updates re: open data & open source in SF elections

[Chris Jerdonek]

Hello SF elections & civic tech advocates,

I wanted to update you on some great things that have been happening
at the SF Department of Elections around open data and open source.

1) For starters, the Department of Elections has for the first time
created a special "Developer / Open Data" section on their web site,
with links to various election data in open data formats (currently
CSV and TXT). This is great news!

You can see the section for yourself at the bottom of this page:

http://www.sfgov2.org/index.aspx?page=4767

Thanks to everyone who showed up at the May 20 SF Elections Commission
meeting to speak in support of open data.

The Department is just getting started with this, so don't fret if the
data you want isn't there yet. They are planning to expand it, in
addition to posting more on SF's Open Data Portal:
https://data.sfgov.org/

What's really good is that this now provides a central place for them
to grow and improve upon. Please let the Department know if you have
any suggestions for improvements, or just tell them "thank you."

You can also follow the Department of Elections and "star" or retweet
anytime they tweet something good about open data:
https://twitter.com/sfelections


2) A few weeks ago, the Department issued an RFI (or "Request for
Information") for a new voting system (i.e. the equipment that voters
use to vote and that the Department uses to tally votes):

http://sfelections.org/rfi/votingsystem

This is a big deal and doesn't happen very often. The last voting
system that San Francisco purchased was back in 2007 and cost around
$10 million up front (in addition to significant recurring, annual
costs). What's great about this RFI is that it has very strong
language and a clear preference for open data and open source. I
encourage you to take a look at the PDF.

Or for the 140-character version, check out this tweet from San
Francisco's Chief Innovation Officer Jay Nath on the RFI:

https://twitter.com/Jay_Nath/status/629405743721021440

Responses are due this Friday. Thanks to everyone who showed up at
the June 17 Elections Commission meeting to speak in support of open
source.


3) The Elections Commission also discussed San Francisco's next voting
system (and the topic of open source) at its regular August meeting
last week on Wed, August 19. Many members of the public spoke in
favor of open source. For the audio of the agenda item, you can
listen on YouTube here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOOoXSOtR-s&t=31m14s

And for an overview of my own perspective on the RFI (especially as it
relates to open source), you can hear my comments at the conclusion of
the agenda item here (just 90 seconds or so):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SOOoXSOtR-s&t=1h04m55s

Thanks, everyone, and stay tuned for more!

Best,
--Chris