REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF THE COUNTY OF SAN BERNARDINO
AND RECORD OF ACTION
August 25, 2020
FROM
BOB PAGE, Registrar of Voters, Registrar of Voters
SUBJECT
Title
Template Agreements for Installation and Maintenance of Secure Ballot Drop Boxes
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Approve four template agreements for the installation and maintenance of the Registrar of Voters’ secure outdoor ballot drop boxes that will be used during elections, starting with the November 3, 2020 Presidential General Election.
2. Authorize the Deputy Executive Officer, Community Services Group or the Registrar of Voters to execute the template agreements on behalf of the County with cities and other property owners and any non-substantive revisions and amendments to the template agreements, subject to review by County Counsel.
(Presenter: Bob Page, Registrar of Voters, 387-2100)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Improve County Government Operations.
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
Pursue County Goals and Objectives by Working with Other Agencies.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval and execution of these template agreements with cities and other property owners will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The template agreements establish that the County will reimburse the contractor up to $2,000 for the cost to install and eventually remove a ballot drop box. These costs are eligible for reimbursement from the State’s budget allocation of $3,813,672 to the County for election-related COVID-19 costs. The costs may also be eligible for reimbursement from the County’s Federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act Coronavirus Relief Funds if no other COVID-19 related federal or state funding is available.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Installation of 70 secure outdoor ballot drop boxes throughout the San Bernardino County will provide voters casting a ballot in the November 3, 2020 Presidential General Election with a safe and expedient way to return a completed ballot to the Registrar of Voters (ROV). New State law requires ROV to provide lockable ballot drop boxes for this election, because ROV will operate fewer polling places than it did in the March 3, 2020 Presidential Primary Election.
On May 8, 2020, Governor Newsom issued Executive Order (EO) N-64-20 requiring counties to mail a ballot to all registered voters during the 2020 Presidential General Election. Subsequently, the Governor issued EO N-67-20 and signed Assembly Bill 860 and Senate Bill (SB) 423, which together direct county election officials how they must conduct this election to ensure all voters are able to cast a ballot safely and securely during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Amongst the additional election components addressed by the mandates in the EOs and legislation are:
• Minimum number of polling places, ballot drop off locations, and hours of operation
• Siting criteria and a 10-day public review and comment period of the proposed polling place and ballot drop off locations
• A system to permit all voters to track their mail ballot from issuance to counting
• Additional time for the United States Postal Service to deliver voted mail ballots postmarked by Election Day to county elections officials
• Community engagement and voter education program
The recommended template agreements will enable the ballot drop boxes to be installed on properties offered by the cities/towns and potentially other public and private property owners.
The difference between the four recommended template agreements center on which party will install the ballot drop boxes and which party will unlock and lock the boxes during an election. If the property owner installs the ballot drop box, the County will provide a reimbursement of up to $2,000.
Additionally, Real Estate Services Department (RESD) is assisting ROV with identifying potential County facilities for the ballot drop boxes and will install them when the County is asked to do so. If any of the ballot drop boxes are installed on property the County already leases, RESD will under its existing authority execute permission letters with the property owner to install the box. In these instances, the County will be responsible for all aspects of the use of the ballot drop box.
Finally, Esri and the County Information Services Department developed a mapping tool to assist ROV with identifying the census tracts where the ballot drop boxes are most needed. The Center for Inclusive Democracy at the University of Southern California provided guidance for the mapping tool as it had created a similar tool for 15 other counties in the state, but did not have the capacity to include the County in its tool. SB 423 requires ROV to consider criteria for siting ballot drop boxes, specifically highlighting proximity to public transit and proximity to communities with historically low usage of vote by mail.
ROV will use the mapping tool to evaluate the locations offered by the cities and identified by RESD to select 70 locations for the ballot drop boxes. In compliance with SB 423, ROV will post the proposed ballot drop box locations on its website for a 10-day public review and comment period. After considering public comments and making any appropriate adjustments, ROV will finalize the 70 locations.
Recommendation No. 2 will authorize the Deputy Executive Officer, Community Services Group or the Registrar of Voters to execute the individual agreements with property owners and to make non-substantive revisions and amendments to the template, subject to review by County Counsel.
PROCUREMENT
N/A.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Jolena Grider, Deputy County Counsel, 387-4310) on August 5, 2020; Finance (Elias Duenas, Administrative Analyst, 387-4052) on August 6, 2020; and County Finance and Administration (Robert Saldana, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-5423) on August 10, 2020.