COMPLETED BOARD ORDER�"���24.2
Before the Board of Supervisors in and for the
County of Monterey, State of California
Authorize the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to
sign a multi-county letter to Governor Schwarzenegger
regarding the barriers to successful administration of
the Special Vacancy Elections in Senate District 15.
Upon motion of Supervisor Potter, seconded by Supervisor Armenta, and carried by those
members present, the Board hereby:
Authorized the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to sign a multi-county letter to Governor
Schwarzenegger regarding the barriers to successful administration of the Special Vacancy
Elections in Senate District 15.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this 11th day of May, 2010, by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: Supervisors Armenta, Calcagno, Salinas, Potter
NOES: None
ABSENT: Supervisor Parker
I, Gail T. Borkowski, Clerk of the Board of Supervisors of the County of Monterey, State of California, hereby
certify that the foregoing is a true copy of an original order of said Board of Supervisors duly made and entered in
the minutes thereof of Minute Book 75 for the meeting on May 11, 2010.
Dated: May 13, 2010 Gail T. Borkowski, Clerk of the Board of Supervisors
County of Monterey, State of California
By Or /*
Deputy
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SIGNED BOARD REPORTX��"���MONTEREY COUNTY BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
MEETING: May 11, 2010 Consent Agenda Item:
SUBJECT: Authorize the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to sign a multi-county letter to
Governor Schwarzenegger regarding the barriers to successful administration of the
Special Vacancy Elections in Senate District 15.
DEPARTMENT: Elections
RECOMMENDATION
It is recommended that the Board of Supervisors:
Authorize the Chair of the Board of Supervisors to sign a multi-county letter to Governor
Schwarzenegger regarding the barriers to successful administration of the Special Vacancy
Elections in Senate District 15.
SUMMARY/DISCUSSION
In late February 2010, Governor Schwarzenegger re-nominated Senator Abel Maldonado to fill a
vacancy in the office of Lieutenant Governor after the first round of legislative hearings failed to
confirm his appointment that same month. On Tuesday, April 27, 2010, Senator Maldonado was
confirmed by both Houses and sworn in as Lieutenant Governor that afternoon.
That same day, Governor Schwarzenegger issued a proclamation calling for a special vacancy
election to be held on the 17th day of August 2010, within the 15th Senate District of the State
to fill the vacancy in the office of Senator from said district resulting from the resignation of Abel
Maldonado." In the weeks and days prior to the confirmation, appointment and subsequent
proclamation, state and local officials reached out to the Governor urging him to wait until
Thursday, May 6, 2010, to proclaim the Special Vacancy Elections for Senate 15 in order that one
of the vacancy elections could be consolidated with the scheduled Statewide General Election to be
held in November throughout the District, thereby conducting the primary for the vacancy in late
August. Many telephone calls, emails, and letters were written, including one sent by the Chair of
the Monterey County Board of Supervisors.
In the days following the proclamation, additional letters were sent to the Governor from the
California State Association of Counties CSAC) and the California Association of Clerks and
Elections Officials CACEO) continuing to urge the Governor to move the elections in an effort to
remove the barriers in place due to the scheduling. Both the CSAC and CACEO letters listed
barriers to the administration of the June 22 election, including funding, staff and poll workers,
polling places, voting materials, disenfranchisement of military and overseas voters, and, unique to
Monterey County, the inability to meet federal preclearance requirements under Section 5 of the
Voting Rights Act.
The Office of the Santa Clara County Executive and Intergovernmental Relations have requested
that a joint County letter be sent to Governor Schwarzenegger requesting the Governor to
reconsider his proclamation and move the election dates to a more feasible time in the next fiscal
year. The letter includes a list of barriers" to the administration of the June 22 election that were
prepared in conjunction with all five County Elections Divisions. A draft of the proposed letter is
attached.
Copies of the Draft Letter to Governor Schwarzenegger are on file with the Clerk of the Board.
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SIGNED BOARD REPORTX��"���OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT
The Elections Department has worked with the County Administrative Office Intergovernmental
& Legislative Affairs Division and the four other counties involved in the Special Elections to
prepare a joint letter from all affected counties Monterey, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Santa
Clara, and Santa Cruz).
FINANCING
There w4l be no additional cost to the County General Fund associated with this recommendation.
Linda Tulett
Registrar of Voters
Attachments: Draft Letter to Governor Schwarzenegger
cc: Charles McKee County Counsel) John Arriaga JEA & Associates)
Leroy Blankenship County Counsel) Brent Heberlee Nossaman LLP)
Linda Tulett Elections)
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LETTER - SPECIAL ELECTION FOR���May 6, 2010
The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger
Governor, State of California
State Capitol Building
Sacramento, CA 95814
RE: Special Election for Senate District 15
Dear Governor Schwarzenegger:
On behalf of the Boards of Supervisors of the Counties of Monterey, San Luis Obispo,
Santa Barbara, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz, we write to urge you to reconsider your
proclamation calling for a special election to fill the vacancy in Senate District 15. If the
two special elections are conducted, our counties will incur significant and
unanticipated costs and be presented with operational challenges. Additionally, voters
who will be asked to participate in four elections in six months may be confused, which
may cause fewer people to cast their votes. The consolidation of the special election
with the November general election would alleviate many of our concerns and reduce
our counties' costs.
Collectively, it will cost our counties $6 million to conduct two special elections. None
of our counties anticipated this expense nor are we in any financial position to absorb
these costs. Counties, like the State, are facing continued budget deficits. We simply do
not have discretionary funds or financial reserves to pay these unexpected expenses.
We are also concerned about the operational challenges that our respective elections
staff will face to conduct these elections, particularly in light of the upcoming June
primary and the compressed timeline for the special election. It will be extremely
difficult to secure enough polling places and sufficient poll workers for the proposed
primary election on June 22, which is only two weeks after the June 8 statewide
primary.
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LETTER - SPECIAL ELECTION FOR���The Honorable Arnold Schwarzenegger
May 6, 2010
Page 2
We also believe that the schedule for the special election will create confusion among
voters, which may reduce voter participation in each of the upcoming four elections.
For example, it is likely that some permanent mail-in voters in our counties will receive
special election primary ballots in the mail before they have filled out their ballots for
the June 8 statewide primary.
Although we understand your interest in filling the Senate vacancy as soon as possible,
the special elections that you have called will cost our counties significant money, strain
our ability to hold efficient and accurate elections, and create confusion among voters.
These are serious concerns that could be addressed with the consolidation of the Senate
District 15 special election with the November general election.
We strongly urge you to reconsider your proclamation and consolidate the vacancy
election with the regularly scheduled elections.
Sincerely,
Simon Salinas Frank R. Mecham
Chair, Board of Supervisors Chair, Board of Supervisors
County of Monterey County of San Luis Obispo
Joseph Centeno Ken Yeager
Chair, Board of Supervisors President, Board of Supervisors
County of Santa Barbara County of Santa Clara
Tony Campos
Chairperson, Board of Supervisors
County of Santa Cruz
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