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Residents, election‑watch groups press board for records and answers on voter rolls, HAVA spending
Summary
Multiple residents and civic groups urged Kern County supervisors on Jan. 14 to press the Registrar of Voters for missing records, clearer reporting on HAVA grant spending and access to vendor documentation and camera system details.
Multiple speakers at the Kern County Board of Supervisors meeting on Jan. 14 urged more transparency and responsiveness from the County elections office, raising questions about voter‑roll data, grant spending, and access to records and meetings with elections leadership.
Ralph Robles, who identified himself as a veteran, said he had requested records under the California Public Records Act related to security cameras and vendor requests for proposals and had not received the materials. Robles asked the board to compel production of RFIs and RFOs tied to camera purchases and to provide technical and end‑to‑end data on camera systems for ballot drop boxes.
Retired Marine Charles Shinn said a CD of voter records he received from the elections office contained only about 94,000 records and was missing large swaths of the roll alphabetically. He cited California Elections Code section 19003 as the basis for public record review and said the incomplete data undermined efforts to audit the rolls.
Russell Person, representing Concerned Citizens, said that Registrar of Voters Amy Espinosa had told the public that the county’s HAVA grant funding of $3,700,000 had not been fully used and that a sorter purchase of $503,078.16 was the only expenditure to date. Person asked whether security cameras intended for live streaming by elections officials and public observers could be paid from HAVA funds and requested that Espinosa report vendor comparisons and secure software keys to safeguard ballot materials.
Dennis McLean and other speakers said they had repeatedly asked to meet with Espinosa and the elections department and that those requests had not been scheduled. McLean asked the board to support committee‑level engagement between elections staff and concerned citizens to improve trust and clarify processes.
Board members and county staff did not vote on any elections measures during the meeting. Supervisors encouraged staff and the registrar to respond to public records requests and to work with the public and the board on outstanding questions about maps, voter‑roll accuracy and post‑election reconciliations.
No county action was announced at the meeting to compel release of additional records; speakers said they would continue to seek records and meetings with elections officials.
