The Kern County Board of Supervisors on Jan. 7 approved its consent agenda, which includes extending the county’s Help America Vote Act (HAVA) grant term to permit drawing down remaining funds for voting‑system upgrades.

Amy Espinosa, Kern County auditor‑controller, county clerk and registrar of voters, told the board the total HAVA allocation is $3,700,000, of which roughly $340,000 is earmarked for the county’s election management system. "So the total funding is $3,700,000, under a HAVA grant and it's for upgrades to our voting system, and then there's also a portion of about 340,000 that's specific for our election management system," Espinosa said. She reported the county has drawn $503,078.61 so far, paid in 2019 for a ballot sorter.

Why it matters: The extension gives county elections staff more time to identify qualifying past expenditures and to run a planned procurement for a possible new voting vendor before the next major implementation window. Espinosa said the county is preparing an RFI/RFP and "would like to... begin negotiating an agreement by the end of this fiscal year" so there is time to implement and test a system ahead of major use, and she said the county will arrange a CISA penetration test of any new system.

Public comment at the meeting focused on voter‑roll maintenance and record requests. Ralph Robles, a member of the public, asked for a public‑records report on "those 37,000 voters that were restored to the voter rolls." Several other speakers — including Charles Shinn, Glenn (Lehi) Clayton, Dennis McLean and Russell Person — pressed the board on perceived errors, data redactions and the structure of county election authority. Espinosa responded to multiple public questions later in the meeting, saying the county had corrected an earlier removal run and that "there was nothing nefarious going on there. We were just correcting the issue and it was a user mistake and so we got that corrected." She said the county worked with its vendor and the Secretary of State to restore voters in time for the November election.

Espinosa outlined the process and timing for the next round of inactive‑voter notifications tied to federal election cycles. She said ballots are not mailed to voters flagged as inactive; however, under California law an inactive voter may still appear at a polling place or the elections office and be allowed to vote or be reactivated. Regarding the five‑year deletions report requested by public commenters, Espinosa said staff were preparing a spreadsheet and she hoped to provide it to the board "by the end of next week." On the timeline for removing newly eligible inactive voters after the Nov. 5 election, she estimated the process could complete "by the end of February," depending on whether additional notifications must be mailed and responses processed.

The board approved the consent agenda — including the grant‑term extension — in a single motion. The clerk recorded the vote as "all ayes." The audio and public comment indicate the extension contains no additional funds; it only lengthens the period during which the county can draw down the awarded HAVA dollars.

What the board directed or agreed to: none of the public requests were converted into immediate board action during the meeting. Supervisors and staff agreed to continue working with the members of the public who requested records and to pursue the ad hoc elections committee recommendations being developed for presentation later in January.

Looking ahead: Espinosa said the county expects to issue procurement documents in 2025 and to conduct security testing before placing a new system into service. She also said staff will produce the requested five‑year deletions report and will continue coordinating with the Secretary of State and the county’s vendor on voter‑roll maintenance.