Council Member John Gran's assertion that we can achieve a higher percentage of voters by changing the election date to align with state or federal is ridiculous! While voter turnout is ALWAYS low in comparison to the the number of eligible voters, Gran's declaration that Redondo Beach is underserved by having an off-cycle election has no credible statistics for measurement. 27% is appallling, I agree. But there's no assurance we'd have more or less turnout for EVERYTHING DOWN BALLOT if our Municipal Election were lumped at the end of a much broader spectrum of offices up for election. Also, this election appears to be consistent with if not higher than others. This election year doesn't appear to be a lower than normal turnout.
The March 2nd election in Redondo Beach was an unmitigated disaster.
It is the duty of our elected officials to raise election awareness and maximize voter participation.
This odd year election failed at both of these tenets of democracy.
Redondo Beach must align it's elections with State elections.
Good evening City Councilmembers and staff, here we are at another election where there are more questions than answers provided. This election along with the very contentious election in 2015, has proved to our community that the City Clerk lacks the competency to perform her crucial job as the elections official without error. This statement isn’t an assignation on her character but a realization that she is unable to process elections either expeditiously or without error. Without a specific election process in place for the City of Redondo Beach to follow, she is allowed to do as she pleases and as it relates to the California election code, employing only the minimum items called for, and without any oversight to ensure accuracy or thoroughness, including chain of custody and security of the process. Trust me, there is no election handbook that the Clerk’s office or candidates can reference.
Candidates and residents of Redondo Beach, I strongly urge you to ask Eleanor Manzano to create an election process for the city of Redondo Beach, that protects the integrity of our elections and future elections. We have been here before, and I can promise you we will be here again if nothing changes. Ms. Manzano you owe the residents and candidates of this city an election process that is fair, thorough, adaptable for unforeseen circumstances, and is one of integrity. City Council and staff, I hope that you find value in supporting the Clerk in creating a process that residents AND candidates can look to, to provide transparency in the election process.
I try to be an empathetic person who focuses on facts and data, so I've spent the past several days trying to collect info before commenting. I like to be part of the solution for change, rather than a whiner, and I'm committed to that, but I'm left with so many unanswered questions about what happened here. Why did this go so horribly wrong? After witnessing over the past few months the "way the sausage is made" so to speak, I'm appalled and disheartened by the inefficiencies and incompetencies in the City's election process. If the City cannot handle their own elections in a functional manner, all mail in or not, the counting process needs to be handed over to the LA County Registrar immediately. We have an obligation to guarantee free and fair elections for residents, which largely includes a well-managed process of tallying of votes, without delay. There were City Council members who said in public forums that we had an unprecedented LOW voting turnout. We had approximately 30% of registered voters. If this was an unprecedented low turnout, why is there a need for additional funding between $10,000-$30,000 to count votes? Why didn't the initial agreement with Hart Intercivic take into account the need to count ALL votes, including all that came in later, on Election Day, and via mail in the few days after? Why wasn't there a plan of action to take into account later votes rolling in a greater number than expected? Why was the proposal approved without allotting for this outcome? I understand the process of counting votes is time consuming and labor intensive and I'm sure everyone is working hard. However, the candidates and voters deserve BETTER. They deserve better communication & transparency about why this happened, who's fault it was, and how to prevent it from happening in the future. This needs to be corrected immediately for the sake of the enfranchisement of all Redondo voters. Lastly, this Council needs to find value in correcting these systemic issues-even those members in which the incompetencies of the process have long benefitted them, for the sake of a greater good.
Kate Korman-Sooper
Chair - Rec & Parks Commission
Resident D3
Council Member John Gran's assertion that we can achieve a higher percentage of voters by changing the election date to align with state or federal is ridiculous! While voter turnout is ALWAYS low in comparison to the the number of eligible voters, Gran's declaration that Redondo Beach is underserved by having an off-cycle election has no credible statistics for measurement. 27% is appallling, I agree. But there's no assurance we'd have more or less turnout for EVERYTHING DOWN BALLOT if our Municipal Election were lumped at the end of a much broader spectrum of offices up for election. Also, this election appears to be consistent with if not higher than others. This election year doesn't appear to be a lower than normal turnout.
The March 2nd election in Redondo Beach was an unmitigated disaster.
It is the duty of our elected officials to raise election awareness and maximize voter participation.
This odd year election failed at both of these tenets of democracy.
Redondo Beach must align it's elections with State elections.
Good evening City Councilmembers and staff, here we are at another election where there are more questions than answers provided. This election along with the very contentious election in 2015, has proved to our community that the City Clerk lacks the competency to perform her crucial job as the elections official without error. This statement isn’t an assignation on her character but a realization that she is unable to process elections either expeditiously or without error. Without a specific election process in place for the City of Redondo Beach to follow, she is allowed to do as she pleases and as it relates to the California election code, employing only the minimum items called for, and without any oversight to ensure accuracy or thoroughness, including chain of custody and security of the process. Trust me, there is no election handbook that the Clerk’s office or candidates can reference.
Candidates and residents of Redondo Beach, I strongly urge you to ask Eleanor Manzano to create an election process for the city of Redondo Beach, that protects the integrity of our elections and future elections. We have been here before, and I can promise you we will be here again if nothing changes. Ms. Manzano you owe the residents and candidates of this city an election process that is fair, thorough, adaptable for unforeseen circumstances, and is one of integrity. City Council and staff, I hope that you find value in supporting the Clerk in creating a process that residents AND candidates can look to, to provide transparency in the election process.
I try to be an empathetic person who focuses on facts and data, so I've spent the past several days trying to collect info before commenting. I like to be part of the solution for change, rather than a whiner, and I'm committed to that, but I'm left with so many unanswered questions about what happened here. Why did this go so horribly wrong? After witnessing over the past few months the "way the sausage is made" so to speak, I'm appalled and disheartened by the inefficiencies and incompetencies in the City's election process. If the City cannot handle their own elections in a functional manner, all mail in or not, the counting process needs to be handed over to the LA County Registrar immediately. We have an obligation to guarantee free and fair elections for residents, which largely includes a well-managed process of tallying of votes, without delay. There were City Council members who said in public forums that we had an unprecedented LOW voting turnout. We had approximately 30% of registered voters. If this was an unprecedented low turnout, why is there a need for additional funding between $10,000-$30,000 to count votes? Why didn't the initial agreement with Hart Intercivic take into account the need to count ALL votes, including all that came in later, on Election Day, and via mail in the few days after? Why wasn't there a plan of action to take into account later votes rolling in a greater number than expected? Why was the proposal approved without allotting for this outcome? I understand the process of counting votes is time consuming and labor intensive and I'm sure everyone is working hard. However, the candidates and voters deserve BETTER. They deserve better communication & transparency about why this happened, who's fault it was, and how to prevent it from happening in the future. This needs to be corrected immediately for the sake of the enfranchisement of all Redondo voters. Lastly, this Council needs to find value in correcting these systemic issues-even those members in which the incompetencies of the process have long benefitted them, for the sake of a greater good.
Kate Korman-Sooper
Chair - Rec & Parks Commission
Resident D3