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Committee discusses voter pamphlet timeline and campaign-finance reforms; continues and forwards measures for further review
Summary
The Rules Committee examined an ordinance to require mailing a voter information pamphlet at least 29 days before elections and reviewed proposed campaign-finance reforms including daily electronic disclosure for large campaigns and expanded contractor contribution bans. The voter pamphlet ordinance was continued for further drafting; the campaign finance package was forwarded to the Board with committee input and requests for Ethics Commission follow-up.
The Rules Committee reviewed multiple election-related items, including an ordinance to require the Department of Elections to mail a voter information pamphlet at least 29 days before an election, and a package of campaign-finance reforms that would add electronic disclosure of late contributions and tighten reporting and coordination rules.
John Arntz, director of the Department of Elections, said the June delay in mailings stemmed from adding new AutoMark voting equipment and vendor uncertainty that delayed ballot formatting; because the voter guide includes sample ballots, ballot-formatting delays cascaded into the voter guide production schedule. Arntz said the department has met with vendors to avoid a repeat and suggested calendar adjustments could give staff more lead time.
The committee also heard from the Elections Commission and the mayor's office about a proposed electronic-disclosure requirement for candidate committees that have raised $10,000 (the committee discussed thresholds and asked for charts showing how many candidate and ballot-measure committees would be affected). The Ethics Commission described a package of amendments to clarify filing requirements, expand the contractor contribution ban to affiliated individuals and entities, strengthen disclaimer and training requirements, and create penalties for exceeding public-financing expenditure ceilings.
Supervisors asked the Ethics Commission to consider whether late-disclosure requirements should also apply to ballot-measure committees; the committee continued Item 8 (voter pamphlet timing) to the call of the chair and requested additional analysis and charts before first reading of the electronic-disclosure proposal at the full Board.
