LTC 130-2007 Report Regarding The Passage Of House Bill 537 Relating To Election Lawsm MIAMIBEACH
OFFICE OF THE CITY MANAGER
NO. LTC # i3o-zoo? LETTER TO COMMISSION
TO: Mayor David Dermer and Members of the City Commission
FROM: Jorge M. Gonzalez, City Manager
DATE: June 5, 2007
sua~ECT: Report Regarding The Passage Of House Bill 537 Relating To Election
Laws
Attached for you perusal is a copy of the May 31, 2007 correspondence from George M.
Burgess, County Manager, to the Honorable Carlos Alvarez, Mayor, the Honorable
Chairman Bruno Barreiro, and members, Board of County Commission.
Also attached is a copy of the May 29, 2007 correspondence from Lester Sola, Supervisor of
Elections to George M. Burgess, County Manager, regarding the same subject.
JMG/iP
~
-s N
0
cs
--C ` ~)
c: Hilda Fernandez, Assistant City Manager ~ ~ `~,,~~
Tim Hemstreet, Assistant City Manager ~ -X, ~
`~
Robert Middaugh, Assistant City Manager ~
Jose Smith, City Attorney ~ ~ "~
Jean Olin, Deputy City Attorney ~ N
i7'
c=s
~~ ~,
v,
F:\CLER\CLER\FORMS\House bill 537 -Election Laws.ltc.doc
t*
_~-_
Memorandum "
Date: May 31 , 2007
T®: Honorable Carlos Alvarez, Mayor
Honorable Chairman Bruno A. Barreiro
and Members, Board o Commissioners
From: George M. Burgess
County Manager
Subject: Report Regardin a Passage of House Bill 537 Relating to Elections Laws
Attached is a memorandum from Supervisor of Elections, Lester Sola, regarding the recent
passage of Bill 537 relating to elections laws, and its affect on Miami-Dade County. A more
detailed update will be provided at the Government Operations and Environment committee on
June 12, 2007.
Essentially, this legislation creates the following changes in the way all counties in Florida handle
elections:
• Effective July 1, 2008 all voting in the State of Florida shall be by paper ballot. Miami-
Dade Coun wi egin to utilize optical scan technology as of the August 26, 2008
Primary Election.
• The dates of Florida's Primary Elections have been changed. The Presidential Preference
Primary wil! now occur on the last Tuesday in January; for 2008, that means the Primary
will be held on January 29`n
• Absentee ballots may be opened six days prior to the election, rather than four, allowing
more time for canvassing.
• The candidate qualification period is moved up by three weeks for some elected offices.
• Supervisors of Election are authorized to use "ballot-on-demand" technology during Early
Voting. This allows pollworkers to print ballots specific to the voter instead of printing a
large number of ballots of each type at each location.
Lester and his staff have followed this legislation carefully and are preparing the department for
implementation of these changes. I will continue to keep you apprised of additional information as
it becomes available from the State. If you require additional information at this time, please
contact me directly at 305-375-1880 or Lester Sola at 305-499-8509.
Attachment
c: Denis Morales, Chief of Staff, Office of the Mayor
Alina Tejeda Hudak, Assistant County Manager
Lester Sola, Supervisor of Elections
Memorandum "°M®°1°'DE
Date: May 29, 2007
To: George M. Burgess
County Manager
From: Lester Sola
Supervisor of Electio
Subject: Report Regardin e P sage o use Bill 537 Relating to Elections Laws
There was much debate throughout the 2007 Legislative Session regarding how Supervisors of
Elections throughout the state should conduct future elections. The deliberation ended on May 3,
2007 when legislators approved House Bill (HB) 537, and Governor Crist signed into state law on
May 21, 2007.
While there are many changes that will need to be addressed, two are of significant importance to
the Miami-Dade County Elections Department at this stage. The first is the mandate to convert to
"mark sense" voting equipment; and the second relates to the new dates for when Primary
Elections will now be held.
Effective July 1, 2008, all voting in the State of Florida shall be by "mark sense" ballot, which is
defined as a ballot that results in a paper record. As a result, Miami-Dade County will begin to
utilize optical scan technology as of the August 26, 2008 Miami-Dade County Primary Election.
This system requires voters to bubble in the circle next to their selection on a paper ballot
comparable to the absentee ballot. The voter will then bring the paper ballot to the optical scan
unit and insert it into the reader. The reader scans the ballot and electronically captures and
tabulates the votes. During auditing, and in the case of a recount, the paper ballots may be
manually counted. This technology will be used for both Early Voting and on Election Day.
However, per the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) and the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA)
requirements, a minimum number of touch screen voting machines (iVotronics) will still be placed
at each voting location. Persons with disabilities will have the option to continue using the
iVotronics, which meet ADA accessibility requirements, or take advantage of the optical scan
equipment.
I have been in support of the conversion to optical scan technology throughout my tenure as
Supervisor of Elections, consistent with voters who have expressed the desire for a paper record
of their votes. Optical scan technology provides such a record, which I believe will undoubtedly
increase voter confidence. A Voter Satisfaction Survey conducted by the Metropolitan Center at
Florida International University in May 2006 showed that 69% of the voters surveyed would like to
have a paper record of their votes. Due to this significant number and the cost effectiveness of
implementing this system, I believe this conversion to optical scan technology is a step in the right
direction.
However, as I have stated many times in the past, the optical scan units must be able to interface
with voters in English, Spanish, and Creole. !will continue to advocate to the Secretary of State
and our vendor, Elections Systems & Software (ES&S), the need for optical scan units to have
trilingual capability. It is extremely important for voters to continue voting in their preferred
language -granting them the same comfort and ease to which they are accustomed. The units
currently certified for use within the State of Florida display messages to the voters in English
only. ES&S has communicated that a new optical scan model with trilingual capability is currently
being developed and will likely be submitted for state certification later this year. My hope is that
Report Regarding the Passage of House Bill 537 Relating to Elections Laws
Page 2
this model (DS 200) will be available for use during the Primary Election scheduled for August
2008.
HB 537 also authorizes Supervisors of Elections to employ "ballot-on-demand" technology during
Early Voting. Ballot-on-demand allows pollworkers to print avoter-specific ballot for each voter
once he/she has been checked in at the Early Voting site, thereby eliminating the need to print a
larger number of ballots than needed. While this technology seems to have promise, my Office
will continue to monitor the development and usage of this technology to determine if
implementation for the 2008 Presidential Election is in the County's best interest. There is
currently only one county within the State that utilized ballot-on-demand as a test. I would like to
see more widespread testing before recommending its use in Miami-Dade County.
The state has allocated $27.8 million to fund the conversion to optical scan for the 15 counties
that currently use electronic voting equipment. Based on the number of Early Voting locations
and precincts we have, Miami-Dade County should receive $4 to $5 million in equipment from the
state. It is important to note that this is only an estimate based on preliminary discussions with
state officials. More reliable figures will be known once the funding formula is established. The
funding level approved by the Legislature will provide for a defined number of units at each Early
Voting site and one unit per precinct. It is still undbtermined whether the State will procure the
equipment on behalf of the counties or if the Florida Division of Elections will establish a state
contracE for the counties to access.
The County will still be required to buy .additional equipment, paper ballots, and other supplies.
Since the state is not funding the entire cost of the conversion, the fiscal impact to Miami-Dade
County is anticipated to be between $6 and $7.5 million for the initial cost of implementation.
recommend the County lobby the State during the 2008 Legislative Session to provide additional
financial support to meet this mandate using HAVA monies currently held in reserve, and to which
I feel all 15 counties are entitled.
The Department of Procurement Management has conducted two market analyses regarding the
feasibility of purchasing optical scan voting equipment. The resultant research concluded that
while there is an initial cost, this technology would realize significant savings over time. Based on
the latest analysis of the marketplace, it is estimated that converting to optical scan voting
equipment would result in a cost reduction of approximately $800,000 per Gubernatorial Election
and approximately $2 million per Presidential Election. Additional savings would be realized for
other countywide elections. These savings will increase over time since initial expenses for
conversion will impact these savings. Long term savings will eventually offset the cost of
conversion to optical scan equipment.
At this juncture, and in consultation with the Office of Strategic Business Management, it is
difficult to surmise the exact cost savings to the County since the State of Florida has not yet
finalized the funding formula that will be used to distribute equipment to the counties. With more
information on the funding structure, I will be in a better position to report the true fiscal impact to
the County. I will report back to you with details once this information is obtained.
As a condition of the State purchase of optical scan and ballot-on-demand equipment, Miami-
Dade County must authorize the Secretary of State to negotiate the purchase of new equipment
on the County's behalf. In addition, the County must give authorization to the Secretary of State to
sell, exchange, or dispose of existing touch screen voting equipment and designate the Secretary
of State as the authorized recipient of all proceeds realized from the sale, exchange, or other
disposition of the equipment, after obligations or indebtedness associated with the voting
Report Regarding the Passage of House Bill 537 Relating to Elections Laws
Page 3
equipment have been satisfied. The County currently has an outstanding balance of
approximately $15 million on our current voting system. It is estimated that the value of our
current voting equipment is limited. Nonetheless, all proceeds from a sale will be used to reduce
our outstanding debt. The Board of County Commissioners may choose to opt out of this by filing
a notice to that effect with the Department of State no later than June 30, 2007. It is my
recommendation that we do not opt out of this proposal since the County's financial exposure
would be increased.
The dates assigned to Primary Elections have also been changed. The Presidential Preference
Primary will now occur on the last Tuesday in January, meaning the upcoming Presidential
Preference Primary will take place on January 29, 2008. This will require the Elections
Department to begin gearing up for this countywide election with an expected 30-40% voter
turnout in late fall 2007, of which our current system will still be utilized. Throughout this
conversion, please keep in mind the reliability and accuracy of our current system was never
questioned. This conversion is simply a result of voter perception and an effort to increase voter
confidence. Many checks and balances have been implemented for the testing, deployment, and
auditing of the electronic voting equipment. Please be assured that the accuracy and integrity of
the current system is unparalleled, and as we continue to utilize this equipment, every vote cast is
accurately captured and tabulated.
Optical scan technology will be implemented by the Miami-Dade County Primary Election on
August 26, 2008. All future Primary Elections will occur 10 weeks prior to the General Election in
order to avoid having elections on the Tuesday following the Labor Day Holiday.
In addition, the new law also permits that absentee ballots may be canvassed six days prior to the
election rather than four, allowing Supervisors of Elections more time to open absentee ballots.
This is of particular benefit to Miami-Dade County considering that 10-20% of registered voters
are expected to vote absentee for the 2008 Presidential Election and its ever-growing popularity.
The new law also moves up the candidate qualification period by three weeks for state, multi-
county district, county, district, and special district offices, with the exception of judicial offices,
federal offices, and the offices of state attorney and public defender. We will work with
municipalities that currently share election dates to modify their qualifying dates to mirror those of
the state. Doing so will provide us with significantly more lead time in programming elections and
printing ballots.
The Elections Department will proceed with the procurement, testing, and training necessary to
convert to the new equipment effective July 1, 2008. I will continue to keep you apprised as to the
implementation of these changes. The Elections Management Team is approaching the
conversion to optical scan technology with great attention to detail and utmost care to ensure a
smooth transition, implementation of effective checks and balances as currently employed, and to
continue to strengthen voter confidence in the electoral process.
C: Alina T. Hudak, Assistant County Manager