SEC. 13.104.5. USE OF OTHER CITY EMPLOYEES AND OFFICERS.
§ 13.104.5
This section restricts which City employees may perform election-related functions to those in the Department of Elections or appointed by its Director, while permitting general administrative support services from other departments. It establishes the City Attorney as legal counsel to the Elections Commission and Department, with provisions for outside counsel if the City Attorney runs for office; assigns ballot security and transportation duties to the Sheriff; and requires an alternative security plan if the Sheriff or a ballot measure affecting the Sheriff's budget appears on the ballot.
Only the Director of Elections and their appointees, plus Elections Commission members, can do work specifically about running elections. Other City employees can help with regular office tasks like payroll, accounting, and IT support, but not election-specific work—unless the Elections Commission asks the Board of Supervisors for a waiver. The City Attorney provides legal advice to the Elections Commission and Department of Elections, but if the City Attorney is running for office, the Commission can hire an outside lawyer instead. The Sheriff is responsible for safely moving ballots and election materials from polling places to the counting center and must approve a security plan. If the current Sheriff is running for office or there's a ballot measure that would significantly affect the Sheriff's budget, the Director of Elections must create an alternative security plan instead, and the Board of Supervisors can make whatever contracts are needed to carry it out.
- Complex:The section contains multiple distinct rules about different roles (City employees generally, City Attorney, Sheriff) and conditional provisions (waivers, alternative plans based on elections and ballot measures), making it lengthy and somewhat hard to follow as a unified rule.
- Controversial:The requirement for alternative security arrangements when the Sheriff is on the ballot or a measure affects the Sheriff's budget involves potential conflicts of interest in election administration, a topic on which reasonable San Franciscans may have differing views about whether and how such arrangements should be made.
AI-generated · claude-haiku-4-5 · informational only, not legal advice.
Official text
Except as provided below, no City employee or officer, other than the Director of Elections, an appointee of the Director of Elections or a member of the Elections Commission, may in any capacity perform any function relating to the conduct of an election that this Charter places under the Department of Elections. This section prohibits City personnel from providing to the Department of Elections services that are unique to that department. This section does not prohibit City personnel from providing to the Department of Elections ordinary services that are unrelated to the conduct of an election and that are indistinguishable from services performed for other City departments. These general support services include, but are not limited to, services relating to human resources, personnel processing, payroll, workers compensation, budgeting, accounting, procurement, contracting, and the maintenance of telephone and voice mail systems. The Elections Commission may, upon the recommendation of the Director of Elections request from the Board of Supervisors a waiver of this prohibition so as to allow City employees and officers to assist the Department of Elections. The Board of Supervisors shall approve or deny such requests from the Elections Commission by motion.
The City Attorney shall serve as legal counsel to the Elections Commission and the Department of Elections. The Commission may, by a majority vote of its members. hire outside legal counsel to advise the Commission and the Department on matters that directly involve the election or campaign of the City Attorney, if the City Attorney is standing for election. All outside legal counsel hired pursuant to this Section shall be a member in good standing of the California State Bar. In selecting outside legal counsel, the Commission shall give preference to engaging the services of a City attorney's office, a County counsel's office or other public entity law office with an expertise regarding the subject-matter jurisdiction of the Elections Commission. In the event that the Commission concludes that private counsel is necessary, it may, by a majority vote, engage the services of a private attorney who has at least five years' experience in the subject-matter jurisdiction of the Elections Commission. Any private counsel retained pursuant to this Section shall be subject to the conflict of interest provisions of Section 13.103.5. Any contract for outside legal counsel authorized by this section shall be paid for by the Commission and shall be subject to the budgetary and fiscal provisions of this charter.
The Sheriff shall be responsible for transporting all voted ballots and all other documents or devices used to record votes from the polls to the central counting location and approving a security plan for the ballots until the certification of election results. This requirement shall not become operative following its adoption until the Sheriff has completed meeting and conferring required by state law. The Elections Commission shall send a copy of the approved transportation and security plan to the Board of Supervisors.
The Director of Elections shall develop and submit for the approval of the Elections Commission an alternative transportation and security plan if an incumbent sheriff is running for election or if there is a measure on the San Francisco ballot that would have a material, financial effect on the Sheriff or the uniformed personnel of the Sheriff's department as determined by the Ethics Commission. The Director of Elections shall invite the Secretary of State to comment on any alternative transportation and security plan. The Elections Commission shall send a copy of the approved alternative transportation and security plan to the Board of Supervisors. The Board of Supervisors shall have the authority to enter into any contracts or take whatever actions are necessary to meet the alternative security requirements of this section.
(Added November 2001; amended November 2002)