Rules committee recommends open‑source voting pilot to full Board

The Rules Committee of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors voted Jan. 10 to recommend that the full Board authorize an open‑source voting pilot and submit the pilot plan to the California Secretary of State for approval.

Board President Walton, the ordinance’s author, said the measure would allow the Department of Elections to pursue a pilot that keeps San Francisco at the forefront of election transparency. "This legislation will allow the Department of Elections to submit an open‑source voting pilot for review with the Secretary of State," Walton said, asking the committee to send the item as a committee report to the full Board.

The proposal drew consistent public support at the committee hearing. Matt Rowe of VotingWorks, the San Francisco‑based nonprofit that would provide hardware and software for the pilot, told the committee his organization would provide equipment and implementation services "at no cost to San Francisco." CJ Coles of Verified Voting, a national nonprofit, said the group supported the legislation for transparency but cautioned that open source alone is not sufficient for security and urged "robust, post‑election auditing, risk‑limiting audits" as additional safeguards.

Chris Jerdanek, the Board’s appointee to the Elections Commission, described the commission’s years‑long work on open‑source voting and said a prior $1.25 million allocation to develop a city system in 2018 was rescinded during the pandemic; the current pilot is limited, he said, to accessible ballot‑marking devices at City Hall.

Several community and reform groups — including the California Clean Money Campaign and other technology and disability advocates — also called in to back the pilot and encouraged the committee to forward the measure for a full Board vote.

On a roll call, Supervisors Connie Chan, Rafael Mandelmann and Chair Aaron Peskin voted "Aye" and the committee passed the motion to send the ordinance to the full Board with a favorable recommendation.

The next procedural step is consideration by the full Board of Supervisors; Walton and other backers urged prompt action so the Department of Elections may complete the Secretary of State submission and, if approved, implement the pilot in time for the November election.