Home » Contra Costa County Opens Doors to Independent Election Observers

Contra Costa County Opens Doors to Independent Election Observers

Press Release

by CC News
Election

MARTINEZ, CALIF. — To continue to demonstrate its commitment to safe, secure and transparent elections, the Contra Costa County Clerk-Recorder-Elections Department today kicked off its fifth class of its Certified Election Observer (CEO) Program. Fifteen community members will visit the Elections Office regularly to learn about and observe election procedures—as well as the 48 steps the county takes to ensure election security and integrity.

“There’s so much misinformation and disinformation out there, I can understand why voters may have questions about how our elections are administered,” said Kristin B. Connelly, Contra Costa Registrar of Voters. “Protecting our freedom to vote is incredibly important to us, and Contra Costa County has strict processes to ensure compliance with all state and federal laws and that every vote is counted accurately.”

Participants in the CEO sessions watch critical election administration activities, such as testing voting and ballot scanning equipment, checking signatures and scanning and tabulating ballots. The Elections office welcomes all CEO participants regardless of political party affiliation. Held before every election since launching in 2022, the program earned a 2023 People’s Choice award from the Election Center among other awards and accolades.

“With so many people keeping an eye on our elections, we celebrate the opportunity to share information with community members about elections administration and procedures. Our election results are safe and secure, and this program helps explain how we guarantee that year after year,” said Connelly.

The program opens the election process up to the public to help the community better understand election processes and procedures. Over the course of five sessions, CEO participants learn how elections work and watch every step of the election process, including voter registration, voting equipment logic and accuracy testing, poll worker training, ballot box collection, signature checking, ballot extraction and tabulation, provisional ballot processing, adjudication, and the 1% manual tally audit.

People who are interested in seeing election processes and procedures for themselves also can observe at the Elections Office any time election processes are occurring Monday – Friday, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m., at regional early voting sites the weekend before Election Day, and at 146 polling places across Contra Costa on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5. The Elections Office encourages residents to contact staff directly at 925-335-7800 to find out when observable activities are scheduled.

Learn more about election security and watch behind-the-scenes videos at secure-election.org. For more information about elections and voting, visit contracostavote.gov. To sign up to track your mail-in ballot, visit ballottrax.net.


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