My name is Katherine McNenny and I am a member of the Skid Row Neighborhood Council-

Formation Committee. I have been a Skid Row resident for 7 years.

My comment is about your vote to approve funding to Everyone Counts, which has in the past
run online voting for Neighborhood Councils in the City.
According to a 2013 joint study by the Public Policy Institute of California and the Stanford
Center on Poverty & Equality- Los Angeles ranks as THE most impoverished county in the state
when considering the cost of housing & median household income. 25.6 percent of people in
LA County are in economic distress.
Im asking you to overlay this information about the high rates of poverty in Los Angeles on top
of the Everyone Counts platform you are seeking to approve funding for today. By voting yes,
you do so WITHOUT any thoughtful research into all into the many problems that have been
reported with the platform, not to mention the MANY issues that the Skid Row Neighborhood
Council election faced as it relates to online voting being used as a WEAPON against us for the
purposes of voter suppression- Skid Row being a predominately African American and very
low-income neighborhood. Our SRNC-Formation Committee was NEVER contacted about the
voting irregularities we have INFORMED you about either. The only way I can interpret your yes
vote today is to conclude that BONC is being willfully ignorant. Additionally, lets not forget
that online voting does NOT allow the Public the right to oversee the vote tally. The City opens
themselves to more litigation by not having the Public be able to SEE all the votes.
As I have previously testified before the City Council Rules and Elections Committee as well as
emailed all of you about- online voting disadvantages low-income communities because of the
simple fact that these households are much less likely to have easy access to a computer- let
alone a SCANNER- which is necessary to upload personal identification on the Everyone Counts
platform.
In closing, I ask you just WHO is this Neighborhood Council system supposed to be
empowering? Those who already have access and power.and SCANNERS? Or, those who are
trying desperately to gain some power and need to use the library for their computer access. I
recommend you hold off on approving funding for Everyone Counts until all the voting
irregularities can be sifted through and UNTIL the studies have been conducted- NOT pushing
for funding for an obviously flawed system and one that does not take into consideration the
demographics of Los Angeles.