Agenda

Return

C. 33

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	Deborah R. Cooper, Clerk-Recorder
Date:	August 4, 2020

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the County Clerk-Recorder, or designee, to execute a contract for Electronic Poll books

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 08/04/2020

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor
Diane Burgis, District III Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor
Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

Contact:

Scott O. Konopasek, 5-7808

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: August 4, 2020
David Twa,

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

APPROVE and AUTHORIZE the County Clerk-Recorder, or designee, to execute a contract with KnowInk, Inc., in an amount not to exceed $375,000 the purchase of and three year support plan for 400 Electronic Poll books for the period August 1, 2020 through July 31, 2023.

FISCAL IMPACT:

The amount of this contract is included in the 2020-21 budget. The County may be reimbursed by the State or federal government as these costs are incurred as a direct result of COVID-19 and Executive Orders N-64-20 and N-67-20.

BACKGROUND:

The Governor’s Executive Order N-64-20 requires election officials throughout the State to send vote-by-mail ballots to all registered voters for the November 3, 2020 election. This requires every polling place to have a way to lookup a voter in real-time and determine if the voter already returned the vote-by-mail ballot that the voter was issued prior to allowing them to vote in person.

BACKGROUND: (CONT'D)

In previous elections, the Elections Division used a paper roster to determine whether voters had received a ballot by mail and whether that ballot had been cast. However, the paper roster system lacked the ability to update in real time when a voter had cast a vote-by-mail ballot. The lack of this capability led to uncertainty

about whether a voter who appeared at the polls might have cast a vote by mail ballot after the roster was compiled. As such, these voters were required to cast a provisional ballot.

The KnowInk Electronic Poll Book (Poll Pad) provides real time look-up capabilities and, although the election in November will be the first use of the equipment, the Elections Division is hopeful that this will be a long-term solution to reduce provisional voting. The Poll Pad is a secure electronic poll book and the most viable solution for checking in voters in November. Each Poll Pad has cellular connectivity to connect with a central database that updates in real time. The Poll Pad hardware is an iPad, and is easy for poll workers to set up, use, and troubleshoot throughout the day. It uses equipment that poll workers and voters are familiar with in their daily lives (e.g. tablets, touch screens).

There are two other electronic poll books certified by the California Secretary of State, but the KnowInk Poll Pad is the nation’s leader in e-poll books, with 650 jurisdictions across 23 states, using the Poll Pad. The Poll Pads transmit voter eligibility and participation information through an encrypted network which ensures the information is secure. The Poll Pads within a polling place communicate with each other, so when a voter checks in on one Poll Pad the others are updated to show that the voter has already checked in. This allows information and updates to be viewed in real time centrally at the Elections Office and at every polling place. Because every voter is listed in every Poll Pad, lines do not have to be segmented alphabetically, which will reduce wait times and speed up the check in process for voters. Poll Pads will substantially reduce the need for voters to cast provisional ballots.

CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:

In-person voters on election day will be required to cast a provisional ballot unless it can be determined that the voter did not return the ballot mailed to them.