REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
July 9, 2024
FROM
STEPHENIE SHEA, Registrar of Voters
SUBJECT
Title
Contract with OPEX Corporation for Mail Ballot Extracting Equipment
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
Approve a contract with OPEX Corporation, including non-standard terms, for the purchase of four mail ballot extracting machines, including hardware components and maintenance service, in an amount not to exceed $251,000, for a five-year period of July 9, 2024 through July 8, 2029.
(Presenter: Stephenie Shea, 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.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item does not require the use of additional Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). Adequate appropriation and revenue have been included in the Registrar of Voters' (ROV) 2024-25 budget and will be included in future recommended budgets, as needed.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
The recommended contract with OPEX Corporation (OPEX) will enable ROV to increase the speed of mail ballot processing by automating the mail ballot extraction process. The County has more than 1,171,662 registered voters and is experiencing increases in the overall number of registered voters. On September 27, 2021, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 37, which permanently requires a vote-by-mail ballot to be mailed to every active registered voter in the state.
Over the past six major elections that have taken place from 2020 through 2024, over 60% of the County's voters returned their ballots by mail. ROV's current method for the extraction of ballots is a manual process that requires the hiring of many temporary employees to extract the ballots from envelopes. The purchase of mail ballot extracting machines will allow for a cost-effective method to maximize...
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