To: Board of Supervisors
From: Kristin Connelly, Clerk-Recorder
Report Title: Presentation - Graduates of the Certified Election Observer Program
☒Recommendation of the County Administrator ☐ Recommendation of Board Committee
RECOMMENDATIONS:
PRESENTATION recognizing the graduating participants of the County’s Certified Election Observer Program.
Recognize Kim Buck, Cathleen Crane, Tiffany Martin, Chris Moore, and William Walker for participating and becoming graduates of the program. They will be ambassadors for the Elections Division as we continue our mission to build public trust in elections.
FISCAL IMPACT:
None.
BACKGROUND:
The Elections Division launched its Certified Election Observer Program in 2022 to strengthen transparency and give interested residents a deeper understanding of how elections are administered in Contra Costa County. The program offers a comprehensive, start-to-finish look at the elections process from voter registration through final certification with behind-the-scenes access and opportunities to ask questions directly to election officials.
The Certified Election Observer Program features a series of online and in-person sessions held throughout the election. The course curriculum covers the essential components of California and federal election administration, including election security, voter registration and list maintenance, poll worker training, in-person voting operations, vote-by-mail processing, voting system testing, audits, ballot tabulation and adjudication, the canvass, provisional ballot procedures, reconciliation processes, and the final certification. Participants receive a “passport” of election activities and earn stamps as they complete each section of the comprehensive curriculum.
The Elections Division will continue offering the Certified Election Observer Program throughout the 2026 Statewide Election cycle and into the 2028 Presidential Election cycle, ensuring ongoing opportunities for additional residents to learn how elections are conducted in Contra Costa County.
CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:
The Elections Division will fail to recognize these members of the community who have volunteered their time to learn about election administration.