Contingency Planning and Change Management

CHapteR 11 CONTINGENCY PLANNING AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT Introduction registration agency; for example: changes in Federal and State laws, budget fluctuations, relocation of Change in a voter registration and elections office is election office, staffing changes, agency reorganiza- inevitable, and effective management requires election tion, etc. Unlike contingencies, change management administrators to develop contingency and change focuses on events the office is already aware of and do management plans to respond to situations in a timely not rise unexpectedly. and effective manner. The goal of this chapter is to provide election officials general guidelines on how to identify, assess, and respond to events that may disrupt Identifying and assessing contingencies and election and voter registration services in their local change factors jurisdictions. The chapter addresses both contingency The first step in developing contingency and change planning and change management as they are inextri- management plans is to identify the contingencies cably linked to each other and may at times be devel- and change factors that can impact election and voter oped concurrently with each other. The goal of both registration practices and procedures in your particular these management plans is to prevent or minimize the community. This process is useful for several reasons. impact of change (expected or unexpected) on election First, it will help you define the goal of either your and voter registration processes, while preserving the contingency or change management plans. Second, it integrity of the electoral system. The recommendations will help you to objectively assess situations and their contained in this chapter should be vetted with Federal, potential impact. Finally, it provides the framework State, and local laws, regulations, and relevant case law for developing and prioritizing the actions required to to ensure they are properly and lawfully implemented; address a given situation. election officials should contact their State officials when To ensure a thorough evaluation, approach the there is a question as to whether a practice is permitted identification and assessment process from a group or prohibited under State law. perspective; for example, incorporate these topics into For purposes of this discussion, contingency plan- staff meetings or conduct regularly scheduled meet- ning refers to the development of a management plan ings to review existing policies and procedures. For that addresses an election office’s response to emer- contingency planning sessions, have the election office gency and crisis situations that might arise unexpect- staff members come up with a list of worst case sce- edly. Examples of contingencies include, but are not narios. Do not limit worst case scenarios to just Election limited to, natural disasters (e.g. earthquakes, severe Day situations; ask staff to also include contingencies snow and rain storms, fires, etc.), technology disasters that can occur during both pre and post election (e.g. power outages), political and social events (e.g. timeframes. Try to identify every possible irregularity war, civil unrest, medical emergencies, etc.), and elec- that can occur in your jurisdiction. When brainstorm- tion-related emergencies (e.g. lack of poll workers or ing about change factors, consider both internal and polling places, shortage of ballots or voting systems, external sources of change. For example, an internal charges of voter intimidation, etc.). Change manage- source could be a change in staff and an external source ment, on the other hand, refers to how an election can be a change in State law that affects current policies office handles situations that impact how the office and practices. functions in its capacity as an election and voter Election Management Guidelines 105 tip Change factor = election office is relocated CHANGE MANANGEMENT TIP: Do not wait for Goal = ensure all office functions continue to operate situations to come up before you address them. Be smoothly during relocation process proactive and learn to regularly evaluate the need Once you have identified all contingencies and for change; involve staff, election workers, and other change factors, proceed with assessing the magni- stakeholders in this process. tude of impact these events can have on your office and the election and voter registration processes. tip This will help uncover vulnerabilities in the current system and assist in developing contingency CONTINGENCY PLANNING TIP: Do not wait for and change management plans that may prevent an situations to come up before you address them. Be event from occurring or mitigate its impact. proactive and learn to regularly identify and assess To ensure consistency in the assessment process, contingencies; involve staff, election workers, and establish basic criteria for the magnitude of impact other stakeholders in this process. for each contingency or change factor. A basic format to follow initially would be to use “low impact,” “medium impact,” and “high impact” categories, and Table 11.1 lists several examples of possible con- for each of these levels develop an explanation or tingencies and change factors; review the list and definition of what each one entails. For example: see what other examples you can think of for each category. In addition, when you list the contingen- LOW = impact of event does not significantly dis- cies and change factors, begin to think of them as rupt the election process; does not require significant “goals.” A goal is the general end result you would resources (internal or external); does not require imme- like a contingency or change management plan to diate attention; does not require revision of existing poli- achieve. It conveys the message in general, broad cies or procedures terms and does not specify strategies or outcomes. MEDIUM = requires attention of the election office; This will begin to provide the framework for devel- response needed within a reasonable timeframe; can be oping your contingency and change management handled internally or with minimal external resources; plans. For example: may require revision of existing policies or procedures Contingency = fire in voting system warehouse one HIGH = event causes a state of emergency; requires week before Election Day immediate attention; threatens the integrity of the Goal = prevent fires in voting system warehouse and election process; significant resources required, both mitigate impact of fires on warehouse and voting internal and external; requires revision of existing system equipment policies or procedures TABLE 11.1: EXAMPLES OF CONTINGENCIES AND CHANGE FACTORS Contingencies Change Factors Fire in voting system warehouse Election office is relocated Severe snow storm (blizzard) on Election Day Reduction in number of staff members Electrical damage to office computers during peak voter registration Purchase of new voting system weeks prior to election Poll workers do not show up at their assigned polling place New State law requires poll workers receive 8 hours of training prior to an election Polling place runs out of provisional ballots Office budget is reduced by 7% 106 U.S. Election Assistance Commission The above model is generic and meant to serve as event happening. For example, if earthquakes are a source of ideas for how to assess the level of impact listed as a contingency one would need to evaluate changes can have in elections.1 However, using this the probability of such an event occurring in one’s model as an example, one can begin to understand local jurisdiction. If the jurisdiction has no history the level of risk a contingency poses to an election of earthquakes, then the likelihood of the event is office and how a change factor may impact the cur- low and the priority for developing a contingency rent environment. Most contingencies will fall in plan would rank low as well. However, if the jurisdic- the medium to high categories by their nature, while tion does have a history of earthquakes then a con- change factors can vary from low to high. In order to tingency plan for such an event would be considered determine the level of impact, begin by asking ques- a high priority. Determining the likelihood of an tions to clarify the situation (Table 11.2) and then event is important because it helps agencies prioritize determine the level of impact. These will also become contingencies and the resources they require. the building blocks for the action steps you develop Following the example for assessing the mag- later in your contingency plan. nitude of impact, develop definitions for the likeli- In contingency planning there is an additional hood of an event occurring. We have used the “low,” step in the assessment process that needs to be taken “medium,” and “high” categories once more to sim- into account – determining the likelihood of an plify the process: TABLE 11.2: ASSESSING MAGNITUDE OF IMPACT Contingencies Factors to Consider Magnitude of Impact Fire in voting system warehouse What was the extent of the damage? How many voting systems are Medium to High not functional as a result of the fire? What backup systems do we have that can be immediately put on the field? Severe snow storm (blizzard) on How accessible are the roads leading to the polling places? How High Election Day long will the severe weather last? Can polling places be relocated to more accessible locations? Has a state of emergency been declared by the State? Change Factors Factors to Consider Magnitude of Impact Election office is relocated Is the new facility accessible by public transportation? Is the space Low to Medium small, large, or the same in size to the previous location? Where and how will supplies be stored? Reduction in number of staff Is the reduction permanent? How will responsibilities be divided Low to Medium members among the remaining staff? 1 The concepts for “magnitude of impact” and “likelihood of event” are modeled on risk assessment strategies found in the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Risk Management Guide for Information Technology Systems (special publication 800-30).

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