Report 2017-107 Recommendation 7 Responses

Report 2017-107: Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters: Insufficient Policies and Procedures Have Led to Errors That May Have Reduced Voters' Confidence in the Registrar's Office (Release Date: October 2017)

Recommendation #7 To: Santa Clara County Registrar of Voters

To reduce the risk of staff errors, inconsistencies in procedures, and the loss of institutional knowledge in the creation, review, and distribution of election-related materials, Santa Clara should develop and implement training for its staff that includes instructions on its comprehensive policies and procedures. The development of this training should take place concurrently with Santa Clara's detailed documentation of its policies and procedures, and Santa Clara should require relevant staff to attend this training before each major election.

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2020

Progress from the last report includes the expansion of the Ballot Layout Division's (BLD) operations with the addition of four new language-specific Election Specialists to the team and the creation of official ballots in nine languages for the March Presidential Primary Election. Training was conducted with all staff on all areas of operation, and the sign-in sheets for the training sessions are attached as evidence, including training with the vendor when the training included the ballot creation system. Separate training was conducted for the General Election, as a software enhancement of the new voting system was implemented for use. BLD has been able to fine tune several of their procedures and trainings due to new staff joining the team.

Also, the Candidate Services Division has a new Division Coordinator who, due to COVID, has undertaken the conversion of the paper/in-person process of the nomination filing period into an on-line processing and created new training materials for both customers and staff. The trainings conducted were attended by all customer jurisdictions, as well as all divisional staff. All trainings were also recorded and posted for easy access by both customers and staff. The division personnel worked closely with County Counsel throughout the filing periods.

We prioritized the four divisions of Mapping, Candidate Services, Ballot Layout, and Vote-by-Mail to meet this reporting deadline. Cumulative submissions represent a significant portion of the trainings for this recommendation. Due to new legislation, as well as the new voting model and new voting equipment, it is essential that existing procedures and training materials be updated on a continuous basis. We believe our progress to date satisfies this recommendation.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Fully Implemented

Annual Follow-Up Agency Response From October 2019

Training & Staff Development Div. created a new Learning on Demand Portal. All managers have been presented with the materials. The intention is to have each division upload their training materials into this program so that an employee can have access to training materials and resources. The use of program has begun in October 2019 and expected to accelerate staff trainings.

Mapping attended trainings at CACEO Cal-Peak Course on Redistricting and Drawing new maps, and ESRI-GIS program training. Staff developed trainings on Adding/Removing a District in EIMS, Precinct Consolidation, and Splitting a Precinct.

CSD attended trainings with State Fair Political Practices Commission, and Secretary of State's Office. CSD attended a FPPC Campaigns and Committees filing Officer Duties training on April 8; April 29, CSD & BLD attended WebEx by DFM on EIMS 4.3 Office/Incumbent Module; May 2, CSD attended WebEx by DFM on 5.1 Election Set Up Part 1, Part 2 was on May 24, by WebEx and also attended by BLD. May 9, CSD attended WebEx by DFM on 5.2 Candidate Contests and Processing. On September 11, CSD, along with Voter Registration and Election Logistics and Voting Systems attended a nomination filing training by Secretary of State's office. CSD, along with Policies and Procedures, developed trainings on procedures relating to Random Alpha Drawing, Receiving Measure Resolution, and Withdrawal of Candidacy.

BLD's trainings of Proofreading Candidate Statements, Proofreading Covers, Proofreading Labels, Proofreading Official Optical Scan Ballots, and JAWS Program training materials.

Vote-by-Mail's materials are E+3 Postmark and Write-In Tally trainings.

Process for implementing training is complete, although training materials will be continually updated as procedures are finalized and updated to reflect changes in law and developing best practices. Therefore, cumulative submissions of evidence previously submitted represent the completion for this recommendation.

California State Auditor's Assessment of Annual Follow-Up Status: Partially Implemented

We commend Santa Clara in its efforts to implement this recommendation, and we recognize that it has established training that includes instructions on its policies and procedures for most of its divisions. We will continue to report this recommendation as partially implemented until Santa Clara finalizes its policies and procedures for its Ballot Layout Division.

1-Year Agency Response

Progress from the last report includes evidence as to the four divisions and the trainings that each has conducted relating to both the June and November elections. The Executives remind the divisions to use the policies and procedures for each of their trainings and to provide updates as feedback to the Policies & Procedures Team for further development of training materials, as well training templates. Evidence as supporting documentation has been uploaded separately.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 1-Year Status: Pending

Santa Clara has demonstrated progress in developing training for its staff. However, until Santa Clara completes its comprehensive policies and procedures, and aligns its training with those policies and procedures, we will continue to report this recommendation as pending.

6-Month Agency Response

Progress from the last report includes continued efforts to formalize the training by division to align with the policies and procedures created. The EIMS vendor, DFM, was contacted and is currently conducting trainings of its specific modules for each of the specific divisions; i.e., Candidate Services, Precinct Operations, and VoteCal for our Voter Registration Division. Evidence as supporting documentation has been uploaded separately. Additionally, CACEO is offering Signature Verification Training in different locations throughout the state and the office has made arrangements to send key staff to attend those trainings. Also attached separately as Supporting Documentation are the staff emails identifying those to attend, as well as the CACEO flyers announcing the trainings. Individual Training by Position procedures, as well as sign-in sheet templates, have been created for the Candidate Services Division, Ballot Layout Division, Vote by Mail Division, and the Mapping Division. Each of those documents have been uploaded separately as Supporting Documentation, as well as evidence of those trainings by division. The Mapping Division also collected the training materials from the County ISD GIS division which is also included. Specific training was also created for the Candidate Services and Ballot Layout divisions relating to the Changes and Issues Log as outlined in the Handoff procedures for each of those divisions.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 6-Month Status: Pending

60-Day Agency Response

Originally responded 12.22.17. As the development of more detailed and centralized policies and procedures progresses, our division managers will introduce more formalized training for staff that includes instruction on the comprehensive policies and procedures. Staff will be required to attend this formalized training prior to each major election. The recently updated Mapping Division Procedure Manual (see 12.22.17 Response #6) will facilitate formalized training of the Mapping Division staff prior to the major elections in 2018. The Candidate Services Division has begun the process of formalizing its nomination training by requiring, before each training session, staff to sign an attendance sheet that includes the materials to be covered for that session. In addition, procedures have been created for developing and conducting nomination training of both staff and candidates for elected office. A procedure for preparing and conducting nomination training for staff, a procedure for preparing for and conducting a judicial seminar, and a procedure for preparing for and conducting a seminar for city office and district candidates, have been attached separately as Supporting Documentation. Also attached separately as Supporting Documentation are the staff nomination training attendance sheets and the PowerPoint presentation used for the December 7, 2017, Judicial Seminar.

California State Auditor's Assessment of 60-Day Status: Pending

All Recommendations in 2017-107

Agency responses received are posted verbatim.