, this is very important for all the citizens in San Mateo County, to help our election transparency.

We want to support everyone who would like to be part of this wonderful, important day for all citizens, and we want to make sure that all the ballots, all the votes, are counted.

We want to go back to paper ballots.  We will like to go to paper.

Like you all our areas and I don't believe that mailing ballots are collect DC is my point of view, and I would like to invite you if I can give you my contact later.

I would like to invite you to a group who has many questions for you in regard to election transparency.  This is what we want.

We want to show the world and we are working honestly and not calling ballot with Dominion machines that they are giving us incorrect votes.

We want to be loyal and actually it is.

I'm pretty sure you want to be honest and loyal for that as well.

So if we work together and we have a group of people who would like to participate, not only on a day that we are going to visit, no, we want to participate on the vanity on the day of the voting, we want to be also part of it.

Thank you.