Orange County Grand Jury
• 2007-2008
• Agency Response
Casts Vote of Confidence in Oc Election Process"*
⚠️ Translation Notice: This content has been automatically translated. The original English text is the official version. Translation may contain errors.
⚠️ Este contenido ha sido traducido automáticamente. El texto original en inglés es la versión oficial. La traducción puede contener errores.
Findings and Recommendations 3 findings
F1
The Registrar of Voters instituted security measures to ensure that votes are private, secure and accurate: Response: Agrees with finding. The Grand Jury is correct in this assessment. Pursuant to the original conditional re-certification of the Hart InterCivic voting system on August 3, 2007 and the final re-certification dated December 6, 2007, the Department instituted complex security measures designed to strengthen its existing rigorous security procedures. These detailed security enhancements provided additional protection in the area of vote tampering; system breach prevention; and unauthorized access. As demonstrated in the Grand Jury's report, the Department also focused its attention on improvement of physical security (including enhanced Election Night security); detailed personnel security training, and the development of contingency planning to handle situations if a polling site or voting station were rendered inoperative.
Related Recommendations (1)
R1
maximize privacy, security and accuracy: Response: The recommendation has been implemented. The Department conducts detailed post election debriefs to review all aspects of each election. Depending on the size and scope of the election, a detailed tracking system is used to monitor items related to privacy, security, and accuracy. These areas receive maximum prioritization due to their critical nature. The Department is conscientious of the scrutiny elections face and our core mission is to conduct fair and accurate elections. On-going improvement is the foundation of our ability to meet our obligation to the citizens in Orange County. We will continue to look for ways to enhance privacy, security, and accuracy as a process of continual improvement.
F2
The Registrar and his staff have the technological expertise to conduct secure elections: Response: Agrees with finding. The Department has enhanced its training to make certain it is on the cutting edge of elections. Elections have become more complex over the past decade and the need to maintain highly skilled and qualified personnel has increased. As a result, the Department has specialists throughout the organization skilled in various aspects of conducting and managing elections. Technical updates are tracked daily and personnel training mirrors up to the minute changes in technology or systems management.
Related Recommendations (1)
R2
The Registrar and his staff shall continue to invest in education and training to maintain an advanced level of technological expertise. Response: The recommendation has been implemented. As the Grand Jury pointed out in its report, the Department has made it a priority to provide on-going training for all personnel. In addition, the Registrar and his staff are involved in State and national associations in the election industry. Training is attended regularly in order to maintain proficiency in the areas of technology and procedure. Furthermore, each member of the Department must complete training throughout the year in their area of expertise or department-wide specialty training. This assures that only the most up-to-date methods of election management are being utilized and that improvements are made following any election that is conducted in Orange County. Exhibit 2
F3
The Registrar successfully collaborated with the California Secretary of State to arrive at the current effective election system: Response: Agrees with finding. The Department has worked closely with the Secretary of State elections staff in order to achieve full compliance with the increased safeguards. Throughout the process of review, the Department was involved by providing documentation and Exhibit 2 assistance as needed. Following the examination of the Hart InterCivic voting system, the Department was involved in detail with the public hearings and Secretary of State inquiries which followed. Response to Recommendations R-1 through R-3 The Registrar of Voters shall continue to assess challenges to its system to
Related Recommendations (1)
R3
The Registrar shall continue to collaborate with the Secretary of State on election issues: Response: The recommendation has been implemented. The Registrar of Voters is always open to new ideas for conducting elections and continually reviews its policies and procedures, including compliance with all Secretary of State directives and regulations. In addition, the Department works closely with the Secretary of State and her Chief of Elections in making certain that election issues are dealt with efficiently and in compliance with election law. The Department continues to monitor its compliance with the 36 requirements as set forth in the Secretary of State's conditional re-certification of the Hart InterCivic voting system. Collaboration with the Secretary of State is necessary and provides for the ability to improve on every election.
* This report's PDF did not contain easily extractable text and required Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for analysis. There may be minor errors in the extracted findings and recommendations due to OCR limitations with scanned documents.