The 2016-2017 Santa Cruz County Civil Grand Jury Requires that the Santa Cruz County Clerk

Elections in Santa Cruz County are run fairly and conscientiously, with numerous procedures and safeguards that minimize the likelihood of fraud or systemic errors. Although minor problems occurred, we consider these inevitable given the number of people and the complexity of the process, and they were detected or reported and remedied expeditiously. x AGREE PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): Thank you!

Most equipment used to conduct the election is old, much of it nearing or past its useful life. This includes voting machines and electronic and mechanical vote counting systems. Spare parts are increasingly hard to find. x AGREE PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

Santa Cruz County uses a state certified system that meets state standards. Beyond keeping some key systems offline, this equipment does not implement adequate computer security measures. AGREE x PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): Santa Cruz County uses a state and federally certified system that meets all state and federal standards. I believe our voting equipment does have adequate computer security measures. Each unit is tested before it is deployed and has security seals in place to avoid tampering. Steps are taken at the polls to verify the integrity of the security seals and the system. On Election Night, we again audit the equipment and verify its security. After the Election, we do extensive audits of the vote count to ensure that the system has not been tampered with. In addition, we have paper ballots and a voter-verified paper audit trail on the DREs, so any attempt to hack the vote would be identified.

Santa Cruz County limits physical access to the ballots and the machinery used to process the ballots and conducts comprehensive audits both before and after every election. x AGREE PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

Voting equipment that the county would select to replace its aging infrastructure has not yet been certified. When the certified replacement equipment becomes available, it is not clear when funds might be provided. x AGREE PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):

Re-use of USB drives on the offline vote collection systems, after being attached to an internet-connected system, is a possible avenue to compromise the offline systems. x AGREE PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree): We will buy additional USB drives so that we do not use them more than once.

While currently not being considered in Santa Cruz County, the future possibility of internet voting is a concern due to the inability to ensure the security and anonymity of the vote. x AGREE PARTIALLY DISAGREE – explain the disputed portion DISAGREE – explain why Response explanation (required for a response other than Agree):