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</o:shapelayout></xml><![endif]--></head><body lang=EN-US link="#0563C1" vlink="#954F72"><div class=WordSection1><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'>[To: CAVO. Below is an email from a local Mendocino County resident summarizing our </span><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>post-election ballot counting procedures at the County Clerk/Registrar’s office. We should explain to the California Secretary of State that effective and reliable open source software can prevent ALL this ballot-counting crap. Voting is easy, but counting them is obviously untrusted in parts of California. /Larry Rosen]</span><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-size:14.0pt;color:black'>11/14/16 Report regarding questionable voter observation practices</span></b><span style='color:black'><o:p></o:p></span></p><table class=MsoNormalTable border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=0 width="100%" style='width:100.0%'><tr><td style='padding:7.5pt 7.5pt 7.5pt 7.5pt'><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'> </span><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Here is my quick summary and take away from 4 Ukiah Daily Journal articles about questionable observation practices. Link included. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Sorry for the weird format, this is my worksheet about what to research further and documents/election code to assemble to support this effort. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><a href="http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/general-news/20160827/primary-concerns-mendocino-county-election-observers-file-complaint" target="_blank">http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/general-news/20160827/primary-concerns-mendocino-county-election-observers-file-complaint</a></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Three Mendocino County residents are deeply troubled by the treatment they received while observing post-election ballot counting at the County Clerk/Registrar’s office in Ukiah. Their experience prompted them to file a formal complaint with the California Secretary of State’s Office.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Deborah Moore</span></b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> is a Ukiah resident, a teacher and owner of Take Wing Tutoring. Moore observed for five days, beginning June 23. <b>Aleshanee Akin</b>, also from Ukiah, is a published author and teacher. Akin observed on an almost daily basis from June 16 until June 29. <b>Cynthia Raiser Jeavons</b>, a Willits resident, is a non-profit adviser and serves on several nonprofit boards Jeavons observed for three days beginning June 20.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The three women were not acquainted prior to meeting at the Clerk-Recorder’s office to observe post-election activities. They emphasized they were not professionally affiliated with a political campaign and had no prior experience as voter observers.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Their allegations include witnessing <b>inconsistent practices with regard to ballot counting procedures</b>, the promulgation of a “hostile” office environment toward voter observers and what they characterize as either a display of <b>abject ignorance, or a calculated effort to employ narrow-cast, questionable interpretations of California State election law, laws that unambiguously uphold the rights of California voters to observe nearly every aspect of pre-and post-election activities.</b></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>BRING IN DOCUMENTS</span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Secretary of State Alex Padilla’s office provided <b>“County Clerk/Registrar of Voters Memorandum #16140,” the 2016 Election Observation Rights and Responsibilities document</b> used by California Voter Registrars.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>A post-election “canvass,” encompasses numerous activities, including the processing, counting and recording of precinct ballots, “vote-by-mail” and provisional ballots. State law clearly delineates that the canvass is open to the public, per <b>State Elections Code 15104.</b></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>During the reading and tallying, the ballot read and the tally sheet kept shall be within the clear view of watchers.” <b>(Elections Code sec.15272)</b>.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Many counties clarify state guidelines by adopting local observer standards. Along with reviewing the California Elections Code and the Observation Rights and Responsibilities document, we studied observer guidelines drafted by eight other California counties to determine how other county registrars interpret election law in their jurisdictions, with the presumption that county-appointed attorneys have approved the contents contained in those documents.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Susan Ranochak says that over the past eight years, only a handful of citizens have observed elections in Mendocino County.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>systematic effort to dissuade them from easily viewing the canvass, by keeping them at an inordinate distance from canvass workers. They claim that at times, visual barriers were placed between themselves and the workers, with workers stationed so far away that ballots were unreadable from their designated viewing areas.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>ASK FOR A TOUR</span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“Within two minutes of signing in and standing at the tabulating room’s observation window, I was approached by Ms. Ranochak. I’d never seen her before and she did not introduce herself. She immediately ordered me to move further away from the window. I replied that I was a citizen observer, and that I was trying to see the ballots being processed. I was told by Ms. Ranochak that the blinds to the observation area would be closed if I did not move further away,” says Moore. “I stated that it was my understanding that I had a right to observe the canvass, and that I was going to sit right here in my chair, which I did.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“There were times when we were expected to see through the cracks in partially-opened blinds,” says Moore.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><a href="http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/general-news/20160829/primary-concerns-part-2-troubling-challenges" target="_blank">http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/general-news/20160829/primary-concerns-part-2-troubling-challenges</a></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Asked why she kept observers at such a distance from canvass work areas, Ranochak indicated two Assessor work stations located near the canvass tables. </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Ranochak stated that for security reasons, the observers could not be located near those workstations because assessing work demands confidentiality. The observers state that Katrina Bartolomei, assistant clerk-recorder and assistant registrar of voters, told them that space restrictions, and not issues of taxpayer confidentiality, precluded them from being in the room, closer to the canvassers.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>IF YOU ARE TOLD TO MOVE OR HAVE YOUR VIEW BLOCKED DUE TO "SECURITY REASONS" ASK IF IT ISENT REALLY ABOUT SPACE RESTRICTIONS, LIKE KATRINA BARTOLOMEI TOLD OBSERVERS IN JUNE.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Akin also stated that Ranochak told her that “Observers have no right to see ballots being worked on, only the general process.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Though state law gives elections officials latitude with regard to running their canvass in their own office, the intention of the law seems to favor close encounters with canvassers. <b>Elections Code 15104(d) states, “Observers will be permitted access to a designated observations area, sufficiently close to enable them to observe and challenge whether individuals handling vote-by-mail ballots are following established procedures.”</b></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>FIND OUT WHAT ESTABLISHED PROCEDURES ARE FOR VOTE BY MAIL PROCESSING</span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The Sacramento County Election Observers Guide states that “Observers may get close enough to observe the information on the workstation and the reports pertaining to the workstation.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Ranochak to justify her decisions regarding their lack of proximity to canvassers was <b>California Elections Code 14291,</b> <b>which states, “After the ballot is marked, a voter shall not show it to any person in such a way as to reveal its contents.”</b></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>However, Lisette Mata, deputy secretary of state for special projects, disagrees with Ranochak’s view. Asked if this statute applied to the voter observation process, Mata asserted it does not. According to Mata, “That code section refers to Election Day procedures at the polls.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The Sacramento County Voter Observer Guide takes a clear but lighthearted approach, stating “If staff can hear you breathe, back up. You’re too close.” It is clear through researching other county policies that voter observers are not only allowed in the room with canvassers, but are expected to be standing directly behind them, so that they can easily tally votes and observe the canvass in real time.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>SANDERS CAMPAIGN VOTER OBSERVATION INSTRUCTIONS </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Ranochak acknowledged however, that the observers never identified themselves as Sanders supporters. “No, they did not. They were not (pause), but I guess he ran a grass roots campaign. There was a loose organization in each county. They were passing out information to them and over the Internet to do this. The questions that I was being asked, they were concerned about how ballots were going to be tabulated, which they watched, whether ballots were being rejected for any reason,<b> which we very seldom do,</b>” she explained.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>PROVISIONAL BALLOTS </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“We asked and were specifically told by Sue Ranochak that we couldn’t observe the processing of provisional ballots because there was personal information on the outside envelope of those ballots,” says Akin. Voters using a provisional ballot fill out information on a unique outer envelope, which includes their name, address, birth date and either the last four digits of their Social Security number or their California Driver’s License number.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Ranochak insists it is a violation of both state and federal law to view personal information on provisional ballots, and that this was explained to observers numerous times. “Typically, Katrina goes through this with them. We have copies of the guidelines here, if they want them.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>To explain her interpretation of this decision, Ranochak provided a page from the <b>Help America Vote Act, or HAVA. She cited section 15482- Provisional Voting and Voting Information Requirements, highlighting one sentence: “Access to information about an individual provisional ballot shall be restricted to the individual who cast the ballot.”</b></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>A search of the entire HAVA document did not result in the revelation of specific rulings regarding an observer’s right to view provisional ballots. The previous portions of the statute Ranochak cited refer to the establishment of “a free access system that any individual who casts a provisional ballot may access to discover whether the vote of that individual was counted.” The specific sentence Ranochak cites refers to establishing the confidentiality of this free access system, and does not, as she states, address any federal laws regarding voter observation processes.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Elections Code section 15350 provides that provisional ballots shall be processed and counted “in the same manner as vote-by-mail ballots.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Lisette Mata states that though counties have the ability to set up individualized processes to verify signatures and count ballots, <b>Elections Code section 15350 provides that provisional ballots shall be processed and counted “in the same manner as vote-by-mail ballots.”</b></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Mata also stated that Elections Code 15104, noted earlier, upholds the right of observers to view the processing of provisional ballots. Sacramento County clearly addresses the presumption and the likelihood that observers might view personal information by stating that “Observers may take notes during the process, but may not record any voter’s personal identifying or contact information,” adding that “The Registrar of Voters reserves the right to read an observer’s notes prior to exiting the building.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>WHAT TO LOOK FOR </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>The observers also saw numbers of <b>opened provisional ballots which had been bundled together with what appeared to be unprocessed provisional ballots.</b> Regarding opened provisional ballots, Mata cited <b>Elections Code 3019(g), stating “A ballot shall not be removed from its identification envelope until the time for processing ballots. A ballot shall not be rejected for cause after the identification envelope has been opened.</b></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><a href="http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/general-news/20160830/primary-concerns-part-iii-loose-talk-in-the-office-and-no-invitations-to-the-parties" target="_blank"><b>http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/general-news/20160830/primary-concerns-part-iii-loose-talk-in-the-office-and-no-invitations-to-the-parties</b></a></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> Ms. Ranochak said to us was, ‘I can ask you to leave, even if you are not a distraction to the process,’” says Akin.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>According to California Government Code section 12172.5, all California counties are required to create an Election Observer Panel event. Each county is required to develop an Election Observer Panel Plan that provides people with the opportunity to observe local elections processes.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Mendocino County’s plan states it will “Provide the public with the opportunity to observe and make suggestions on ways to improve the election process, to help ensure the integrity of the election process and remove some of the mystery associated with the election process, in an effort to build voter confidence and encourage more people to take part.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>It continues by stating that observers may “view absentee and provisional ballot processing, make notes and watch all procedures.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>UDJ Editor KC Meadows</span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Two sources went so far as to intimate that the extra-help canvass workers are related to upper-level staff currently employed in the county clerk’s office.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“For years, virtually the same people are hired to work on the canvass. <b>Mendocino County is almost always among the last counties in the state to post election results.</b> It’s not much of a stretch to wonder if these two circumstances are connected in some way,” the source continues.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Despite their frustration, the observers state they are ready to do it again in the fall.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'><a href="http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/general-news/20160915/mendocino-county-assessor-clerk-recorder-questioned-on-election-observer-process" target="_blank">http://www.ukiahdailyjournal.com/general-news/20160915/mendocino-county-assessor-clerk-recorder-questioned-on-election-observer-process</a></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>During public comment to the supervisors, the observers alleged they were lied to by Ranochak, and said Ranochak threatened one observer with intervention by law enforcement.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Supervisor Dan Gjerde questioned extensively and at times somewhat contentiously on why 4th District election numbers took such a long time to report – so much so that in June, two coastal newspapers were given the inaccurate impression that the coastal voter participation had drastically decreased. They based their conclusion on the scant number of votes that were reported by Ranochak’s office during the week following the election.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'> </span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>POINT OUT IF YOUR VIEW IS OBSTRUCTED</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Alice Chan</span></b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>, a longtime Sonoma County resident and respected political activist, said she attended the meeting because of the previous articles in the UDJ.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>election observation is a right</span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“Aleshanee and I sat in the hallway, waiting for a break to end. We were in full view of the office.” They went into the office, asked “When are you resuming work?” and were told, “We are done. The process is complete.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“We were not given the feeling we could ask questions. We were simply told the process was done.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Moore states she was astonished they were told the canvass was finished.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“Later, we came to find out, when the UDJ reporter came down and determined that<b> the canvass was not done, that we were lied to.</b></span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Moore also mentioned the need for a <b>Voter Observation Panel Process</b>, outlined in previous UDJ articles – an event that is required of all counties and which has not been recently convened in Mendocino County.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Supervisors Dan Hamburg, Gjerde and McCowen, though polite and professional, each displayed, in their own way, a degree of frustration with Ranochak’s handling of the observer issues and more pointedly, with the ongoing problems with slow reporting.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Hamburg said, “It’s pretty clear to me that a significant segment of the public is really interested in this.” He discussed the gap between election night reporting and final results, and noted the confusing online language which states, “100% of precincts reporting.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><b><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>SARAH REACH OUT TO HAMBURG</span></b><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>Addressing Ranochak, Hamburg said “I beseech you, and everyone involved, to try and figure out another way, if it involves a different use of physical spaces or if it’s a matter of trying to be more diplomatic with each other.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“We don’t have, maybe, the physical setup we need, to do what the law requires, but I do think it’s important that these concerns be recognized for what they are. These folks really do care, and I really do care, as a representative, that people feel we have transparent processes,” Hamburg said, adding that he wants to see that Ranochak is “obviously complying, not only with the letter of the law, but the spirit of the law, which does allow election observers a fair amount of latitude.”</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>HOLD MCCOWAN TO HIS PREVIOUS STATEMENTS</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>McCowen agreed. “To the extent that there are things we can do that tell the observers and the general public that we are adhering to elections code mandate –that people have the right to observe the actual ballots, and clearly see what decisions are being made, and why, with respect to those ballots – that’s the intent of the elections code section.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“Anything we can do to assure people that we’re fully adhering to that would be beneficial. I do not question results reported by the Elections Office. We have a history of very meticulous attention to detail,” said McCowen, citing two previous, very close supervisors races.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“Our challenge is to convince observers that it’s a completely open and transparent process.” McCowen told Ranochak, “I encourage you to review the complaints and see what can be done. I do understand there’s space limitations.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><o:p> </o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>“The separate issue is more timely reporting of results, even if they’re not absolutely complete.” He felt that there would be a “big public benefit” in weekly elections updates, adding that he would like Ranochak to review consolidating precincts.</span><o:p></o:p></p><p class=MsoNormal><span style='font-family:"Times New Roman",serif'>###</span><o:p></o:p></p></td></tr></table><p class=MsoNormal><span style='color:black'><o:p> </o:p></span></p></div></body></html>