Administrative
Report
H.7., File # 22-5098 Meeting Date: 11/8/2022
To: MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
From: ELEANOR MANZANO, CITY CLERK
TITLE
DECLARING THE RESULTS OF THE OCTOBER 19, 2022 SPECIAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION ADOPT BY TITLE ONLY RESOLUTION NO. CC-2211-093, A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY
COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF REDONDO BEACH, CALIFORNIA RECITING THE FACT OF THE SPECIAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION HELD ON WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 19, 2022, DECLARING THE
RESULTS AND SUCH OTHER MATTERS AS PROVIDED BY LAW
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
On October 19, 2022, the City Clerk’s Office conducted an All-Mail Ballot Election for the City of Redondo Beach Special Municipal Election for a voter-led ballot initiative measure in consolidation with a recall of District 4 Councilmember, and subsequent election of a qualified nominee in the event the recall prevailed. A total of 14,984 ballots were cast in the City (30.98%).
Upon completion of canvass and manual tally of random selection of 1% of precincts or 1 precinct, as required by law, the resolution declares the official results of the October 19, 2022 Special Municipal Election.
Pursuant to EC 3019, the City Clerk’s Certificate of Canvass was revised on November 1, 2022 to reflect one additional cured ballot that was timely received.
BACKGROUND
Under the provisions of the City Charter and the California Elections Code, the City Council adopted Resolution No. CC-2207-057 on July 19, 2022 which called and gave notice of a Special Municipal Election to be conducted by All-Mail Ballot in the City of Redondo Beach on Wednesday, October 19, 2022.
The Special Election was for the submission of a voter-sponsored initiative--a measure pertaining to cannabis regulation in consolidation with the call for a recall election of Zein Obagi, Jr., Councilmember for District 4, and, subsequently, the election of a candidate if the recall prevails.
The City Clerk’s Office, with the Council’s concurrence, contracted independently and individually, with State-certified vendors to provide ballot design and tabulation, print-and-mail services as well as a consultant services to assist the City Clerk’s office in fully conducting our election independent of County services. The County provided precinct consolidations, the list of registered voters, some
H.7., File # 22-5098 Meeting Date: 11/8/2022
County services. The County provided precinct consolidations, the list of registered voters, some signature verification, and contracted for use of County-owned ballot drop boxes throughout the City during a partially overlapping statewide election.
Active/Inactive Voters
Ballots and voter information guides (known more commonly as sample ballots) were mailed to every active registered voter in the City, the data of which is provided by Los Angeles County Registrar, beginning September 20, 2022. Inactive voters, as defined by the County (pursuant to E.C. 2226), were not mailed ballots--those that met the following criteria as set by the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters, as follows:
· the voter did not vote in 2 consecutive Federal General Elections (e.g., 11/2016 and 11/2020) · if the address is business/commercial, and EC 2028 (pertaining to place of family and business) has been ruled out, and there is no residential address on file · there is return mail from the post office indicating that mail is undeliverable · a Vote-by-Mail ballot with a note/information has been returned by the residents/occupants living at the target residence stating that the intended recipient/voter no longer lives at that address
In the case of the first two bullets above, the County Registrar contacts the voter to get clarification or confirmation.
Concerns were raised by some voters that did not receive ballots due to inactive status indicating some had signed the initiative petitions that were certified to qualify these measures (Measure E and recall) for the ballot. The County advised: “If the voter is inactive at the same address [on the petition], we validate the signer and activate the voter’s registration. If the address is different [on the petition], we challenge the signer as different address and keep the voter’s status as inactive.” Pre-Tabulation Processing of Returned Ballots
Beginning September 27th, each returned ballot envelope, upon retrieval from the post office, ballot drop boxes, and dropped at the City Clerk’s office required individual handling including timestamping, organizing by precinct, scanning for reporting purposes and signature verification in preparation for tabulation. This was a labor-intensive process involving multiple deputized staff.
Ballot envelopes that were not verified (snags) for counting in this election for various reasons include missing signatures, or signatures that did not match with County Registrar of Voters records.
Opportunities to “cure” these ballots were provided to these voters.
Security and Transparency
Safeguarding ballots and a transparent election process is a tenet of the City Clerk’s Office and the City Clerk, specifically, as the elections official and is guided by law. Additional measures were taken to implement the safekeeping and transparency of ballot processing, including a segregated vault in the City Clerk’s office solely for the purpose of housing Election ballots, materials and equipment. A camera system installed throughout the ballot processing area in the City Clerk’s office and vault was activated. A requirement for two Clerk’s Office staff to be present at all times when handling ballots
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was also implemented to ensure that all ballot processing was done in public view.
Election Night and Post-Election Processing
The City Clerk’s office counted every verified ballot upon the time of the “close of polls” (officially 8:00 p.m.) on Election night in a publicly accessible and live-streamed environment. Subsequently, the final tally was scheduled for Thursday, October 27, 2022 to enable processing of all ballots collected by the Los Angeles County Registrar of Voters at the 4 County-owned ballot drop locations on Election night at 8:00 p.m. (the official close of polls) and those ballots that were mailed and received up to 7 days after the election in compliance with the Elections Code.
Thereafter, as required by the Elections Code (Article 5, Section 15360) a manual tally --verification of machine tabulated ballots cast in a randomly selected precinct(s) or 1% chosen at random by the elections official by hand was conducted on October 27, 2022. The manual tally included all races that affect each contest with the random precinct selected and exactly matched the ballot counter results (machine tally.)
Conclusions
The conduct of this Election could have not been completed successfully without the support of other City Departments. Thank you to City Manager Mike Witzansky, the IT Department, the Public Works Department, and deputized members of Library, Finance, Police, and Community Services Departments in assisting with staff hours to complete the canvass.
Thank you also to the dedicated City Clerk’s Office staff who worked especially hard to assist in the preparation and conduct of this election, while conducting the other required duties of the department.
SUBMITTED BY:
Eleanor Manzano, City Clerk
ATTACHMENTS
Resolution No. CC-2211-093 Declaring Election Results