Anoka City Council

November 12, 2020 (Special) Page 1 of 2 SPECIAL MEETING OF THE ANOKA CITY COUNCIL ANOKA CITY HALL COUNCIL CHAMBERS THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 12, 2020, AT 1:00 P.M. The meeting was called to order at 1:00 p.m. by Mayor Pro Tem, Erik Skogquist. Present: Mayor Pro Tem Skogquist, Councilmembers: Barnett and Wesp. Absent: Mayor Rice and Councilmember Freeburg. Staff: Assistant City Manager Amy Oehlers. 3.1 Canvass of November 3, 2020 Municipal General Results. RESOLUTION NO. 2020-063 This special meeting was held for the purpose of canvassing election returns of the Tuesday, November 3, 2020 Municipal General Election, pursuant to Section 4.08 of the Anoka City Charter. Assistant City Manager, Amy Oehlers reviewed the City election returns from the eight precincts for the Mayoral position. Ms. Oehlers presented a summary of the results. CITY OF ANOKA 2020 MUNICIPAL GENERAL ELECTIONPRIMARY November 3, 2020 CANVASS REPORT Precinct Precinct Precinct Precinct Precinct Precinct CITY CITY Spoiled Election Total Regis @ Ballots Signatures # Ballots Absentee Turnout Day Persons 7 am Precinct on Roster Cast/Counted Ballots 89.08% Registrants Voting & AB ANOKA P1 1090 70 31 442 442 520 962 88.26% ANOKA P2 1367 93 31 520 520 710 1230 89.98% ANOKA P3 1442 82 47 608 608 694 1302 90.29% ANOKA P4 1362 45 32 536 536 666 1202 88.25% ANOKA P5 1221 57 34 518 518 571 1089 89.19% ANOKA P6 1703 70 64 462 462 998 1460 85.73% ANOKA P7 1371 80 34 701 701 541 1242 90.59% ANOKA P8 1245 61 37 511 511 623 1134 91.08%  MAYOR VOTES CITY COUNCILMEMBERS *Phil Rice 5,192 (62.28%) (4 YR TERMS) VOTES Barbara Deeds Baldwin 3,100 (37.18%) *Jeff Weaver 4,600 (33.99%) *Brian Wesp 3,963 (29.28%) Sam Scott 3,455 (25.53%) Greg W. Tomlinson 1,427 (10.54%) Write-in 88 (0.65%) The following named persons, having received the most votes, and have duly been elected to office: Mayor: Phil Rice (2 yr term, expiring 12/31/2022) City Councilmember: Jeff Weaver (4 yr term, expiring 12/31/2024) City Councilmember: Brian Wesp (4 yr term, expiring 12/31/2024) Ms. Oehlers provided the Council with additional election statistics, results, ballot sample, etc., regarding elections for the City of Anoka. This was provided for informational purposes only. Councilmember Barnett inquired about a few Election items: 1. Amount of additional Election Judges and costs related to the Election and the COVID Pandemic. Ms. Oehlers explained that 3 additional staff members were hired to assist with Absentee Voting at City Hall, which has never been needed in the past and was likely due to the COVID Pandemic, and the need to have staff assist in ensuring the Governor’s Executive Order on Social Distancing, Masks, and sanitizing the election areas, (booths, pens, tabletops, etc.) in between voters. 2. Clarification on Spoiled Ballots and Duplicating Ballot procedures. Ms. Oehlers explained that Spoiled Ballots occur when a voter makes and error on their ballot and requests a new ballot. The original ballot is then “spoiled” and a new ballot provided to the voter. Ms. Oehlers explained that duplicate ballots related to Absentee Ballots that were rejected from the machines, due to potential of tears in the ballot, markings outside of the voting areas, etc. When this occurs, 2 judges of a different party duplicate the ballot on to a new ballot and spoil the ballot that had issues that caused it to be rejected from the machine. Mayor Pro Tem inquired about some Election items: 1. Costs of this Election compared to other Presidential Elections and estimated costs incurred due to COVID. Ms. Oehlers said that for the General Election only there was an increase in wage costs due to the difficulty of obtaining election judges, the City was paying an additional $2/hr as COVID Hazard Pay, the City had to hire additional Election Judges in all the precincts to assist in ensuring the Governor’s Mandates, and hired additional Election Judges for assist with Absentee Voting. Ms. Oehlers estimated these additional costs were estimated at $10,000 just for the General Election. Ms. Oehlers advised that she would provide information to the Council regarding the comparison costs for this Presidential election to some past Presidential elections. 2. Inquired about whether or not the City should consider re-districting the precincts once the U.S. Census is completed.  Ms. Oehlers advised that the Council can give this directive to staff if they desire it to be done. If so, the City would work closely with the County on re-districting. Ms. Oehlers stated that the majority of the precincts are all close with # of voters, with the exception of Precinct 1, which is a smaller district, and Precinct 6 which is a larger district. Ms. Oehlers explained that Precinct 1, being a small district works well because it is located in a smaller room at Greenhaven Golf Course & Event Center, and that Precinct 6, being a larger district works well because it is located in the Community Room of City Hall which is a large spacious area that provides a sufficient amount of room for a good flowing of a polling location. Ms. Oehlers further explained that the City’s Community Development Department works with the Census Data and would have information on when the census would be completed. Adding that the Council could discuss redistricting if they so desire. A motion was made by Councilmember Wesp and seconded by Councilmember Barnett to adopt the Resolution Canvassing the Municipal Election Returns for the November 3, 2020 Municipal General Election. Vote taken: All ayes. Councilmembers express appreciation to the staff for all of their hard work during this unusually busy Election cycle. ADJOURNMENT There being no further business to come before the Anoka City Council at this Special Meeting, Councilmember Barnett made a motion to adjourn the meeting, Councilmember Wesp seconded the motion. Vote taken: All Ayes. The Special Meeting adjourned at 1:15 p.m. Prepared and Submitted by, Amy T. Oehlers, ACM