San Joaquin County leaders briefed on use of security cameras during primary

Mar. 27—STOCKTON — San Joaquin County residents on Tuesday urged supervisors to reject a grant that funds election security, stating the March 5 primary was anything but.

For the first time in history, the San Joaquin County Registrar of Voters deployed security cameras to monitor and livestream drop box locations this year to assure residents that no illegal activity such as ballot stuffing or tampering with facilities would occur.

But during Tuesday's San Joaquin County Board of Supervisors meeting, election officials said there were a few hiccups with the security system.

Registrar Olivia Hale said the livestream was interrupted at Ripon City Hall, the Tracy Elks Lodge, and at Orlando's Market in Linden.

Cameras at Ripon City Hall experienced a two-day outage, while the cameras at Orlando's faced network issues during a similar period of time, and Tracy had "spotty" coverage, Hale said.

In addition, cameras at the Kennedy Community Center in south Stockton were vandalized twice, with someone stealing the battery one day, and then removing the entire system another.

Hale said that her office kept the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office in the loop throughout the entire election process, and that it has been able to store footage from the drop box locations if residents want to view it.

"It was our first time deploying cameras, and there's always room for improvement," she said. "But I know the Sheriff shared that having that video footage is helpful, and if there is a crime they need to go back and investigate, that gives them that opportunity to look at the footage."

Hale's explanations came as she asked supervisors to approve a retroactive Help America Vote Act grant agreement with the State of California totaling $168,000.

The grant would help pay for security measures from Feb. 1 2024 through June 30, 2025.

Hale said the Secretary of State allotted a specific grant amount to each county for election security, and San Joaquin's grant would be used for most of the November general election, if 25 cameras are used for monitoring and livestreaming.

"The (security) system was a total failure," Karla Hoehne said. "The public was promised that we would have a good look at all outside boxes. To pay the money (to install cameras again)... it's like if I built a house and it fell. Would I pay the bill? No. I would urge you not to approve this."

Lodi resident Alex Aliferis wanted to know if a county employee was watching all 25 video cameras on a consistent basis, or was the footage was stored for viewing after the fact.

"This is the problem," he said. "We're not having monitored elections. I propose we go down to 13 drop boxes, cut out the rest, and hire personnel. Hire a security guard or have the Sheriff out there monitoring."

Despite concerns from a handful of residents, supervisors said Hale's staff did a good job executing this year's primary election, ultimately approving the grant agreement with a unanimous vote.

"All the election totals, and the ripped and torn, and all of that were done in the fastest amount of time I've ever seen since I started poll watching in 1986," Supervisor Steve Ding said. "Staff kept their eye on the ball and got the job done."