San Francisco outlines universal vote-by-mail plan, outdoor voting center, and expanded outreach for Nov. 3 election

The San Francisco Department of Elections outlined an extensive plan on Aug. 31 to administer the Nov. 3, 2020 consolidated election by mailing ballots to every registered voter while maintaining safe in-person options.

Director John Arndz (identified in the transcript as the department director) told the Rules Committee the city will mail vote-by-mail ballots to all registered voters beginning roughly Oct. 5, with replacement ballots available through Oct. 30. The department said ballots returned by mail must be postmarked on or before election day to be counted; under state rules, local officials can process ballots earlier in the cycle and will have up to 17 days after Election Day to finish counting returned ballots.

Arndz described several operational changes intended to reduce crowding and preserve social distancing. The department plans to relocate its City Hall voting center to an outdoor voting center on the sidewalk in front of the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, with 60 ballot-issuing stations and nearly 200 voting booths. The Bill Graham voting center will open Oct. 5 and operate daily during the early voting period; it will also host drop-off stations. Additional ballot-drop locations are planned to roll out beginning Oct. 31, including a site at Chase Center and stations targeted to Districts 10 and 11.

To handle the increased volume from universal mailings (an expected 29% increase in ballots mailed), the department said it procured additional ballot-extraction equipment and relocated much of its processing to Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. The department said it has coordinated with the U.S. Postal Service to test ballot packets and envelope artwork so mailstream processing will not impede delivery or return of ballots. Ballots moved between City Hall and Bill Graham will be transported securely and monitored by sheriff's deputies.

Outreach and accessibility were central themes in the presentation. The department said it mailed targeted language notices earlier in the summer to voters born in Chinese, Spanish, Filipino, Burmese, Japanese, Korean, Thai and Vietnamese-speaking countries and will distribute translated voter information pamphlets and public-service announcements in multiple languages. The voter portal and an existing ballot-tracking tool will help voters monitor the ballot lifecycle; the state's "Where's My Ballot" service is an additional option voters may register for.

Arndz said the department needs roughly 3,000 poll workers for election day but had about 1,800 signed up at the time of the hearing. Poll worker training will be primarily online, with supervised in-person options for those without internet access. The department plans revised poll-worker duties and greeter positions to distribute PPE, manage curbside drop-offs and assist with multilingual needs. Because of concern about shortfalls, Arndz said he will seek a waiver of a city-charter prohibition so city employees can serve as poll workers if the Elections Commission and the Board of Supervisors approve.

Public commenters and committee members emphasized equity and neighborhood outreach. Lucina Cepos, a voting-rights attorney with the ACLU of California, praised the plan's attention to historically disenfranchised communities and urged local officials and the state to ensure sufficient resources. Shakira Simli, director of the Office of Racial Equity, offered partnership and requested a formal racial-equity analysis of the outreach strategy. Supervisors asked about USPS coordination, notifying voters of polling-place changes, recruiting bilingual poll workers, and whether the list of community partners sufficiently covers African American and Latino communities.

At the hearing's close, Chair Supervisor Hillary Ronan moved to file the matter for the record so staff can follow up on equity analysis and any outstanding questions. The committee voted unanimously to file the hearing.