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CITY OF SAN LEANDRO <br />STAFF REPORT <br />DATE: December 7, 2009 <br />TO: Stephen Hollister, City Manager <br />FROM: Marian Handa, City Clerk <br />SUBJECT PROJECT/PROJECT DESCRIPTION: <br />APPROVED AND <br />FORWARDED <br />TO CITY COUNCIL <br />~~~.~~-z---- <br />Stephen Hollister <br />City Manager <br />MATTER OF CONSIDERATION OF USING RANKED CHOICE VOTING (RCV) FOR THE <br />2010 GENERAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION <br />SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATION <br />This report provides information on RCV system approval, cost, timeline, and other <br />considerations. Staff recommends that the Council review and discuss this information, receive <br />public input, and take fornlal action to not use RCV for the 2010 election. If the Council chooses <br />to delay its decision in hopes that the Secretary of State and/or the other cities will approve RCV, <br />staff suggests continuing the matter to January 19, 2010. <br />BACKGROUND <br />RCV System Status <br />City staff has been following the developments in RCV, which is a method of voting that would <br />eliminate the City's need to hold runoff elections. The California Secretary of State (SOS) must <br />approve a voting system before it can be used in an election. In June 2009, Alameda County's <br />voting systems vendor, Sequoia Voting Systems, requested administrative approval of its RCV <br />voting system from the SOS for use by Alameda County in 2010. <br />The cities of San Leandro, Oakland and Berkeley have been meeting with the Alameda County <br />Registrar of Voters (ROV) to plan for the possible use of RCV for the November 2010 election. <br />The group has met with representatives from the SOS, and has received assurance that the SOS <br />has all the information it needs to grant administrative approval of the RCV system to Alameda <br />County. As of this writing, however, approval has not been granted. <br />Cost and Savings <br />The County has drafted a Memorandum of Understanding, which would divide the $350,000 <br />system cost among the three cities based on the number of registered voters in each city. San <br />Leandro's share of cost is 12%, or approximately $42,000. Additionally, the ROV would incur <br />other costs associated with a RCV election, and those costs would be divided proportionately and <br />