have the representatives in attendance at any or all phases of the election.
15104. (a) The processing of absentee ballot return envelopes, andthe processing and counting of absentee ballots shall be open to thepublic, both prior to and after the election. (b) Any member of the county grand jury, and at least one membereach of the Republican county central committee, the Democraticcounty central committee, and of any other party with a candidate onthe ballot, and any other interested organization, shall be permittedto observe and challenge the manner in which the absentee ballotsare handled, from the processing of absentee ballot return envelopesthrough the counting and disposition of the ballots. (c) The elections official shall notify absentee voter observersand the public at least 48 hours in advance of the dates, times, andplaces where absentee ballots will be processed and counted. (d) Absentee voter observers shall be allowed sufficiently closeaccess to enable them to observe and challenge whether thoseindividuals handling absentee ballots are following establishedprocedures, including all of the following: (1) Verifying signatures and addresses by comparing them to voterregistration information. (2) Duplicating accurately any damaged or defective ballots. (3) Securing absentee ballots to prevent any tampering with thembefore they are counted on election day.
Tom Courbat
EOP Member
951-677-6451
From: Dunmore, Barbara [mailto:BDunmore@co.riverside.ca.us]
Sent: Friday, February 08, 2008 5:43 PM
To: Art Cassel; Charolette Fox; Dick Morris; Doug Dye; Loraine Watts; Maxine Ewig; Sandra Stone; Shirley Walton; Susan Marie Weber; Tom Courbat
Cc: EGoldberg@sos.ca.gov; knowbarriers@yahoo.com; Ashley, Marion; Buster, Bob; Stone, Jeff; Tavaglione, John ; Wilson, Roy; Chuck Reuter; Jeff Miller; Kevin Akin; Shirley Walton
Subject: Removal of EOP Member
Dear EOP Members:
I was just apprized by my staff that Mr. Courbat, EOP member, was asked to leave the premises of the Registrar of Voters’ office around 4:15 p.m. today. Brian Foss, Supervising Business Systems Analyst, made the request after Mr. Courbat was told three times that he could not enter the newly-constructed vote-by-mail voted ballot storage room, off the Community Room. Mr. Foss had made himself available to Mr. Courbat and Mr. Art Cassel, EOP member, to answer their questions while they observed canvass activities. Mr. Courbat and Mr. Cassel eventually thanked Mr. Foss for his time, shook his hand and said they were leaving. Mr. Foss went back to regular duties only to find Mr. Courbat a short time later in the ballot storage room. See the attached picture. Mr. Courbat is inside the door in the blue shirt.
The Registrar of Voters is responsible for maintaining the secure storage of every ballot from the time the printed ballot arrives in our office through the 22-month storage retention period. However, no time is more crucial for the security of the ballots than during the canvass period when all voted ballots have not yet been counted. As the Registrar, I need to be able to trust EOP members to respect the rules and procedures established for the security of ballots and election materials whether or not they agree with them. I would not tolerate this breach of trust from a member of the public, the media, or a member of the ROV staff and I will not tolerate it from Mr. Courbat. While I don’t appoint representatives to the EOP, I certainly have the ability to weigh their qualifications and decide whether to accept or reject such a nomination. One of the considerations must be the trustworthiness of the person so appointed. I am therefore removing Mr. Courbat from the February 5th EOP and will be contacting the Californians for Disabilities Rights #34 for a replacement, if they so desire.
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