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Council seeks clear RCV regulations and contingency plans as BOE finalizes policies
Summary
Councilmembers pressed BOE general counsel on the timing and substance of RCV regulations covering exhausted ballots, recounts, tiebreakers, certification, audits and public reporting; BOE said a framework exists but policy choices remain to be finalized and incorporated into rulemaking.
Councilmembers said regulations governing how ranked-choice ballots are counted, how ballot exhaustion is treated, how recounts and tiebreakers work, and how results will be publicly reported are prerequisites for lawful and transparent implementation. Councilmember Windell Felder told BOE: "Ranked choice voting cannot be legally implemented without regulations establishing how ballots will be counted..." General Counsel Terry Stroud replied that many policy choices are spelled out in statute but that BOE is still finalizing administrative decisions and plans to incorporate vendor input before completing rulemaking.
Evans and Stroud emphasized BOE will use draft ballots and mock-ups for training and stated that final regulations and ballot designs will be in place before the BOE sends ballots to the printer. The committee asked whether BOE has a formal risk register and election-day contingency protocol specific to RCV; Evans said BOE has not completed a written risk register nor specific RCV day-of contingency plans but is documenting issues and can share plans on request.
