29-01-2025
Supervisors look at splitting Auditor-Controller-Clerk position from elections duties
In an effort to improve the county's elections processes, Kern County may create a new Registrar of Voters position separate from the Auditor-Controller-Clerk, which currently fulfills that role.
The Kern County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Tuesday to order staff to look into establishing the new role, which would require legislative action by the state in order to be approved.
'We're elated,' said Charles Shinn, an elections integrity advocate who, along with several other community members, has appeared before supervisors meetings for the last two years asking for changes to the Elections Division.
In August, an ad hoc committee was formed with supervisors David Couch and Leticia Perez to draft recommendations based on the group's concerns. The suggestions were presented to the full board Tuesday.
'I think we have an excellent solution to what bogs down Kern County elections right now,' Shinn said of the move to create a separate registrar position.
'I think that's going to help (Kern County Auditor-Controller-Clerk Amy Espinoza), separating all the hats that she currently wears so that the auditor-controller is specifically tasked and only focused on running elections and maintaining the voter rolls in a (National Voter Registration Act) state of constant maintenance,' Shinn said.
The committee's recommendations included three options for splitting up the responsibilities of the Auditor-Controller-Clerk, and supervisors ultimately chose to pursue the option that creates a separate Registrar of Voters — responsible for overseeing all elections in the county — to be appointed by the board.
In a statement following the meeting, District 3 Supervisor Jeff Flores said the board had heard the voices of concerned voters.
'Our board is committed to ensuring that our local elections are not simply conducted in line with California state law but truly exceed the baseline requirements for transparency and accountability,' Flores said.
But establishing a separate registrar position will require legislative action from the state. Chief Financial Officer Elsa Martinez told board members there are two avenues by which the county could receive legislative approval. Both would need to be done by Feb. 21, the last day bills can be submitted by lawmakers.
One is by requesting the language be included in one of the Legislature's omnibus bills, but that would require the county to submit its request to the Senate Local Government Committee. The other avenue would be to have a lawmaker introduce the legislation and help guide it through the Legislature.
Supervisors also directed staff to work with the board's newly established Legislative Program Committee to request other changes to voter law at both the state and federal levels.
Changes to be requested from the state include changes in law to allow for citizenship verification; better signature collection; more timely removal of ineligible voters from voter rolls; and multiple sources for candidate residency verification.
The committee will also request changes at the federal level for citizenship verification.
During the meeting, Espinoza responded to many of the recommendations and questions posed by the committee and said steps would be taken to address concerns where applicable.
There were some recommendations, such as the reconciliation of ballot counts at every collection point and allowing elections observers to ride along with ballot collectors, which supervisors did not pursue.
Espinoza told supervisors she was 'Switzerland,' i.e. neutral, on the subject of splitting the registrar position, but said having additional staff on hand would be helpful. She stressed that managing elections is extremely complicated and there are state or federal regulations with which she didn't personally agree.
'My hope would be that having someone fully dedicated to assist some of the managers at a higher level and be fully dedicated, if that's what the board ends up ultimately doing, my hope would be that they would have a better outcome,' Espinoza said.
Because the current position of Auditor-Controller-Clerk is elected, if the board were to establish registrar as a separate position, it would not take effect until the end of Espinoza's term in 2027.
