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HomeMy WebLinkAboutNHC Board of Elections 03-12-2020SPECIAL MEETING New Hanover County Board of Elections March 12,2020 2:00 P.M. ATTENDANCE Members: Thomas C. Pollard, Chair Evelyn A. Bryant, Secretary Derrick R. Miller, Member Jonathan W. Washburn, Member Russ C. Bryan, Member Staff: Rae Hunter-Havens, Elections Director Sornatha W. Fulford, Elections Compliance Specialist Visitor: Tufanna Bradley, Assistant County Manager; Pete Divoky, Richard Poole, Mia Goetz, Bob Stewart OPENING Chair Pollard called the meeting to order at2:00 p.m. The New Hanover County Board of Elections meeting was held in the conference room at 230 Govemment Center Drive, Suite 38, Wilminglon. All members were present. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Seuetary Bryant moved that the Agenda be approved as submitted. Motion carried unanimously. APPROVAL OF MINUTES Member Washburn moved that the minutes of Board meetings held on March 2,2020 and March 3,2020 be approved as submitted. Motion carried unanimously. PUBLIC COMMENT AND OUESTIONS Richard Poole thanked Board members and staff for their efforts to ensure a successful Presidential Primary Election. He predicted that the Coronavirus will affect voting and encouraged the Board to place increased emphasis on absentee-by-mail and curbside voting. Pete Divoky thanked the director and her team for their seamless efforts and hard work. Board Minutes - 311212020 Bob Stewart of You Can Vote introduced himself and Mia Goetz, UNCW campus coordinator. Both expressed appreciation for the elections staff s help. NEW BUSINESS a. Sample Audit Count (FP04 and H12) In accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. $ 1634.-1169(b)(2), the State Board of Elections determined that full sample audits of ballots for all five parties in the Presidential Preference Primary must be conducted for FP04 (Myrtle Grove Middle School) andHl2 (Blair Elementary School). The purpose is to verify that the voting equipment worked properly on Election Day. Director Hunter-Havens distributed copies of the Sample Audit process and explained that any difference between the hand-to-eye count and the machine count will require explanation but not change the election results. She also introduced the two audit teams, consisting of four members each, and Program and Outreach Coordinator Caroline Dawkins who would oversee the process. Chair Pollard thanked the teams. Chair Pollard moved that the teams be authorized to conduct the sample audit counts for precincts FP04 andHI2, under supervision of the Board, in accordance withN.C. Gen. Stat. $ 163A-1169(a)(2). Motion carried unanimously. b. Review of Supplemental Absentee Ballot Applications Director Hunter-Havens provided copies of the Ballot Return Summary and presented supplemental absentee ballot applications for Board review and approval or disapproval, in accordance with N.C. Gen. Stat. $ 163A-1308(f). Member Bryan moved that264 absentee ballot applications (233 civilian, 6 military, 25 overseas) be approved. Motion carried unanimously. Member Washburn moved that 12 absentee ballot applications with no postmark but timely received on31312020 be approved. Motion carried unanimously. Member Washbum moved that 53 deficient absentee ballot applications with missing voter or witness signatures be disapproved" Motion carried unanimously. Chair Pollard moved that 12 absentee ballot applications with timely postmark but received after 3/612020 be disapproved. Motion carried unanimously. Member Bryan moved that 10 absentee ballot applications with no postmark or late postmark and received after 31612020 be disapproved. Motion carried unanimously. Board members signed the Poll Book of Absentee Voters for 276 supplemental absentee ballot applications. Chair Pollard moved that staff be authorized to stamp the absentee container envelopes, scan and duplicate the approved absentee ballots. Motion carried unanimously. Board members discussed ongoing concerns about having to disapprove ballot applications because the voter failed to sign the Voter's Certification section of the envelope. Member Miller stated that the word "OR" may have caused some to think his or her signature was not required if the notary option was chosen. Member Bryan asked if there is anlthing statutorily that says a signature is required to receive a ballot for a second primary. Chair Pollard suggested a second primary ballot option might be included on the absentee ballot request form. He asked the director to provide the number of votes that were not counted due to the voter signing in the wrong place and the number of voters who signed in the wrong place and were not reissued a ballot. He plans to write a letter to the State Elections Director with recommendations, Board Minutes - 3/1212020 based on members' input and the aforementioned data, to simplifu the Absentee Application and Certificate envelope. He also suggested the envelope be reviewed by NHC Legal Department" c. Review of Provisional Ballot Applications Director Hunter-Havens reported that intemal and DMV research had been completed for all provisional ballot applications. Members received copies of Provisional Voters Statistics By Result, Provisional Voters Statistics By Precinct Voted, and Provisional Voters Statistics By Voting Reasons reports. The director explained 6 pending provisional applications that required Board approval or disapproval. Member Bryan moved that one provisional ballot application be disapproved for a voter who decided he did not want to vote. Motion carried unanimously. Member Washburn moved to approve 5 pending provisional ballot applications for individuals who should have been processed as same-day registrations. Motion carried unanimously. Member Washbum moved that 689 provisional ballot applications be disapproved and24 partial and2I2 provisional ballot applications be approved. Motion carried unanimously. Chair Pollard moved that optical scanning of all approved supplemental absentee, provisional and machine-rejected ballots be conducted. Motion carried unanimously. Staff were previously authorized by resolution to begin counting provisional and absentee ballots. All approved ballots will be scanned using the DS850 central tabulator. GENERAL DISCUSSION Chair Pollard stated that he expects the State Board of Elections to issue guidance regarding absentee voting and elections in light of the Coronavirus. Member Washburn asked the director ifany race is close enough for a recount. She stated that there are none. RECESS At3.37 p.m., Chair Pollard moved that the meeting be recessed until 10:55 a.m. on March 13, 2020. Motion carried unanimously. RETURN FROM RECESS Chair Pollard reconvened the meeting at 10:55 a.m. on March 13,2020. NEW BUSINESS (Continued) a. Sample Audit Count (FP04 and H12) The sample audit teams completed hand-to-eye counts of all ballots for precincts FP04 and H12. Director Hunter-Havens distributed copies of the Sample Audit Record and gave a summary of the audit results. FP04 was fully reconciled with no discrepancies. H12 had a one- vote difference between the hand-to-eye count and machine count, due to the voter drawing a circle around an oval on the ballot instead of filling it in. The vote was added at the end since the Board Minutes - 311212020 intent of the voter was clear. The director stated that results of the sample audits had been uploaded to the State Board of Elections. b. Supplemental Absentee Ballot Applications Director Hunter-Havens introduced Chris Ferrell from Printelect who was on hand to assist with generating reports, in light of the vacant Database and Systems Specialist position. Sornatha Fulford manually transferred contest votes from the Detail Results report to the Supplemental Absentee Abstract. Chair Pollard signed the Supplemental Certificates of Executed Absentee Ballots (Post-Election) for Civilian and Military/Overseas Citizens. Board members signed the Supplemental Absentee Abstract. c" Review of Provisional Ballot Applications The approved provisional ballots were scanned into the DS850 in administrative groups. Machine-rejected ballots were scanned by precinct. Chair Pollard commended the director and staff for the ability to process the provisional ballots so quickly. ADJOURNMENT Chair Pollard moved that the meeting be adjoumed at 1l:32 a.m. The next meeting of the Board is scheduled to be held on March 13, 2020 at 1 I :00 a.m. APPROVED BY:RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED : X,rr""4 6n,* EVELYN A. BRYAf.IT fl"//*,*,'/*"*r,*' SECRETARY RAE HUNTER-HAVENS ELECTIONS DIRECTOR Board Minutes - 3 I 12 12020