2023 - Honorable Mention for Outstanding Innovations in Elections - Large

In 2020, LA County implemented the Voting Solutions for All People project. The Recorder's Office repurposed the Check-in-Center (CIC) program to provide 78 sites throughout the county to stand as collection sites for all ballots cast at vote centers. Each vote center, with its unique service area, is assigned to a specific CIC, which collects Ballot Transport Boxes (BTBs) and Ballot Security Envelopes (BSEs) from each vote center and transports them to the Tally Operation Center. BTBs contain voted Ballot Marking Device (BMD)?ballots, damaged BMD ballots?and?the Official Ballot Statement. BSEs contain Vote-by-Mail (VBM) Envelopes, Conditional Voter Registration Envelopes, Provisional Envelopes, Paper Write-in Envelopes, Unsigned Ballot Statements returned by voters, and Signature Verification Statement returned by voters. Each BTB and BSE has a unique barcode label allowing for chain-of-custody. During prior election cycles, data collection revealed that tracking ballots were returned to a CIC without a label. In 2022, the CIC program implemented a replacement label to track unmarked BTBs and BSEs.?The replacement label?provided?CIC and vote center staff?the ability?to write down the service area, CIC, and sequence number, which reduced the hours needed to track ballots accurately.