REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
September 26, 2023
FROM
STEPHENIE SHEA, Registrar of Voters, Registrar of Voters
SUBJECT
Title
Introduction of Ordinance Regarding Compensation of Election Workers
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Consider proposed ordinance relating to compensation of election workers.
2. Make alterations, if necessary, to proposed ordinance.
3. Approve introduction of proposed ordinance.
• An ordinance of San Bernardino County, State of California, amending Subsection 13.0619(a) of the San Bernardino County Code of Ordinances, relating to compensation of election workers and payment for polling places.
4. SCHEDULE ORDINANCE FOR FINAL ADOPTION ON TUESDAY, OCTOBER 24, 2023, on the Consent Calendar.
(Presenter: Stephenie Shea, Registrar of Voters, 387-2100)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Create, Maintain and Grow Jobs and Economic Value in the County.
Improve County Government Operations.
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item may require the use of additional Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The estimated cost to increase the stipends for polling place election workers is $261,255 and includes increases for polling place Supervisors, Assistant Supervisors, Clerks, Field Representatives, and Ballot Security. A portion of the election worker cost is billed to jurisdictions that call for a polling place election. Approval of the necessary budget adjustments to the Registrar of Voters’ (ROV) 2023-24 budget is not requested at this time, but will be included in a future budget report presented to the Board of Supervisors (Board) for approval, if necessary.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The proposed ordinance will enable the ROV to schedule sufficient election worker staffing at polling places throughout the county during the March 5, 2024 Presidential Primary Election and future elections. San Bernardino County Code of Ordinances section 13.0619(a) authorizes the stipends paid to election workers and to owners of sites used as voting locations. The Board last adopted an ordinance to amend these provisions on October 2, 2018 (Item No. 21).
Volunteer poll workers are essential to helping residents exercise their right to vote at polling places, which total approximately 300 locations during countywide elections. The recommended ordinance is intended to increase the number of volunteers participating as poll workers and improve the quality of services provided to voters on Election Day.
The ROV also recommends increasing the daily stipends for polling place Supervisors and support staff to establish a graduated scale of compensation based on level of responsibility and to recruit, train and retain reliable polling place staff. The table below lists the positions used in prior elections with their current and proposed daily stipend amounts. The Ballot Security position is currently handled by ROV staff and is not currently performed by election workers, but the stipend is proposed to be increased should election workers be utilized to perform the Ballot Security position.
|
Election Worker Position |
Current Stipend |
Proposed Stipend |
|
Clerk |
$100/day |
$255/day |
|
Assistant Supervisor |
$135/day |
$260/day |
|
Supervisor |
$135/day |
$300/day |
|
Field Representative |
$250/day |
$375/day |
|
Ballot Security |
$175/day |
$300/day |
To better attract people to the supervisory and other support positions, ROV recommends increasing the training stipend by $10 per each two hours of training and the bilingual stipend by $3 per day. The following table lists the stipend amounts currently paid to election workers and the proposed training stipend amount.
|
Stipend |
Current Amount |
Proposed Amount |
|
Training Stipend |
$20/two hours of training |
$30/two hours of training |
|
Bilingual Stipend |
$10/day |
$20/day |
|
On-call Stipend |
$15/two hours |
$30/two hours |
Supervisors and Assistant Supervisors are recruited from the pool of potential workers that successfully complete a two-hour basic training class and are required to successfully complete a second four-hour Supervisor training class. Field Representatives are recruited from the pool of potential workers that complete a Supervisor training class and are required to successfully complete a third two-hour training class. The current Supervisor, Assistant Supervisor, and Field Representative compensation makes it difficult to recruit a sufficient number of people to fill these positions.
For example, during the November 8, 2022 Statewide General Election, about 30% of the election workers invited to complete Supervisor training either declined the invitation, or failed to attend their scheduled training class. As a result, the ROV continuously recruited election workers to staff supervisory positions because, in the days leading up to the election, 14 polling place Supervisors declined to work.
ROV recommends the higher stipends to recruit and retain election workers. Pending Board adoption of the ordinance on October 24, 2023, the ordinance will be effective 30 days later, on November 23, 2023.
PROCUREMENT
N/A
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Jolena Grider, Deputy County Counsel, 387-5455) on August 25, 2023; Finance (Elias Duenas, Administrative Analyst, 387-4378) on September 8, 2023; and County Finance and Administration (Valerie Clay, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on September 11, 2023.