Should Alameda County's registrar also serve as head of IT?

County Election Commission is asking questions about dual roles. Alameda County registrar is facing an unprecedented amount of work. Can he do it? Youth voting in Oakland and Berkeley has added costs

COUNTY NEWS

ELECTION COMMISSION

—MOONLIGHTING—Alameda County’s new Election Commission is beginning to ask questions about Tim Dupuis’ dual role as Alameda County Registrar of Voters and head of Information Technology.

—A subcommittee report to be discussed at Thursday afternoon’s meeting raises questions about whether the roles should be bifurcated and made into a separate full-time positions.

—The subcommittee reports enumerates serious issues at the Registrar of Voters office since 2020, including the disenfranchisement of voters at a Mills College polling place, certification of the wrong Oakland school board candidates in 2022, and persistence complaints about Dupuis’ lack of transparency and responsiveness to requests for public records.

—Dupuis’ unique roles have been questioned by the public for some time, but have largely fallen on deaf ears at the Alameda County Board of Supervisors, which have been supportive of Dupuis’ job performance, despite public outcry against him.

—The commission is seeking information about how each department is organized, how Dupuis delegates authority, and the challenges the Registrar of Voters office is facing.

—All three questions have been asked of Dupuis in the past without clear answers, in addition to whether past issues at the Registrar of Voters can be cured with additional resources from the county.

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