Nevada County 2013 Election Report

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Voting and Registeringto Vote

The 2013 Report of the Nevada County Elections Office

From Gregory J. DiazNevada County Clerk-Recorder

andRegistrar of Voters

www.mynevadacounty.com/nc/elections/Pages/2013-Election-Report.aspx
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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 publictrust and confidence through administration of fair andaccurate elections.


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Nevada County Clerk-Rec order/ Reg istrar of Voters

County Clerk - Rec order950 Maidu Avenue, Suite 210

Nevada City, CA 95959

Phone: (530) 265-1221

Fax: (530) 265-9842

mynevadacounty.com/nc/recorder

Gregory J. DiazCounty Clerk Rec orde r

Gail SmithAsst. County C lerk Rec order

County Elections950 M aid u 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 JuryAlison 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.
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Table of Contents

Executive Summary 1

Detailed Summary 4

Provisional Voting 5Online Registration 8

Conclusion 10

Budget Questionnaire1 12

List of Appendices 17

1The 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 overthe 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 lastdecade, the number of voters casting ballots by mail has more than doubled, from31% in the November 5, 2002, election, to 74% last November. Over the samedecade, 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, processingthese ballots is extremely labor intensive and will continue to be so because of asignificant number of inherent errors by voters. With the rise in mail-in ballots isthe rise in rejections because of these errors. The most frequent errors are mailingthe ballot too late, signing the ballot envelope with a signature that doesnt matchthe 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 striveto 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 thevoter directly, by phone if we have the number on file, or by mail if we dont.

Another major change is a tripling in the number of provisional ballots. More than3% of all ballots cast last fall were cast provisionally. Each of these provisionalballots must be vetted manually for legitimacy before they can be tabulated, andthat tabulation must also be performed manually.

It seems clear that these trends will continue. The Elections Department currentlyhas too few personnel to carry out its mission effectively, and its physical resourcesare cumbersome and inadequate.

What we are doing well

Reducing the rejection rate: Through a combination of helping voters correcttheir errors and improved communications, we have cut the rejection rate by1/3rd, to just under 7/10ths of a percent.
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Improving voter convenience: We added a secure drop box so that voters cancast their ballots in person, 24 hours a day, in front of the county officebuilding. Truckee voters can drop off ballots inside Truckee Town Hall. Wehave developed resources to simplify and make more convenient voterregistration.

Assuring all ballots are counted: We work with the local post offices so thatbeginning five days prior to election day, all ballots are held in the post officerather than sent to the regional postal processing center. Teams from theElections Office pick up these trapped ballots daily to assure they arecounted on Election Day.

Voter instruction pamphlet: Starting last fall, we sent a printed pamphletwith all vote-by-mail packets. The pamphlet includes detailed instructionsand answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs).

Improving Overseas/Military ballot delivery: In 2008 the number one failurefor military and overseas voters involved transmission of ballots. Ballotsreceived after the deadline accounted for most of these failures. Fundingdistributed to the Cal E-Promise Coalition, which includes Nevada County, willsupport integrated solutions with goals that include online voter registration,notification of ballot availability, the ability to retrieve ballots online, and totrack ballot return status for military and overseas voters. We also anticipatean increase in ballot return rates for military and overseas voters withimplementation of Democracy Live software.

Challenges faced and potential solutions

Technology: Essential technology is mandating every step of the electionsprocess, including compiling voters lists, drawing electoral boundaries,employing and training staff, printing ballots, conducting voter educationcampaigns, and publishing election results. We do not have a qualifiedElection Information Technology Technician. The result is two-fold: we arebecoming less efficient in the conduct of the entire elections process, and weare missing opportunities to reduce costs.

Compliance: The Fair Political Practices Commission (FPPC) requirescomplex Campaign Filing and Disclosure Statements. We currently file and

process paper documents by hand. Our system needs to become automatedto save staff hours and to deliver this information in a timely, cost-efficientmanner. This would also serve the public and candidates well, savingtime and money.

Facilities: Our elections warehouse is located more than six miles from theElections Office. It lacks standard office resources, resulting in frequenttrips 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 thepossibility of mistakes that could threaten the integrity of the electionsprocess. Elections workers are largely temporary staff, but without a managerat the warehouse these workers are often completely unsupervised, inevitablyleading to errors that must be corrected by already overburdened permanentstaff.

Certification: Laws, rules and regulations governing the conduct of electionsand the protection of the rights of all qualified to vote are complex.Administering elections requires state certified California ProfessionalElection Administrators. Currently only two of our employees, the Clerk-Recorder and the Assistant Clerk-Recorder, have this certification. We need toqualify 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. Acomprehensive set of appendices is also included that graphically examines theseissues.


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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 pastdecade we have seen Vote-by-Mail ballots more than double from 30.90% of thetotal ballots cast in the November 5, 2002 General Election to 73.55% in theNovember 6, 2012 General Presidential Election.

Rejection ratesWith the increase in Vote-by-Mail ballots we have also seen an increase in rejectionrates due to late arrival, no signature match, or no signature submitted. This reportincludes 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 theballot, and voter information pamphlets inserted with each ballot package.

Progress in Successful Vote-by-Mail ballotsOur county has had great success with voters successfully returning Vote-by-Mailballots over the years. Of course there is always room for improvement, and we areconstantly reducing the number of rejected ballots, focusing especially on latereturns and lack of signatures. During Presidential Elections our total rejected ratehas gone down. In the November 2004 Presidential Election our rejection rate was0.96% and in the November 2012 Presidential Election our rejection rate was0.69% (see Attachment B). Besides rejections for late ballots or ballot envelopeslacking signatures, we also face the problem of the signature on the ballot envelopenot 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 andsign it. They can do this any time before 8pm on Election Day. If no phone number ison file we send a letter to the voter asking them to come to our office and sign theirballot 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, thusassuring their votes are tabulated.

Beginning in the presidential primary of 2012, we included a pamphlet with voterinformation and frequently asked questions (FAQs) with all Vote-by-Mail ballotpackets 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 tosend in the Vote-by-Mail ballot, and what to do if a voter would rather vote at apolling place instead of filling out the Vote-by-Mail ballot. In addition, it tells thevoter what to do if they lose or damage their ballot, and informs the voter that theycan 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 pollinglocations and their addresses.

In 2009 we added a secure 24-hour drop box in front of our building for voters todrop off their Vote-by-Mail ballots. This option is great for voters who are notcomfortable mailing their ballots or if they cant make it to our office during normalbusiness hours and wish to cast their ballots before the day of the election. Wecheck the drop box daily for ballots, and as we get closer to Election Day, we checkmultiple 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 setaside ballots received that day, rather than sending them to the regional processingcenter like a normal piece of mail. At the end of each business day we send teams ofelection officials to all post offices in Nevada County to pick up the ballots and bringthem back to our office. We start this ballot trapping process five days before theelection. This method insures that our office receives all mail-in ballots from postoffices by 8pm on Election Day, greatly reducing the risk of being rejected as toolate.

Return postageReturn 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 fewervoters 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 tosupply postage could be viewed as a poll tax.

Provisional Voting

Provisional voting continues to increase and is most evident during presidentialelections. Provisional ballots were just .98% of the ballots cast in the November2004 Presidential Election and rose to 3.05% in the November 2012 PresidentialElection (see Attachment F). Provisional ballots require vast amounts of time toprocess and must be processed at the end of canvass. Most Provisional ballots castcould have been avoided through re-registration and by voters voting at the correctpolling place.

Provisional voting is available to any voter when there are questions about thevoters eligibility to vote. Reasons may include not being able to surrender apreviously 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 isavailable to any voter at all polling locations. This method of voting allows a voterwhose eligibility is in question to cast a vote, while also allowing the electionofficials time to thoroughly investigate the eligibility of the voter during the 28-daycanvassing period.

Because provisional ballots are thoroughly investigated, they take a large amount oftime to complete and therefore very expensive to the county. Each ballot has to bechecked to see if the voter is eligible to vote in the county, and if so, did he or shevote the correct ballot with the correct issues that pertain to their precinct. If theyare eligible to vote but voted the wrong ballot, then the votes on the improper ballotmust be duplicated onto the correct ballot type a very time consuming process.

While provisional voting is a great backup method, many provisional ballots couldbe avoided if voters either re-registered when required, or if voters simply identifiedthe 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 receivethe correct ballot. Registering to vote is very easy, especially now that it is availableonline and at all post offices, DMV locations, and libraries. In addition, the ElectionsOffice will mail a prepaid voter registration form to anyone in the county whorequests one, and the forms are always available to the public in our office. Voterscan determine online whether they are registered to vote with their currentresidence address. On our Website we have a page that will tell a voter if they areregistered using just their address number, zip code, and date of birth. If they arenot registered to vote with that residence address or are simply not registered tovote, the page will prompt the voter to fill out an online registration form. Inaddition, 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 ElectionsOffice, which will provide information about their polling place as well as directions.Another option available to the voter is our Website page called Polling PlaceLookup. All voters have to do is type in their current address to find their correctpolling 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 provisionalballots totaled 3.05% of the total votes. More than 80% of the submitted provisionalballots were counted in the 2012 Presidential Election. However, 364 were rejectedbecause 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 provisionalvoting 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-registerwhen they move.

2. Uncertain whether they will be able to go to a polling place, more andmore opt to choose Vote-by-Mail.

3. With time at a premium, voters opt to vote by mail to take advantage ofhaving time to study their ballot, as Vote-by-Mail Ballots are mailed tovoters 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 educationprogram in the news media.

Signature recognitionEvery ballot envelope for Vote-by-Mail ballots must be signed by the voter. Amachine called Vote Remote checks every signature. It has specialized software thatallows it to scan the signature on the envelope and crosscheck it with the voterssignature on file. If a discrepancy is found, an election official will check thesignature manually and determine if it is that of the voter. When a ballot envelope issigned with a signature that does not match the voters signature on file, the ballotcannot be counted. Voters signatures can change over time, which is why we updateour signature on file every time we get a new voter registration card. If we receive apiece of mail or a request from a voter at anytime and the signature doesnt matchwhat we have on file, we immediately send out a new voter registration card with aletter explaining that we need to place their new signature on file. This insures oursignature files are up to date and lowers our rejection rate due to lack of validsignatures. Our rejection rates remain relatively low, with just .17% of the votes castin 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 apaper 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 byhand, one for each of the 56 polling places in our county, one week before theelection. Whats more, these rosters must be supplemented, again by hand, to correctfor 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 phonethe Elections Office to verify the correct polling place. It requires eight staff membersto 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-sensitiveactivities.

There is a better way.

Currently, two California counties, Merced and Marin, are utilizing an Electronic PollBook system that automates many of the tasks, greatly improving accuracy andreducing costs.

We propose introducing this electronic system to Nevada County, which will put atouch screen in every polling place with up-to-the-minute, comprehensive voterinformation available. We predict that this system will reduce at least 75% of thecalls from polling places to the Elections Help Desk.

A significant cost benefit will result from a decrease in the number of ProvisionalVoters because all essential voter information will be on the screen. It costs thecounty between $5 and $20 for each affidavit related to provisional voting. Therewere 1,879 provisional voters in the last election. We expect to reduce this numberby half with the electronic system.

For each election the cost savings would be about $46,000; or $230,000 for fiveelections.

Online Registration

Online registration is a new way to register to vote in California. It became availableon September 19, 2012 and is available to the public through a number of differentWebsites, including our own county elections Website and the Secretary of States

Website. It is a simple step-by-step process that allows voters to register quickly andeasily from a computer or mobile device. The online registration program workswith the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) to link the voters signature to thevoters registration. If no signature is on file with the DMV then the voter isinstructed to print out a voter registration form, sign it, and mail it to the ElectionsOffice.

Since it became available, our county has had 2,650 online registrations. This helpedour 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 ourvoter roles. Eliminating the paper aspect of voter registration cards saves ourworkers from having to sort the mail, then scan the registration cards into ourcomputer, and finally enter the voters information manually into our voter roles.

Online registration is very helpful, and we hope to see more and more registrationscome into our office through the online program in the future.

Information about registering to vote, and many other questions about voting, areavailable on line athttp://www.mynevadacounty.com/nc/elections/Pages/Home.aspx

How We Compare With Other Counties

Nevada Countys election process compares favorably with other California counties.For example:

Our outreach program to correct deficiencies encountered in Vote-by-Mail isperhaps 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 informationare viewed with admiration by Clerk-Recorders in other counties.

Although we have one of the lowest ratios of staff to registered voters onlythree full-time staff for 62,000 registered voters we run a relatively error-freeoperation.

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 thevotes are saved in a memory chip that is read on election night. All discrepancies arevisually checked and resolved by an election official. To ensure that the scanningmachine is working properly, our office does a 1% manual tally pursuant to ElectionCode 15360. Precincts that are counted during this manual tally are chosen atrandom. We manually count each vote and check that the totals are the same as thoseon the scanning machine. This ensures that the machine is running properly andcounting 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 nosignature submitted) have become a major concern. Rejection rates have gonedown from 0.96% of the total votes in November 2004 to 0.69% in the November2012 Presidential Election. While this is good progress, we want these numbers toget as low as possible in coming elections.

We have used a number of different methods to lower our rejection rates, includingcall 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 wereceive ballots that have been sent in a timely manner, and providing informationalpamphlets with all our Vote-by-Mail ballot packets. Hopefully, these methods will

reduce our rejection rates further, but we are constantly seeking and testing newways to cut the rate further.

Provisional voting continues to rise and reached an all time high for our countyduring the November 2012 Presidential Election. The acceptance rate for theseprovisional 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 whomove would register anew and if voters made the effort to vote at the correct pollingplace. 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 aninformation pamphlet that lists all polling places for the county. We have also addeda polling place look up feature to our Website that provides voters with the correctpolling location and directions on how to get there. We are hopeful these methods, inaddition to the normal notification cards and sample ballots that include the addressof the voters polling place, will steer voters to the correct polling place or encouragethem to re-register when necessary and thus cut down on the number of costlyprovisional 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. Inaddition to the polling place look up feature discussed above, we also give the voterthe 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 toregister online. Another benefit is the ability to look up election results by precinctthrough 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 inSeptember 2012, will reduce the number of provisional ballots by having morepeople properly registered at their current residence address. Another helpfulfeature our Website offers is the ability for voters to determine if our office hasreceived their Vote-by-Mail ballots. Provisional ballots are counted last during the

28-day canvass period that follows an election. Provisional voters might waitseveral weeks before all the provisional ballots are counted. On the ElectionsOffice Website provisional voters can find out quickly and easily if their ballotshave been counted merely by providing their initials, year of birth, and homeaddress.


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Service Budget Unit

Questionnaire Budget Development2013-14

Serv ice Budget Un i t

Unm et Needs

SBU Tit le( No t Org Code)

10501 Elections

Conv ers ion o f o ne Sen ior Clerk -Recorder p os i t ion to E lec t ion

I n fo r m at ion Techno logy Techn ic ian Technology is essential tothe 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; compilingvoters lists, drawing electoral boundaries, employing and trainingstaff, printing ballots, conducting voter education campaigns, andpublishing election results. The appropriate application of technologyto elections can increase administrative efficiency, reduce long-term

costs and enhance political transparency.

The lack of a full-time Election Information Technology Technician hashad an adverse effect in conducting elections. With a full-time ElectionInformation Technology Technician, more time would be devoted toincreased operating efficiencies and previously missed opportunitiesfor election cost savings. Immediate, upcoming duties for a full-time

Election Information Technology Technician would include working withGIS to clean up the street index in DIMS, re-precincting, and re-drawing precinct lines to include all LAFCO additions and changes. Thefull time Election Information Technology will research, recommend,

test, implement, maintain and provide the critical support for electionsand business processes in the Election Office. The full time positionwould help ensure the office and county maintain security of the votingsystem and the integrity of Nevada County Elections.

FPPC Manag em ent - The Nevada County Elections Department has apaper-based, manual filing process for Fair Political Practices


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Commission (hereinafter, FPPC) Campaign Filing and DisclosureStatements. Our system needs to become automated to save staffhours 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 trackingof the Campaign Financial Disclosure Statements. The system createsan 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 systemprovides business process reports of what filings are due and trackswhich filers have filed statements as they are received. The forms arescanned into the system using bar code technology. This processautomatically links and stores the images with data in the repository.

The database is updated and reports are created to indicate compliancestatus. 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 arecreated to track the entities response and the action taken by our staff.The system also includes a Public Access module. This allows staffand the public to search the database and retrieve electronicdocuments images of the campaign financing disclosure statements forviewing and printing using kiosks in our office.

Space Lim i ta t ions- The election warehouse is located more than 6

miles away from the Elections office. The warehouse lacks standardoffice resources, such as a copier and a high-volume printer. Manytrips are made back and forth between the office and warehousebecause of the lack of resources and the need to instruct andsupervise the temporary staff members, resulting in high mileagecharges. More importantly, the lack of management directlycorrelates with mistakes which threaten the integrity of ourelections.

War ehouse Manager - There is a need for at least one permanent-

half time staff member to maintain the warehouse year round, thevoting equipment, and see that office standards are met by ensuringcompliance with election laws and departmental policies. Because oflimited staff in the election office, current staff is not able to constantlymonitor and supervise activity in the warehouse, which often causesconfusion, costly mistakes, including making sure there are no issueswith the $1,300,000 equipment due to not having a temperaturecontrolled storage with fire sprinklers. Without constant guidance


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and instruction in proper election procedures, temporary staff makesdecisions that can have huge ramifications for the department tryingto conduct a successful election. Temporary workers should not be leftunsupervised, but because the warehouse is not physically within theElection office, on many occasions we have little choice but to do so.

Most temporary staffmembers work as elections temporary workersfor just one to two elections at the most, creating staff turnover and theconstant need to keep training workers in a highly-specified, detail-oriented field a major issue. Additionally, there is not enough space inthe warehouse or the office to do the state mandated tasks of preparingthe equipment and supplies for Election Day. Staff constantly shufflesthe various supplies around, creating more work and opening up anopportunity for mistakes to be made. A warehouse manager is neededfor supervision.

The warehouse staff must be comprised of people who are able towork 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 instaffing 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 havethe needed computer skills sometimes cannot meet the physicaldemands of the warehouse duties.

CERA Cert i f icat ion There was a time when the administration ofelections and voter registration was a straight forward, relativelysimple matter of occasionally organizing election workers, maintainingregistration lists, and holding periodic elections. That time is nolonger. Civil rights concerns (racial, ethnic, disabilities, languageminorities) as well as a variety of other considerations ranging fromincreasing participation to the demands of modern technology haveforever and radically altered the nature of the elections/registrationprocess. As a result, thoughtful election and registration officials havecome to believe that this profession is one that requires expert,trained administrators who understand the subtleties of the myriad offactors now making the administration of the elections process aspecialty for which specific knowledge and abilities are essential.

Nevada County Election officials must have the opportunity to gaincontinuing education units to enhance our core skills required formodern elections/registration administration. The Nevada County


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Clerk-Recorder and the Nevada County Assistant Clerk-Recorder havecompleted CalPEAC classes and are now state certified CaliforniaProfessional Election Administrators. The CERA certification is aprofessional education program created by The Election Center withthe cooperation and guidance of Auburn Universitys Masters in Public

Administration faculty who also serve as the principal instructors.Participants receive Election Center credit towards the achievement ofthe professions highest designation as Certified Elections/RegistrationAdministrator.

Resource Managem ent

This budget does not allow for a full-time Information TechnologyTechnician. Therefore, a member of the HART Intercivic staff will bebrought in during the election cycle for training and support of full timestaff members.

Com m un i t y Par t n e r s

Town of Truckee

St a t e 2013 - 14 Budge t

None

User Fees

This budget does not assume any fee increases but does account fortwo Nevada County Resolutions establishing a method for recoupingactual costs of conducting municipal, school and special districtelections when consolidated with the Countys regularly scheduledelection cycle pursuant to California Election Code 10520.

Copies -Certified Copy of Voter Registration card $1.50Certified Copy of any paper or record (except VRC) $11.00

Searching records or files $5.00Photocopy 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 ProjectedElection Services $177,234 $ 87,489

Filing fees & Cand Stmt $ 20,000 $ 35,000

Vendor Services $ 3,500 $ 1,500Copies, Maps & Misc. $ 200 $ 200

Sta f f in g and Re la ted Sa la ry and Benef i t Cos ts

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 atour precincts.

Capi t a l Asset s

None

General

The top 3 Class 2 expenditures in this budget are IS service, officeexpense, special departmental expenses.

Nevada County Elections Division will advocate Nevada County being apilot county for vote by mail legislation. The fiscal impact couldrepresent a 50% decrease in overall election costs.


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Page 17 of17

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


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Vote History for Nevada CountyAttachment A

ElectionDate

VoterRegistration

TotalTurn Out

% TurnOut

VBM Vote % VotingVBM

No. ofPrecincts

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


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AttachmentC


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Attachment D


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Attachment E


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AttachmentF

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%


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Documents

Nevada County 2013 Election Report