English - Riverside County Registrar of Voters

Kari Verjil 

Registrar of Voters 

Rebecca Spencer 

Assistant Registrar of Voters 

Committee Members: 

Fransisco Sola, Latino Voters Project 

Jose Rodriguez 

REGISTRAR OF VOTERS 

COUNTY OF RIVERSIDE 

Summary of the Spanish Language 

Community Outreach Group (COG) Meeting 

February 23, 2012 -- 10:15 am – 11:45am 

Register of Voters’ Office 

2724 Gateway Dr. 

Riverside, CA 92507 

Registrar of Voters Staff: 

Caroline Saucedo – Election Coordinator’s Assistant and COG Chair 

Ken Hayes – Elections Technician II 

Annette Canada – Election Coordinator’s Assistant 

Art Tinoco – Elections Precincts Manager 

Purpose of Meeting: 

Update current members and quests on electoral changes that will take place in 2012. Seek 

input and provide updates for posters and other informational materials. Discuss how to assist 

the limited English and proficient Spanish speaking community. Summarize the goals of the 

Spanish Language Community Outreach Program. 

Meeting brought to order at 10:30 am: 

Caroline Saucedo, COG Chairwoman, welcomed and introduced the attending committee 

members and guests. 

Ms. Saucedo reviewed the Memorandum of Agreement between the Department of Justice 

and Riverside County; as part of the agreement Riverside County is required to form a 

committee and must provide all election information to limited English proficient voters. 

Currently there are 30 Committee Members throughout Riverside County. Meetings are held 

throughout the county and are very similar in content providing the same information to 

committee members every 3 months. 

Ms. Saucedo stated that preparation is underway for two major elections scheduled for 2012: 

the Presidential Primary Election on June 5 th and the Presidential Election on November 6 th. 

2724 Gateway Drive, Riverside, CA 92507-0918 • (951) 486-7200 • FAX (951) 486-7272 • TTY (951) 697-8966 

www.voteinfo.net Su Voto--Su Voz--Su Decisión Your Vote--Your Voice--Your Decision

Meeting Summary 

Spanish Language Community Outreach Group (COG) 

February 23, 2012 

The Top Two Primary system will be implemented in the June election and there is a lot of talk 

about this new primary system, some true and some false. Ms. Saucedo suggested that 

anyone who wanted to obtain the most accurate information regarding the Top Two Primary 

should contact either the Registrar of Voters’ office or the Secretary of State’s office. The Top 

Two Primary system allows voters to vote for any candidate regardless of their party affiliation. 

The two candidates with the most votes will be placed on the November 6 th General Election 

ballot. 

The Top Two Primary system does not extend to Presidential and Central Committee contest. 

Therefore, voters that wish to vote on a Presidential or Central Committee contest will receive 

ballots according to their party affiliation. No Party Preference voters can request either a 

Democrat or American Independent ballot. Cross-over voting is dictated by the parties, not by 

the Registrar of Voters. 

Question: How will the voters know the party of a candidate? Ms. Saucedo responded the 

candidates party affiliation will be listed on the ballot. 

Art Tinoco informed the attendees that Bill Number 1413 was past and signed. A Write-In 

candidate line will be included on Primary Ballots, but omitted from the General Election 

ballots. 

The Top Two Primary will affect how Election Officers are trained. The Election Officer training 

curriculum is currently being evaluated and prepared on how to best present the information to 

election officers. 

Fransisco Sola suggested that simplicity be used in explaining the Top Two system and 

the cross over for No Party Preference (NPP) voters. 

A discussion ensued on the term, “No Party Preference” voters... The Registrar of Voters staff 

explained the history and variation referring to voters that held no party affiliation-- No 

Affiliation, Nonpartisan, and now No Party Preference voters or NPP. In the past, these voters 

have been referred to as Independent voters. Unfortunately, there is an American 

Independent Party and many voters have confused this party as being nonaffiliated or 

independent of any party, and has caused confusion in the polling place. 

Posters are being developed for the polling place instructing No Party Preference voters that 

they will receive a No Party Preference ballot, or they can request a Democrat or American 

Independent ballot, since these are the only two parties allowing the crossover. 

The Registrar of Voters is planning an educational campaign to inform voters of the changes 

that will occur for the June primary election. 

Redistricting is another issue that will affect a few precincts. Redistricting occurs every 10 

years with the completion of the census. Precinct lines are redrawn to reflect a decrease or an 

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increase of population. Due to the redrawn districts, some voters may have new 

representation or they may be assigned a new polling place. Since there may be an increase 

in precincts there may be a need for more polling places. Ms. Saucedo asked attendees that 

if they see new businesses, schools, or other facilities that may be suitable for polling places to 

contact the ROV office. Riverside County will have 700 to 750 polling places for the 2012 

elections. 

Mr. Sola asked, if any Supervisors are running in the election? Mr. Tinoco responded that 

there will be two Districts on the ballot. 

Rumors regarding Redistricting were discussed and -corrected. Redistricting will not eliminate 

representation as constituents will be represented by their former representatives until an 

election is held for new representation and Redistricting will NOT affect anyone’s right to vote. 

Ms. Saucedo reiterated that the best place to get accurate information is either the Registrar of 

Voters’ office or the Secretary of State’s office. 

Due to census data Riverside County is no longer required to provide language assistance in 

Cahuilla, but will continue to provide language assistance in Tagalog (the language of the 

Philippines) to three precincts in Palm Springs, Additionally, the Registrar of Voters will 

continue to provide language assistance in Spanish. 

The Registrar of Voters continues to provide updates to voters and candidates with both 

Twitter and Facebook. The feedback received has been very positive on the use of social 

media. Candidates are very pleased with the results that are posted on election night. One of 

the more interesting posts was the use of the Sheriffs helicopters to transport ballots from 

Blythe. 

The Registrar of Voters continues to plan methods to expedite the return of voted ballots to our 

offices. One suggestion was to use more helicopters but the cost and weight factors are a 

concern. We will also be working with inspectors and election officers to expedite the voted 

ballot returns. 

Ms. Saucedo met with Mr. Marcos Robles, Public Relations Director for Cardenas Markets, to 

discuss the Cardenas project. Mr. Robles proposed an annual voter registration drive during 

the month of March. Ms. Saucedo plans to visit each Cardenas Market in Riverside County to 

arrange for a voter registration area. We welcome any ideas and suggestions on utilizing the 

Cardenas Markets’ generous offer. 

Cardenas Markets has offered use of their store overhead sound systems to promote voter 

registration to their customers. During a visit to a Cardenas Market, Ms. Saucedo noticed 

some advertising on cash register screens. She plans to discuss with Mr. Robles the possibility 

of using the check out screens to also promote voter registration. She had discussed using 

the video screens throughout the stores to promote registration. Unfortunately, these screens 

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are programmed in a central location and would broadcasts in all Cardenas Markets which 

would include stores throughout San Bernardino, Los Angeles and Riverside Counties. Ms. 

Saucedo stated, this would not be a bad idea, except only stores in Riverside County would 

have registrations available. 

Olga Rojas, La Prensa reporter and Aurora Lavado, a professional translator, both worked with 

Ms. Saucedo and made great suggestions on how to reduce content for the informational 

posters. Currently the posters are awaiting final approval for mass production. There will be 

tear-off cards for those interested in being an Election Officer. 

The new Accessible Voting Unit table sign explaining how to mark your ballot was approved 

and used in the last election. The signs are posted under the A-L and M-Z table signs. We 

have not received any feedback or complaints and we will continue to use the posters for 

future elections. 

Ms. Saucedo stated she has received positive feedback on the selected motto statement: 

Su Voto--Su Voz--Su Decisión Your Vote--Your Voice--Your Decision. She has begun using 

the motto statement by placing the motto on all COG related materials. The motto statement 

will also be placed on the COG Program’s section of Registrar of Voters’ website. 

The Spanish Language website is still being developed. Art Tinoco says he has had an 

opportunity to view the website and it looks very nice. We will let everyone know when the 

website will be launched. 

Ms. Saucedo has contacted the translators about the Translation Focus Group and was 

provided a quote. We asked the translators to join us to discuss why certain words are used. 

Ms. Saucedo explained she encountered some difficulties with Citizenship classes. She would 

like to educate new citizens on the importance of voting and get them registered. She has 

found individuals to be non-receptive or not interested in having presentations. 

Finally, someone showed interest in getting the word out to these groups, Claudia Suarez with 

Mary Bono Mack and with the Immigration and Naturalization Service. She would like us to 

place flyers amongst our materials to get new citizens registered. 

Ms. Saucedo stated recently she has received several requests for outreach at the a few high 

schools. We plan to provide outreach to as many schools as we are able. Outreach includes 

encouraging students not only to register to vote, but also encourage students to volunteer to 

serve as Election Officers in the polling places. 

Mr. Sola requests a sample of an outreach package that is sent to schools. Ms. Saucedo 

stated she will assemble a package and send to him. 

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Census reports dictate how many bilingual officers are needed in each precincts and bilingual 

recruitment was met at 100% for the last elections. The Registrar of Voters has decided to 

place at least one bilingual officer at each polling place (even if it’s not required). We may 

place Spanish Language Rovers whenever the minimum requirement is not met. 

Registrar of Voters has a campaign to encourage more Vote-by-Mail voters. The campaign 

slogan is “Vote first, Count first.” The Vote-by-mail ballots are the first ballots counted. We are 

currently at about 50% Vote-by-Mail voters. Riverside County has some Vote-by-Mail only 

precincts and we provide the postage since these voters do not have a polling place assigned 

to them. Voters that request a Vote–by-Mail ballot would pay their own postage but can drop 

off their ballots at any Riverside County polling place location until 8 p.m. on Election Day. 

Meeting was adjourned at 11:45 a.m. 

The meeting was closed at 11:00am. 

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English - Riverside County Registrar of Voters

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