TITLE
Recommendation to receive and file an overview and summary of the 2020 Primary Nominating Election.
DISCUSSION
Elections
On October 15, 2019 the City Council adopted Resolution No. RES-19-0159 calling and giving notice of a Primary Nominating Election and General Municipal Election in the City of Long Beach, California on Tuesday, the 3rd day of March 2020, and the 3rd day of November 2020, for the nomination and election of candidates for four (4) offices on the City Council, and two (2) offices of the Long Beach Unified School District, each for a full term of four (4) years, commencing on the third Tuesday of December 2020. This election was consolidated with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk Statewide Election dates pursuant to the adoption of Ordinance No. ORD-19-0001.
On November 12, 2019 the City Council adopted Resolution No. RES-19-0173 calling for the placement of a General Tax Measure on the Ballot for the March 3rd, 2020 Special Municipal Election for the submission to the qualified voters of an amended ordinance to extend and adjust the rate of Transactions and Use Tax (also known as ”Measure A”), and making findings of fiscal emergency pursuant to California Proposition 218.
On November 19, 2019, the City Council adopted Resolution No. RES-19-0179 calling for the placement of a General Tax Measure on the Ballot for the March 3rd, 2020 Special Municipal Election for the submission to the qualified voters of an amended ordinance to increase the rate of the City’s general purpose transient occupancy (Hotel) tax from 6% to 7% (also known as “Measure B”), and making findings of fiscal emergency pursuant to California Proposition 218.
The following highlights the candidate processing, voter education and outreach efforts, online services, Election Day support, and voter turnout.
Candidate Processing
For the March 3, 2020 Primary Nominating Election there were a total of 264,819 registered voters within our jurisdiction. Long Beach City Council Districts 2, 6, and 8, LBUSD Board of Education, Districts 2 and 4, and two citywide measures appeared on the ballot. The Fourth City Council District seat was unopposed. Pursuant to the provisions of Long Beach Municipal Code Section 1.21.070, Daryl A. Supernaw was appointed to the Office of Councilmember, Fourth Council District, for the term of four years. A total of 17 candidates filed for elective office.
For the Primary Election, all candidates running for Long Beach City Council District offices received a Candidate Handbook highlighting the provisions of the Long Beach Charter, Municipal Code, California Elections Code and the California Government Code regarding campaigning.
Additionally, the Office of the City Clerk held a candidate workshop on November 11, 2019 to review all filing requirements and changes to Long Beach elections procedures. Candidates running for LBUSD were required to file their nomination papers with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk (LARRCC).
Vote Centers and Vote By Mail (VBM)
Long Beach had 34 vote centers open on Election Day. Seven were open for 11-days, and 27 were open for 3-days preceding Election Day. There were an additional 8 VBM drop off locations throughout the City. The County provided return postage paid envelopes to all voters casting their ballot by mail, and created an online VBM application, and VBM ballot tracking tool. These tools proved critical to Long Beach voters as a result of the Voter’s Choice Act (VCA) that mandates if two counties share a legislative district, and only one county is conducting an all VBM election, all voters within the district must be provided a VBM ballot. Since Congressional District 47 spans across Orange and Los Angeles Counties and Orange County conducted an all VBM election, all Long Beach voters in the Congressional District 47 were mailed a VBM ballot. Congressional District 47 includes Long Beach Council Districts 1 through 7 and 2/3rd of Council District 8. Council District 9 voters were not affected.
Voter Education and Outreach
• The Office of the City Clerk collaborated with the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk to educate Long Beach voters in the new voting system, Voting Solutions for All People (VSAP). The weekend of September 28-29, 2019 Long Beach hosted two L.A. County mock election locations where community members came to learn about VSAP and test the new Ballot Marking Devices (BMD’s).
• During the month of October 2019 Long Beach City Hall was a Demo site for the new voting equipment. Employees, residents and visitors to City Hall were encouraged to try the new BMD’s and experience what voting in future elections would look like.
• The City Clerk’s office also attended several community meetings, events, boards and commissions meetings to promote and discuss the new voting equipment.
• Staff designed promotional material used in our media outreach campaign to educate Long Beach residents on the new voting system and distributed shareable content to Community Based Organizations for local distribution.
• The City included a flyer regarding the upcoming election in the utility bills for Long Beach residents during the month of February 2020.
• The City also posted digital ads at Long Beach Airport, City Hall elevators, and digital billboards along the 405 freeway.
• The City Clerk’s office attended Council-hosted civic events to register people to vote and continued education efforts on the new voting equipment.
• City Clerk staff created and mailed Vote Center location posters to 180 previous polling locations, City facilities and libraries for display.
• VoteLB mobile app was promoted to all Long Beach residents to download the app and get all election information on their smart devices. Through the VoteLB app, voters can:
ü Request a VBM ballot application
ü Track their VBM ballot
ü Call the City Clerk’s office
ü View the elections home page
ü View elections results
For the March 3, 2020 election, there were 929 downloads of the VoteLB app.
In addition, the Office of the City Clerk provided information on our Elections webpage that included:
• Frequently Asked Questions fact sheet for candidates and residents
• Calendar and information for the election
• Link to a Voter Center mapping tool
• Link to an Interactive Sample Ballot (ISB)
• Online campaign filing and information retrieval portal
• “VoteLB” mobile application
Election Day Operations
On Saturday, February 22, 2020 the 11-days voting period began and City Clerk staff was present at the 7 Long Beach locations to provide any assistance and monitor issues.
Voter Turnout
The March 3, 2020 Primary Nominating Election was the first consolidated election mandated by SB 415 and resulted in increased voter turnout from previous primary elections. A total of 106,796 or 40.10 percent of eligible registered voters participated in the March 3, 2020 Primary. Of those that cast a ballot, 33.95 percent cast their ballot at Vote Centers, 66.05 percent cast their ballot by VBM.
In the 2016 primary for Council Districts 2, 4, 6 & 8, there was a 13.50 percent turnout with 38.94 percent casting their vote at polls and 61.06 percent casting their vote by mail. In the 2018 Primary for Mayor, CD 3, 5, 7, & 9 there was a 15.83 percent turnout with 30.59 percent casting their vote at polls and 69.41 percent casting their vote by mail.
This letter was reviewed by Deputy City Attorney Amy Webber on May 19, 2020.
FISCAL IMPACT
The complete cost of the consolidated Primary Nominating Election is pending from the Los Angeles County Registrar-Recorder/County Clerk.
SUGGESTED ACTION
Approve recommendation.
Respectfully Submitted,
Monique De La Garza
City Clerk