Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutNHC Board of Elections Minutes 11.01.2021 Board Minutes – 11/01/2021 SPECIAL MEETING New Hanover County Board of Elections November 1, 2021 5:00 PM ATTENDANCE Members: Oliver Carter III, Chair Derrick R. Miller, Secretary Russ C. Bryan, Member Lyana G. Hunter, Member Bruce Kemp, Member Staff: Rae Hunter-Havens, Executive Director Caroline Dawkins, Deputy Director Joan Geiszler-Ludlum, Administrative Technician Visitors: Sheryl Kelly, Assistant County Manager; Jennifer, PrintElect Public Attendees: Loraine Buker, LWV-LCF; Susanne Werner, NHCDP; Jill Hopman, NHCDP; Matthew Emborsky, NHC GOP; John Jaskey; Jean Michael Akey; Richard Poole, NHCDP; Matt Heiser; Andre Brown, NHCDP. Virtual attendees: Julius Rothlein, NHC GOP; Sharon Smith. OPENING Chair Carter called the meeting to order at 5:02 p.m. The New Hanover County Board of Elections meeting was held in the Board of Elections office, Long Leaf Room, 1241A Military Cutoff Road, Wilmington, NC. All members were present. Chair Carter reminded the audience to silence their cell phones; reminded them that the meeting is livestreamed and recorded; and thanked them for observing the County’s mask mandate. He asked the virtual attendees to stop their video since the meeting is livestreamed and recorded. AGENDA Member Kemp moved that the agenda be approved as submitted, second by Member Bryan. Motion carried unanimously. Board Minutes – 11/01/2021 PUBLIC COMMENT AND QUESTIONS Chair Carter called on the public in-person attendees for their comments or questions, limited to two minutes each. Speakers should limit their comments to matters related to the Board’s agenda. Matt Emborsky, NHC GOP, said that observers reported that election officials were doing phenomenal work during One Stop voting. His party has had a full complement of observers during One Stop voting, but found out Friday they would not for Election Day, having only 7 observers allowed for 20 precincts and none for 21 precincts. He is concerned about what this says about the transparency of the election. He asked the Board to reconsider and make the public aware of this. He understands the decision came from the State Board and he has made inquiries there for more information. Chair Carter said that county political parties can appoint observers by statutory deadlines. The list from the Republican Party came in after the deadline, and the list from the Democratic Party also raised questions. Director Hunter-Havens said the county Republican Party submitted a list of site-specific observers after the deadline and these would not be accepted. The county Democratic Party appointed at large observers during One Stop and these would be allowed to carry over to Election Day, based on guidance received from the State Board. Seeing and hearing no other public attendees wishing to comment, Chair Carter closed the Public Comment and Question period. NEW BUSINESS a. Review of Absentee Ballot Applications Chair Carter called on Director Hunter-Havens for her report. She presented 92 absentee- by-mail applications, 88 civilian and 4 overseas, and recommends their approval to the Board. She brought two absentee-by-mail applications to the Board’s attention. One voter failed to sign the container-return envelope before submission, but was able to cure the defect timely, according to State Board Numbered Memo 2021-03, and the cure certification is attached to the envelope which is included in the group recommended for Board approval. Another ballot was returned using the ADA-accessible portal with two witnesses who have the same address, but one of the witnesses left off the city, state, and zip code. Following the guidance of State Board Numbered Memo 2021-03, it is possible to determine that the correct address can be identified and therefore she recommends approval of the pending absentee application, which requires Board action. The Board began their review of the absentee-by-mail applications. [Member Kemp left the meeting at 5:19 p.m. and returned at 5:21 p.m.] Board Minutes – 11/01/2021 Member Kemp asked about the presence of tape on a container-return envelope. Director Hunter-Havens said it is not unusual for a voter to tape the container-return envelope closed as extra security for their ballot. In the absence of evidence that the envelope was re-opened or tampered with, such as torn edges, the staff can conclude that the tape is the voter’s way of securing their ballot and will recommend approval. The Director told of another recent instance where the voter received the container-return envelope already sealed, having gotten wet. The voter opened it to use it, taped it closed, and wrote a note with the return envelope explaining what had happened. Staff called the voter and confirmed the explanation, and recommends approval. All such situations are brought to her attention, and reviewed and investigated as needed. Member Kemp said he was looking at the absentee list and wondered what status “S” means. Director Hunter-Havens said “S” or “SP” usually means spoiled but she would need to see what he was seeing to be certain. Member Kemp asked if the person who returns an absentee ballot in person is documented somewhere. Director Hunter-Havens said the person completes a form kept at the front desk listing who returned an absentee ballot in-person and their relationship to the voter. Chair Carter said a container-return envelope looks irregular but is probably valid. The notary wrote that the voter appeared on 8/27 (August 27), which is before absentee ballots were mailed. The notary probably meant October 27. Director Hunter-Havens said the question is whether that falls within the definition of a notary deficiency that invalidates the application. Chair Carter said it appears to be a technical error that is not considered a deficiency, according to State Board Numbered Memo 2021-07. [Chair Carter left the meeting at 5:46 p.m.] Discussion and review continued among the Board members about the statutory and Numbered Memo 2021-07 provisions regarding notary certifications. [Chair Carter returned to the meeting at 5:48 p.m.] The Board concluded that the misprint of the date is a technical error that does not invalidate the document, in this case, the ballot return envelope, and is acceptable. Member Kemp moved approval of the 92 absentee-by-mail ballots that are recommended for approval, second by Secretary Miller. Motion carried unanimously. Member Hunter moved approval of the additional pending absentee-by-mail application, submitted through ADA-accessible portal, second by Member Bryan. Motion carried unanimously. After discussion of how to proceed with the remaining business, the Board agreed to complete the agenda and then scan the approved absentee-by-mail ballots. Chair Carter called on Director Hunter-Havens to present the One Stop ballots for approval. Director Hunter-Havens presented 4,953 One Stop applications made from October 26 to October 30. All have met the requirements to vote and have completed all steps to qualify. Member Kemp asked how many voters filed same day registrations during One Stop. The Director has not done a full review but estimates 50 or fewer. Member Kemp asked if a same day registrant’s ballot is cast as a provisional ballot. The Director said Board Minutes – 11/01/2021 that same day registrations are processed each night and a voter registration card is mailed. If that card comes back undeliverable, a second card is sent. If the second card is returned undeliverable, then the ballot is retrieved and disqualified. Member Kemp asked about the ballot and voter identifier. The Director confirmed that the identifier enables retrieving the One Stop ballot when necessary. Member Kemp said an email dated October 30 was sent regarding two ballot challenges, one on October 22 at the Northeast Library site, the other on October 23 at the Cape Fear Community College site. He asked the Director if she was able to resolve those questions. The Director said these questions concerned in-county address changes, which a voter can do during One Stop or on Election Day. The voter is required to present a HAVA ID to verify the new residence address. A formal challenge requires submitting a challenge form. There was nothing in either of these questions that arose to a challenge nor was there anything improper about the address changes. Member Kemp said one voter presented an ID that did not appear to show the new address. The Director said it must because the software requires confirmation of the new address to process the update. Chair Carter asked about the certification form for the approved absentee-by-mail applications, which shows 93 but 92 were approved. The Director will make the correction and present the updated certification form at the meeting on November 2 for signatures. Secretary Miller moved approval of the 4,953 One Stop absentee applications, second by Member Hunter. Motion carried unanimously. b. Chief Judge/Judge Substitutions for the 2021 Municipal Election Only Chair Carter called for consideration of two substitute assignments of precinct officials who will serve on Election Day, November 2, and called on the Director for her report. Director Hunter-Havens said two officials are unable to serve on Election Day. Deputy Director Caroline Dawkins identified two officials, residents of the affected precincts, to step into the positions, whose names are now before the Board for information: in precinct M02, assigning a resident Democratic substitute for the appointed Democratic Judge; in M03, assigning an Unaffiliated substitute for the appointed Republican Judge. Chair Carter asked about the balance among the Chief Judge and Judges in precinct M03. Deputy Director Dawkins said the Chief Judge and the substitute Judge are Unaffiliated and the other Judge is a Democrat. There are nonresident Republicans serving as assistants. Residency in the precinct along with technical and administrative skills were taken into consideration in selecting an administrative substitute. Member Hunter moved to ratify the two administrative assignments for precincts M02 and M03 as presented, second by Secretary Miller. Motion carried unanimously. Member Kemp asked if all precincts are fully staffed for Election Day. Director Hunter- Havens confirmed all staff is assigned. Chair Carter asked what happens if the Chief Board Minutes – 11/01/2021 Judge or a Judge do not show up on Election Day. Director Hunter-Havens said the two Judges recommend someone to fill in as Chief Judge. If a Judge is not available, the Chief Judge will select one of the assistants to serve in that role. She will report any changes to the Board when they meet on Election Day at 2:00 p.m. Typically, such changes are necessary due to unexpected health issues and most occur over the weekend before Election Day. Deputy Director Dawkins confirmed there are 223 people assigned to work on Election Day. GENERAL DISCUSSION Chair Carter called on Director Hunter-Havens for her report. Director Hunter-Havens reported that all is in place for Election Day. All polling places are set up and secured until 5:30 a.m. tomorrow, with support from the County IT team who will serve as technology rovers alongside supply rovers on Election Day. Adequate back-up equipment is on hand to address any equipment challenges, particularly printers. The Director brought NCGS §163-42 (c) to the Board’s attention, which authorizes county boards of election, by unanimous vote of all the members, to appoint and assign emergency election day assistants who must be registered voters in the county and otherwise qualified to serve as precinct officials. In reviewing all precinct official assignments over the weekend, she identified 7 precincts where the number of non- resident transfers exceed the number of resident officials. She is requesting the Board to give unanimous approval to the pool of emergency officials to serve as needed on Election Day. The goal is having adequate staffing in place to serve the voters while maintaining bipartisan balance and observing the requirement that non-resident transfer not equal or exceed the number of resident officials assigned. The Director identified the affected precincts: • H03, Bradley Creek Elementary School. • W08, Spencer Education Building. • W13, UNCW Ollie Center. • W15, Moseley Career Performance Academy. • W18, Seagate Baptist Church. • W24, UNCW Campus; and • W29, Williston Middle School. Deputy Director Dawkins has created a chart to track assignments to verify a minimum of two Democrats and two Republicans in each precinct. While the distribution varies from site to site, she is careful to have at least the minimal level of party representation in these seven precincts as officials are shuffled and assigned. After discussion of the provisions of NCGS §163-42, chair Carter moved approval of the reallocation of election assistants as presented by the Director pursuant to NCGS §163- 42(c), second by Member Hunter. Motion carried unanimously. Board Minutes – 11/01/2021 Chair Carter called on the Director to summarize a situation encountered over the weekend that required action by the Chair. The Director said in three precincts, W08, W13, and W24, the majority of Judges are non-resident transfers. She consulted with the State Board, whose guidance was that the Chair can and should give approval of those assignments, which cannot be done administratively. The situation arose due to last minute health issues and some COVID-related concerns. These were precincts where the Board was not able to appoint Chief Judges or Judges unanimously, leaving the previous non-resident appointee as a hold-over appointment who is not available to work. Member Kemp asked what the party affiliations are for these precinct officials. [Member Hunter left the meeting at 6:40 p.m.] Deputy Director Dawkins said that she was paying close attention to the bipartisan requirements as she was considering those assignments. She went to her office to retrieve the information. [Member Hunter returned to the meeting at 6:41 p.m.] Member Kemp said the Republican county chair submitted names of non-resident transfers in August, and they were not appointed because they were non- resident transfers. Now they can’t be appointed because they were not on-boarded before October 1. He sees a disconnect in the process. If more Republican judges were needed, these nominees should have been on-boarded. This sequencing needs to be fixed. Many of the suggested names are serving as observers because they were not appointed as precinct officials. Chair Carter encouraged both parties to encourage members who are interested in serving as precinct officials to get their applications in serve in 2022. Director Hunter-Havens clarified that these are administrative substitutions for this election only, not appointments to serve unexpired terms as chief judges and judges. Most of the party-submitted August nominees completed the on-boarding process and some served during One Stop and are serving on Election Day. Member Bryan said that a lot of work in staffing precincts revolves around residency, when the more important factors are training and ability to do the work. He asked for thoughts on why residency in the precinct is so important. Director Hunter-Havens said she understands from state- wide discussions about this challenge that it is driven by neighbors knowing neighbors to detect fraudulent voting by someone posing as a precinct resident to vote. Chair Carter added that, in the past, precinct officials had the final say on who was eligible to vote and could not be second-guessed by the county or state boards or the courts. Now the requirement seems vestigial. The State Board Associate General Counsel has told her that this is very much under discussion due to anticipated shortfalls next year in the numbers of available precinct officials. Chair Carter called on Deputy Director Dawkins for her report on the party composition of officials he assigned over the weekend. She reported as follows: • W08: 1 Republican and 1 Unaffiliated are appointed, with an Unaffiliated substitute. • W13: 2 Republicans and 1 Democrat. • W24: 1 Unaffiliated, 1 Republican, and 1 Democrat. [Member Kemp left the meeting at 6:50 p.m.] Secretary Miller said that, as this process has unfolded since August, both parties are more aware of the process and the various deadlines. What surprised people this year will not surprise them in January. Board Minutes – 11/01/2021 Chair Carter asked if there were any other matters for general discussion. [Member Kemp returned to the meeting at 6:52 p.m.] Chair Carter asked Member Kemp if he had any further items for discussion. Hearing none, Chair Carter closed the General Discussion period. Member Hunter moved to direct the staff to proceed with preparatory steps to scan the approved absentee-by-mail ballots, second by Member Bryan. Motion carried unanimously. Scanning began at 6:58 p.m. Scanning of 93 absentee-by-mail ballots was completed at 7:27 p.m. ADJOURNMENT Member Hunter moved that the meeting be adjourned at 7:29 p.m., second by Secretary Miller. Motion carried unanimously. The next Board meeting is scheduled to be held on Tuesday, November 2, 2021, at 2:00 p.m., at the Board of Elections office, Long Leaf Room, 1241A Military Cutoff Road, Wilmington, NC. APPROVED BY: RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED BY: __________________________ _________________________________ DERRICK R. MILLER RAE HUNTER-HAVENS SECRETARY ELECTIONS DIRECTOR