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Last August, the Placer County elections office moved from its longtime stronghold of Auburn to the ever-growing city of Rocklin.
This was one of many changes for the office, which serves Placer County’s 284,933 registered voters. In addition to this change, the office also recently adopted the Voter’s Choice Act voting model, meaning voters can now cast their ballots at polling places throughout the county instead of the previously designated polling places. The Placer County Board of Supervisors voted for the change last June.
Placer County has one of the highest voter turnout rates in all of California, with registered voters from across the political spectrum consistently turning out in larger numbers than most other counties in the state.
That’s why Supervisor of Elections and Registrar of Elections Ryan Ronco is committed to transparency at every step of the election process. In fact, all of the county’s programmable voting equipment is kept in a massive warehouse behind the main office, but under the same roof as the staff.
“People often worry about elections and election integrity, understandably,” Ronco said. The equipment is stored in its own secure, fenced area with its own alarm system, he said, and it is “a blessing and very rare in California” that the equipment is in the same building as the office.
Ronco and election office staff encourage residents to visit the center at any time – especially during contentious election periods.
“If any citizen wants to come and watch us count the votes, we encourage them to do so,” he said.
It may not only be the citizens who want to see where the action is taking place.
“Many of our candidates like to watch the vote count, and of course we understand and encourage them to do so,” Ronco said, even if there are differences of opinion between the candidates.
“Sometimes the candidates don’t get along so well with each other. That’s why we decided to install a second pair of windows in the building. If necessary and people aren’t playing in the sandbox together, we can put the candidates from different camps in separate areas so they can watch the vote counting in peace.”
It’s all part of the office’s commitment to election transparency, from the wall-free front office to the glass partitions in the ballot counting rooms.
“This speaks for transparency,” said Ronco, “without having to say ‘transparency’ even once.”
