Solano County Supervisors Vote To Keep Local Polling Places

SOLANO COUNTY, CA — Solano County Board of Supervisors Tuesday voted unanimously to continue the county's current use of local polling places instead of switching to Regional Voting Centers for the 2020 primary and general elections.

John Gardner, Solano County assistant registrar of voters, said the board agreed that switching from local polling places to regional centers would not be a good idea during anticipated heavy voter turnout during the 2020 election.

"And for us, it would have been more expensive. We already have to change our voting equipment and we want to limit the risk of making (more) changes," Gardner said.

The Solano County Registrar of Voters office recommended the county renew discussion on using regional voting centers after the 2020 elections.

The discussion stems from the California Secretary of State's determination that current voting systems in California are at or near their life expectancy with voting system vendors no longer making replacement parts or providing tech support.

The California Secretary of State notified Registrar of Voters' offices in February their existing voting equipment was decertified.

The state's 2018-2019 budget includes $134 million to upgrade or replace the aging voting systems. The Solano County Registrar of Voters office is applying for $1.4 million in state funds to upgrade its 15-year-old voting system to modern technology.

Switching to Regional Voting Centers would require an additional $1,060,045 for equipment and nearly $500,000 in operational costs, according to the registrar's office.

The benefits of Regional Voting Centers include fewer locations to administer and an increase in voting locations and dates.

Regional Voting Centers provide every voter with a vote-by-mail ballot and would reduce the 100 polling places in the county to 25 regional voting centers. Voters can vote at any center in the county, and the 25 regional voting centers would also be open the weekend before Election Day.

The impact of the regional voting centers on the Registrar of Voters Office include having to staff all locations with extra help instead of volunteer poll workers, providing all ballot types and styles at all regional locations and increased costs.

In 2018, only five of 14 counties allowed to adopt the Regional Voting Center model elected to do so, including Napa and San Mateo counties.

They reported technology failures, long lines of voters due to same-day registration processing, and as many as 90 percent of in-person voting on Election Day despite having the Saturday and Sunday voting options, Solano County elections officials said.

Alameda and Santa Clara counties are switching to regional voting centers pending approval by supervisors.

In Solano County, about 30 percent of voters go to the polls.

Bay City News Service