Riverside County Registrar of Voters Grand Jury Observations for November 3, 2015, Election

Three out of seven polling places had inaccurate addresses for the physical location of the polling places. The voting materials mailed to voters were not in agreement with the Polling Place Request Agreement (contract). The following locations had discrepancies as noted: a. Perris City Hall, 101 N. D Street, Perris The actual polling location was located at 91 N. Perris Blvd. at the City Council Chamber building, one block south of City Hall, not at the listed location of 101 N. D Street. b. Hunt Club Apartments, 1355 S. Perris Blvd., Perris The entrance to the polling place was located on Goetz Road, not Perris Blvd., as indicated on the mailed voter materials. There was inadequate signage and parking. c. Lake Perris Fairground, 18700 Lake Perris Drive, Perris The address Lake Perris Fairgrounds, 18700 Lake Perris Drive, Perris, California 92571 did not adequately describe the address on the sample ballots sent to voters and did not specify the building name. Lake Perris Fairgrounds covers approximately 11 acres occupied with several buildings. There is no address at the entrance to the grounds nor on any building. In previous elections, voters had voted at the Lake Perris Fairground’s Harrison Hall building; however, it was closed and no notice was posted as to where to vote. The Fairgrounds failed to turn on tower lights at dusk and multiple interviewees reported the lighting was not provided. A single small porch light was on behind the building, providing the only outside lighting. The lack of adequate lighting created an unsafe environment for both voters and poll workers. Training

Polling places are managed by precinct inspectors (captains) who are assisted by election officers (poll workers) who are all volunteers. At multiple polling locations; the poll workers were inexperienced. Poll workers receive training utilizing classroom instruction, instructional CDs, and the Election Officers Handbook. Training was inconsistent among poll workers. The voting equipment was already in place, which does not allow poll workers the opportunity to arrange the equipment as required by the State of California Election Code. Another area that lacked training was the requirement for captains to correctly and accurately document issues on the Election Officer’s Comment Sheet. The training program does not emphasize the requirements of completing the comment sheets and the importance of the information they provide. Accessibility Kit

Three polling places were not arranged according to the Accessibility Kit photographs taken by the ROV survey or assessment teams. They did not accurately photograph the polling locations, such as the entrance to the polling place. Security Seals

At two polling locations, a blue ballot box had one of two red plastic security seals broken and was not locked. At another location, Team members observed a poll worker get a new red plastic seal and replace the broken one. This issue was not reported to ROV officials nor was it documented on the Election Officer’s Comment Sheet. Accessible Voting Unit

To comply with the disability access requirements of the Help America Vote Act, precincts have an Accessible Voting Unit (AVU) to provide audio voting for voters who may have visual problems, low literacy proficiency, and other reasons. All precincts have an AVU that has an audio only add-on control box and head phones for visually impaired voters. The precincts observed by the Team did not have the AVU system ready for voters’ use. At one polling location the audio control box and head phones were still in the storage location; there was no signage display available for the visually impaired. The Team observed the activation button being pushed by the precinct inspector and the range inspector to troubleshoot the audio control box that was not functioning; the AVU Election Officer’s Yellow Activation Button User Log was not completed.