June
11, 2014
The
Union of Grass Valley
By Keri Brenner
Nevada County Superior Court failed to
provide a list of convicted felons to the Nevada County Elections Office, and
elections officials failed to ask for it, a new grand jury report released
Wednesday indicates.
“This information is necessary to properly
ensure the integrity of voter rolls,” the grand jury report said.
The grand jury noted the list is important
because convicted felons on parole or incarcerated on a prison commitment are
ineligible to vote. All other convicted felons are eligible to vote in
California under the Constitution.
The county elections code requires the court
to forward the list so that elections staff and polling place workers may check
to make sure no convicted felons on parole or incarcerated on a prison
commitment are violating the code.
“The Nevada County Grand Jury recommends that
the Nevada County Clerk Recorder-Registrar of Voters and the Nevada County
Superior Court develop and adopt a formal agreement which establishes an
effective communication process between the tow offices,” the grand jury report
said.
According to the grand jury report, a
citizen’s complaint received after the jury’s 2012 election report was
published led the 2013-14 grand jury to launch an investigation into events
that occurred during the course of the 2012 general presidential election in
Nevada County.
Besides the irregularity with the convicted
felon list, the grand jury found some observers at the county elections office
said they felt unwelcome and unable to effectively observe, due to being
confined to a 18-inch square. Other problems noted concerned the placement of
vote-by-mail boxes, the format for provisional ballots, incomplete instructions
for poll workers, voter registration abnormalities and signature verification
for vote-by-mail ballot envelopes.
Sandra Sjoberg, Nevada County Assistant
Clerk-Recorder, said her office will issue a written response to the grand jury
report by the Aug. 11 deadline.
To see a copy of the full report, go to www.nevadacountycourts.com
and click on “Grand Jury Reports.”
To contact Staff Writer Keri Brenner, email
kbrenner@theunion.com or call 530-477-4239.
This story was updated on Thursday, June 12,
2014 to clarify which group of convicted felons are ineligible to vote.
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