GUIDE TO THE SANTA CLARA COUNTY REGISTRAR OF VOTERS

Transcription

1 GUIDE TO THE SANTA CLARA COUNTY REGISTRAR OF VOTERS SHANNON BUSHEY, Registrar of Voters 1555 Berger Drive, Building 2 San Jose, CA (866) 430-VOTE (8683)

2 MESSAGE FROM THE REGISTRAR OF VOTERS I am pleased to provide you with a copy of our publication, Guide to the Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters. I think you ll agree with me that the Registrar of Voters (ROV) Office is often perceived as being busy only during election time. In reality, our role entails so much more and we perform a multitude of other responsibilities and we do so in a highly-demanding, time-constrained, and ever-changing environment. The Guide is designed to familiarize you with some of our other year-round activities, functions within the office, and services offered. The Guide also contains historical data and statistics about voter registration and voter turnout. The Guide also includes information about voting trends in the county, such as the ever-popular vote-by-mail program, which now accounts for the majority of ballots cast within the county. I am excited about our Guide and hope you will find it helpful and useful. Sincerely, Shannon Bushey Registrar of Voters 1

3 INTRODUCTION Mission Statement To provide quality service with the highest level of integrity, efficiency and accuracy in voter registration and election processes. Vision Statement To earn and maintain the public trust. Services The Registrar of Voters (ROV) is the County Elections Official and the office conducts all Federal, State, County, Municipal, School District, and Special District scheduled and special elections. The ROV Office is also responsible for voter registration, education and outreach; maintenance of registration files; verification of initiatives, referenda and recall petitions; and filing of campaign reports. The ROV Office offers a variety services, some at no cost. Proof of registration Speakers for functions Office tours Voter registration training Reports: Voter indices, precinct districts, statements of vote Santa Clara County Santa Clara County is located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay. The county s population of approximately 1.9 million residents is the sixth largest in California, and the largest of the nine Bay Area counties. There are 15 cities in the county. San José is the largest city in the county, with a population of one million and is the administrative site of county government. 2

4 CONTACT US General SHANNON BUSHEY, REGISTRAR OF VOTERS MATT MORELES, ASSISTANT REGISTRAR OF VOTERS Registrar of Voters Office: 1555 Berger Drive, Building 2 San Jose, CA Hours: Monday Friday 8:00 am 5:00 pm Mailing Addresses: General: PO Box , San Jose, CA Voter Registration: PO Box , San Jose, CA Vote by Mail: PO Box , San Jose, CA Precinct Operations: PO Box , San Jose, CA Phone Numbers: General: VOTE (8683) Toll Free: VOTE (8683) TTY Chinese/ 中 文 : Spanish/Español: Tagalog: Vietnamese/Tiếng Việt: The ROV Office provides voting materials in English to all registered voters. In addition and as required by law, the ROV Office provides voting materials and oral language assistance in Chinese, Spanish, Tagalog and Vietnamese. 3

5 DIVISIONS BALLOT LAYOUT Leslie Smith, Election Division Coordinator VOTE (8683) Creates the official ballots and Sample Ballot & Voter Information Pamphlet in all federally-mandated languages. The official ballot includes the optical scan paper ballot, the electronic touchscreen ballot and the electronic accessible audio ballot. Sample Ballot & Voter Information Pamphlets contain a sample of the ballot, instructions to voters, statements from candidates, and measure documents including analyses, arguments, tax rate statements, and such. Provides translation and proofreading services to other ROV divisions. Provides bilingual assistance at the Candidate and Public Services and Vote by Mail counters and via VOTE throughout the year. CANDIDATE AND PUBLIC SERVICES Shui Ling Chu, Election Division Coordinator [email protected] Provides customer service at the front counter. Explain laws, rules, regulations and requirements relating to elections and voter registration to the public. Issues and processes candidate nominations for federal, state constitutional, state legislative, central committee, municipal, county, school, and special district offices. Assists local jurisdictions to elect board members and attain ballot measures. Prepares and distributes election calendars, candidate guides and nomination documents. Receives, reviews and tracks paper and electronic filing of financial forms filed by candidates and committees mandated by the Fair Political Practices Commission. 4

6 DIVISIONS (continued) ELECTION MATERIALS PROCESSING Mike Fong, Election Division Coordinator Orders and maintains all office and election supplies and materials. Addresses and mails Sample Ballot & Voter Information Pamphlets to voters. Tests, programs, and secures the touchscreen voting machines and other voting equipment. Oversees distribution and return centers, sites where poll workers retrieve and return election supplies. Deliver official ballots, touchscreen voting machines and other voting equipment as well as election supplies to polling places. Plans and conducts the distribution and return of ballots and Election Officer materials prior to and after the election. FISCAL Vicky Bituin, Fiscal Officer Prepares and oversees the ROV budget. Performs all accounting related functions such as: employee payroll, accounts payable and receivable. Processes travel and grant reimbursements. Provides estimates and billing of actual costs for services provided by the ROV (election costs, initiative signature verification, etc.). Maintains employee personnel records. 5

7 DIVISIONS (continued) INFORMATION SYSTEMS (IS) Svetlana Velyutina, Acting Information Systems Manager Provides technical support to ROV employees, including computer printing and network problems. Supports the ROV software database, Election Information Management System (EIMS) and WinEDS (the vote count database), and all aspects of ballot counting during an election. MAPPING Bob Nguyen, Election Division Coordinator Prepares district maps that can be purchased by the public. Maintains maps of all jurisdictions in Santa Clara County. Responsible for precinct consolidation. Plans drayage routing for delivery of voting equipment and election materials for the election. 6

8 DIVISIONS (continued) PUBLIC AND LEGISLATIVE AFFAIRS Philip Chantri, Election Division Coordinator Serves as spokesperson for the ROV Office. Responsible for all aspects related to media relations, including responding to queries and requests for information; conducting and scheduling interviews, coordinating and scheduling filming and videotaping of departmental operations and election processes; preparing and disseminating press releases, public service announcements, media advisories; developing and conducting media and publicity campaigns. Oversees legislative affairs monitor, formulate, analyze and take action, as may be appropriate, on state and federal legislation, related to elections and election administration. Manages the Departmental California Public Records Act requests. PRECINCT OPERATIONS (Election Officers, Polling Places, Outreach & Training) Karin Accorinti, Election Services Coordinator POLL (7655) Selects and secures polling places and ensures that such sites comply with polling place guidelines. Recruits, selects, assigns, and trains monolingual and bilingual Election Officers (Poll Workers). Conducts voter outreach and education, including at the monthly new citizenship swearing-in ceremony. Staffs the designated bilingual telephone lines and provides oral language assistance throughout the year. 7

9 DIVISIONS (continued) VOTE BY MAIL Alfred Gonzales, Election Division Coordinator Mails official ballots to Permanent Vote by Mail voters, overseas and military voters and voters who have requested a ballot by mail. Processes Vote by Mail applications from voters. Orders official ballots for polling place and Vote by Mail voters. Receives and processes returned Vote by Mail voted ballots. Manages the department s website, safety program, telecommunications and facility-related items. VOTER REGISTRATION Maggy Smith, Election Division Coordinator [email protected] VOTE (8683) Toll Free: VOTE (8683) Maintains Santa Clara County s Voter File, ensuring a correct and up-to-date Voter File for any election. Enters new Voter Registration Cards into the Voter File. Updates, inactivates and cancels existing voter records. Records voter history. Verifies signatures and certifies initiatives, referenda, recall petitions and nomination papers. Verifies and prepares valid provisional ballots received on Election Day for inclusion in the official vote tally Registration and voting information are available to the hearing impaired by TTY Communication. Call

10 VOTING OPTIONS The ROV Office offers county voters three options for casting ballots in an election, unless it is an all-mail ballot election. For voted ballots to be counted, they must be received by 8:00 p.m. on Election Day. This includes Vote by Mail ballots, as postmarks are not accepted. VOTE BY MAIL Voters may vote by mail in a single election, or may become a permanent vote-by-mail voter and receive a ballot by mail automatically for each election in which they are eligible to vote. More than 500,000 of the county registered voters have opted for the convenience of Permanent Vote by Mail. Vote by Mail ballots can be returned: by mail or in person to a Mail Ballot Return Center or any polling place on Election Day. A complete list of Ballot Return Center locations and hours is available online at Vote by Mail ballots received early are the first to be processed, verified and included in the initial results posted on Election Night. First in, first counted! Voting by mail is extremely popular and has increased dramatically since Vote by Mail now accounts for the majority of ballots cast in county elections. EARLY VOTING At the Registrar of Voters Office, 1555 Berger Drive, Building 2 in San Jose: Is available to all Santa Clara County registered voters. Begins 29 days before each election. Offered during regular office hours, Monday Friday, 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Also offered the last two weekends before a countywide election. Accessible touch screen voting is available at the Registrar s Office during Early Voting (more information about accessibility is listed in Voting at the Polls). 9

11 VOTING OPTIONS (continued) VOTING AT THE POLLS Polling places are open from 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. on Election Day. Voters are encouraged to vote at their designated polling place, which may be found on the back cover of the Sample Ballot & Voter Information Pamphlet or letter from the ROV Office to voters who register after 29 days before the election. Voters may also find their polling place location online at Accessible touch screen voting is available at every polling place. The County s electronic voting system gives visually-impaired voters the ability to cast a secret ballot without assistance. The voting system is equipped with an audio voting component that allows voters to listen to the ballot and make their choices using the keypad provided. The keypad includes a sip and puff feature as well. The ROV also strives to provide polling places that are accessible. To check polling place accessibility, refer to this symbol on the back cover of the Sample Ballot & Voter Information Pamphlet. If a polling place does not meet accessibility guidelines, voters are encouraged to call the ROV Office at POLL [7655] for information on alternative methods of voting. 10

12 COUNTING BALLOTS The polls close at 8:00 pm on Election Night, but it usually takes hours for all precincts to show results, and weeks before the final totals are known. Here's a quick look at what happens after a ballot is cast. ELECTION NIGHT The first results are posted shortly after 8:00 pm - these are the Vote by Mail ballots that were returned early. After that, we have to wait for the first of the polling place precincts across the county to complete their paperwork, pack up their supplies, and return the ballots - this can take an hour or more. As precincts arrive, their ballots are counted by high-speed scanners and added to the total results. The posted results are updated periodically throughout the night - the results web page will show how many precincts have reported and the time of the last update. When all precincts have reported, the Election Night counting is done; however, there are still more ballots to count and a lot more work to do before the results become official (see below). 11

13 BALLOT COUNTING (continued) POST-ELECTION CANVASS California Elections Code requires the Registrar of Voters to perform a post-election canvass before certifying the final results. The canvass period usually lasts for 30 days after a statewide or countywide election. During this time, the ROV counts all remaining valid ballots and performs a series of mandated audits to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the election. Election results are updated periodically during the canvass period according to the schedule posted on the ROV s results web page. BALLOTS COUNTED AFTER ELECTION DAY "Last Minute" Vote by Mail Ballots take longer to count than a precinct ballot because they have to be signature-verified; usually these are counted by the Friday after the election. Provisional Ballots are the last ballots counted because they have to be researched and verified; it may take a few weeks, but every valid vote will be counted. AUDITS Review of all paperwork completed at the precincts to make sure all ballots are accounted for. Manual recount of random samples of ballots to ensure that vote tabulation equipment is working accurately. 12

14 COMMUNITY The ROV Office works closely and on an ongoing basis with community groups and organizations. The office teams up with such groups and organizations in promoting and conducting voter registration, education and outreach as well as in conducting elections and delivering services. Following are just a few of the groups and organizations. Citizens Advisory Commission on Elections (CACE) City Clerks, all 15 cities within the county Voters Accessibility Advisory Committee League of Women Voters Kiwanis 13

15 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW HISTORICAL VOTER REGISTRATON AND VOTER TURNOUT IN GUBERNATORIAL AND PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS Voter Turnout Election Year Registration Gubernatorial General , % Gubernatorial General , % Gubernatorial General , % Gubernatorial General , % Gubernatorial General , % Gubernatorial General , % Gubernatorial General , % Gubernatorial General , % Gubernatorial General , % Gubernatorial General , % Gubernatorial General , % Gubernatorial General , % % Average % Election Year Voter Registration Turnout Presidential General , % Presidential General , % Presidential General , % Presidential General , % Presidential General , % Presidential General , % Presidential General , % Presidential General , % Presidential General , % Presidential General , % Presidential General , % Presidential General , % Presidential General , % % Average % 14

16 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW (continued) HISTORICAL VOTER REGISTRATION AND VOTER TURNOUT IN STATEWIDE SPECIAL ELECTIONS Election Year Voter Registration Turnout October , % November , % May , % 15

17 HISTORICAL OVERVIEW (continued) VOTE BY MAIL NOW ACCOUNTS FOR THE MAJORITY OF BALLOTS CAST IN SANTA CLARA COUNTY ELECTIONS. 16

18 MEDIA & OBSERVERS The Registrar of Voters Office is open to transparency of its operations and processes. The Office is also committed to providing members of the public and news media with timely and accurate information. MEDIA All media inquiries and requests for information, interviews, videotaping, filming, and exit polling are coordinated and scheduled through the Media Division. This includes visiting polling places on Election Day. Members of the media may visit polling places on election and may observe and speak with Election Officers and voters, as long as this does not interfere with voting and Election Officers and voters do not feel intimidated and the privacy of the voters is not compromised. MEDIA EXIT POLLING Media representatives may interview voters as they exit polling places, as along as voters agree to be interviewed and the interviewers remain at least 25 feet from the polling place. ELECTIONEERING Electioneering is the visible display or audible dissemination of information for or against any candidate or measure on the ballot. Electioneering cannot be conducted within 100 feet of the entrance to the polling place. ELECTION OBSERVERS The public and media are welcome to view and observe election processes. Anyone interested in observing the process can make arrangements by contacting the Registrar s Office at

19 CONNECT Visit the Registrar of Voters online at to access important election information: Online Voter Registration Election Results Voter Registration Status Lookup Track Your Vote by Mail Ballot Find Your Polling Place and Districts Online Sample Ballot & Voter Information Pamphlet Election Dates & Deadlines Volunteer at the Polls Scan this barcode with your smart phone to visit sccvote.org SOCIAL MEDIA For the latest election news & more, follow SCCVOTE: Facebook.com/sccvote Twitter.com/sccvote YouTube.com/sccvote 18