Board of Elections

G1, ARKF 5C Hd CFORG1 ' Final Agenda Athens- Clarke County Board of Elections& Voter Registration Tuesday, May 7, 2019 3: 00 PM City Hall, Conference Room 103 301 College Avenue, Athens, Georgia A. Approve Minutes of Prior Meetings: April 2, 2019 May 6, 2019 B. Adopt Agenda C. Public Comment Citizens wishing to address the Board of Elections should please state their name and address for the record. A citizen may speak once for up to three minutes with a 30- second reminder at two-and-one-half minutes. D. Director Update E. New Business F. Announcements Next Scheduled Meeting: June 3, 2019 G. Adjourn  UNAPPROVED Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections Meeting Minutes April 2, 2019 The monthly meeting of the Athens Clarke County Board of Elections was held on Tuesday, April 2, 2019, at BOE Training Room, Facilities Management Bldg., 2555 Lexington Road Athens, Georgia. Charles Knapper, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 3: 03 PM. Board Members Present: Alison McCullick, Board Member; Jesse Evans, Board Member; Walter Wilson, Secretary; Mokah-Jasmine Johnson, Board Member Board Members Absent: None Others Present: Charlotte Sosebee, Director; Pamela Long, Recording Clerk; John Hawkins, ACCUG Assistant County Attorney; Deborah Lonon, Assistant Manager; Joseph D' Angelo, ACC GIS Director A. APPROVE MINUTES OF PRIOR MEETINGS 1. January 8, 2019 Minutes— Alison McCullick made a motion to approve the January 8, 2019 minutes. Walter Wilson seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. 2. March 5, 2019 Minutes— Alison McCullick made a motion to approve the March 5, 2019 minutes. Jesse Evans seconded the motion subject to Board review of the audio and revision at the May 7, 2019 meeting, if necessary. The motion passed unanimously. B. ADOPT AGENDA Alison McCullick made a motion to adjust the agenda for this meeting with the addition of Catherine Bennett Updates" under Announcements and " Public Comments" under New Business. Jesse Evans seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. C. PUBLIC COMMENT 1. Greg Davis expressed concerns as ACC voter. 2. Kirrena Gallagher expressed concerns as ACC voter. D. DIRECTOR UPDATE The following was discussed 1. Activity Report 2. Polling Location Proposal by Charlotte 3. Statistical information for the November 2018 Election 4. Upcoming Conference details 5. Open Records Requests 6. Subpoenas (John Hawkins, ACC 7. Presentation— Presented by Joseph D' Angelo, ACC GIS Director. Page 1 of 2 E. NEW BUSINESS The Board decided to table the public comment recommendation until work session with Catherine Bennett. F. ANNOUNCEMENTS Catherine Bennett Updates 1. Alison McCullick stated confirmed dates with Catherine Bennett agreed upon by the Board Members. No objections were expressed. 2. Next scheduled meeting— May 7, 2019 at 3: 00 PM, City Hall Room 103. G. ADJOURN Motion to adjourn made by Alison McCullick. Mokah- Jasmine Johnson seconded the motion, and it passed unanimously. Chairman Charles Knapper adjourned meeting at 4: 32 PM. Board Secretary Date Board Chairman Date Page 2 of 2  UNAPPROVED Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections Special Called Meeting Minutes May 6, 2019 A Special Called Meeting of the Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections was held on Monday, May 6, 2019, at BOE Training Room, Facilities Management Bldg., 2555 Lexington Road Athens, Georgia. Charles Knapper, Chairman, called the meeting to order at 4:04 PM. Other Board Members Present: Alison McCullick, Board Member; Jesse Evans, Board Member; Walter Wilson, Secretary; Mokah-Jasmine Johnson, Board Member Board Members Absent: None Others Present: Charlotte Sosebee, Director; Wanda Raley, Recording Clerk; Pamela Long, Observer; John Hawkins, ACCUG Assistant County Attorney; Deborah Lonon, Assistant County Manager; Catherine Bennett, ACC Organizational Development Administrator A. THE FOLLOWING DISCUSSIONS WERE FACILITATED BY CATHERINE BENNETT 1. Welcome and Introductions 2. Overview of the Day 3. Roles and Responsibilities of Chairman, Board Members, Staff Members, Poll Workers, Director 4. Open Meetings Open Records Overview ( Presented by John Hawkins) 5. Activity: Why did you join this board? Report Out 6. What is our Mission? a) Who Needs Us? b) What do they need and why? c) What must we deliver to meet their needs? 7. What will it look like when we achieve our mission? 8. Wrap-Up B. ANNOUNCEMENTS Next scheduled special called meeting— May 8, 2019 at 4: 00 PM, BOE Training Room, Facilities Management Bldg., 2555 Lexington Road Athens, Georgia. C. ADJOURN Board unanimously agreed to adjourn. Chairman Charles Knapper adjourned meeting at 7: 44 PM. Board Secretary Date Board Chairman Date Page 1 of 1  G1, ARIQ gO X z 4. 1 I) QFORG1l' BOARD OF ELECTIONS & VOTER REGISTRATION Office Update May 7, 2019 1) Activity Report for April 2019* 2) 2nd Quarter Goals (April-June) A. Continuation of Surveying Polling Locations & Additional Advance Voting Sites B. Continuation of processing daily registration and audit process 3) Open Records Request( s), if any 4) HB 316— passage in 2019 General Assembly Attachment included Posted: Friday, May 3, 2019  Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections Activities Report Date: April, 2019 This Prior Month Month Georgia Voter Registration System Total Active Registered Voters (75. 3% of Citizens 18 & Over) 72,469 72,467 Total Inactive Voters ( No Activity for 3 Years) 8, 475 8, 479 Total Eligible Voters ( 84. 1% of Citizens 18 & Over) 80, 944 80, 946 New Voters Added 296 524 Changes 2, 042 3, 059 Cancellations ( voters registering elsewhere, deaths, requests 82 208 for removal) Transferred In 453 442 Transferred Out 641 454 Moved Out of State 0 2 Possible Duplicate Voters Investigated 14 62 Voter Records Checked Against Georgia Department of 5 1 Corrections (for possible felony convictions) Voter Records Audited 2,252 1, 459 Absentee Ballots Absentee Ballots Mailed N/ A N/A Absentee Ballots Returned N/ A N/ A Letters Sent To Voters Application Rejection 3 14 Citizenship Verification 0 0 DDS Verifications 7 4 Felony Removal 3 1 ID Required 7 0 Signature Required 0 4 SSA Verifications 11 36 Vital Records Verifications 48 14 Document Imaging Documents Scanned and Indexed 2, 351 3, 946 Voter Photo ID Cards Requested and Issued 66 55  ATHENS CLARKE COUNTY May 1, 2019 Dear Mr. Greenwald: I received your Open Records Request on Monday, April 29, 2019. In accordance with O.C. G. A. § 50- 18- 71, the documents you requested are subject to release under the Open Records Act. Your request included the following: a copy of the Poll Tapes, the Audit Logs, the DRE Recap Sheets, the ExpressPoll Recap Sheets, the Provisional Ballot Recap Sheets, the Numbered List of Provisional/Challenged Voters, and the Numbered List of Voters for the following polling locations: o 1C Bennett Shoals School o 1D Whit Davis School o 4B Memorial Park o 6A Cleveland Rd School o 6C Timothy Rd Elem o 6D Fire Station 4 o 7A Timothy Baptist Church Numbered List of Provisional/Challenged Voters from: o 1A Winterville Train Depot o 1B E Athens Baptist o 2A Judia Harris School o 2B Howard Stroud School o 3A Clark Central High o 3B Thomas N. Lay Park o 4A Athens Transit Center o 5A Oglethorpe School o 5B Whitehead schools o 5C Chase Street School o 5D ACC Fleet Maintenance Building o 6B Georgia Square Mall o 7B Athens Regional Library o 7C Fire Station 3 o 8A Gaines School o 8B Cedar Shoals High School o 8C Fire Station 7 BOARD OF ELECTIONS P. O. Box 1828 • Athens, Georgia 30603 _• ( 706) 613- 3150 • FAX (706) 613- 3840  Numbered List of Voters from: o 1A Winterville Train Depot o 3B Thomas N. Lay Park o 8C Fire Station 7 Poll Tapes o 1A Winterville Train Depot Per the code section, there is no charge for the first 15 minutes of the 3 hours assisting you with your request. At the rate of$ 13.73/hour, totaling$ 37.76. In the same manner of your previous request, I will gladly deliver this information stored on a USB, with exception to the Audit Logs, which are hard- copy originals. To receive the entire request via US Mail, the total cost is$ 40.25. The County and its officials and departments do not produce documents or records that are protected by the attorney-client privilege or the attorney work product doctrine under Georgia or federal law or that are otherwise exempt from production under the Georgia Open Records Act. The County expressly reserves and does not waive any statutory exemptions from disclosure provided by 0. C.G. A. §§ 50- 18-72, et seq. and other applicable laws. Sincerely, Charlotte Sosebee Director of Elections  Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections & Registration House Bill 316 —Act 24 Voting System, Elections and Voter Registration Procedural Changes SUMMARY Authorizes and requires a new voting system used in all elections; provides for auditing procedures; provides for updates to the voter list maintenance laws; and specifies additional revisions to election processes. ANALYSIS & IMPACT The following Sections authorize or specify significant changes that will increase the following areas: Purchase Voting Equipment in Addition to State Funded Equipment Increase Contact with Constituents- Notifications by Mailing Increase in Staffing and use of Seasonal Temporary Staffing Increase in Overtime due to new Procedures and mandates Increase in Overlapping of Post— Election Task— Pre-Election Task Increase in Voter Education to ACC Community for Public Awareness of Changes Section 5: Qualifications to Vote Allows an elector who will be 18 years old y Election Day to vote, including voting early or by mail. Section 7: Authorization for SOS to Join Nongovernmental Information Exchange This allows the SOS to join a nongovernmental entity in order to improve accuracy of the voter registration system. Because of the sensitive personal information shared, the reports from the membership are required to be confidential and only released with a court order. Section 9: Felon List Maintenance Process Adds a 30-day notice period to the process of removing felons from the voter rolls and adds an opportunity to request a hearing before the county election board. Section 10: Voter List Maintenance I Notice that Elector Moved These changes provide clarity to the process of removing voter registrations from the rolls when there is evidence the person has moved out of the state. If a former Georgian moves to another state and registers to vote in that state, and a copy of that registration provided to the county board of elections, the registration cancelled immediately. Additional changes conform to the National Voter Registration Act. 52 U. S.C. § 20507(d). Section 11: No Contact List Maintenance Changes the " No Contact" trigger list maintenance from 3 years to 5 years of inactivity. This means a registration is not eligible to undergo the" No Contact" process unless an elector has not voted, not signed a petition, and not updated their Driver's License in 5 calendar years. Section 12: Additional List Maintenance Notice Requires an additional notice letter be sent to an elector's address before their status is changed from inactive to cancelled. Section 13: Precinct Changes Requires counties provide the public 30 days' notice of a plan to change or consolidate the number of precincts before it voted on. Requires SOS receive prior notice. Section 14: Polling Place Changes Prohibits counties from changing polling place locations within 60 days of a general or primary election unless there is an emergency or unavoidable event. Section 18: New Voting System Requires a new voting system purchased and used as soon as possible. In- Person ( Early and Election Day) voting is to be conducted on an Electronic Ballot Marking Device, which will assist the voter in making selections and then print a paper ballot that the voter can hold, review, and place into a scanner/secure ballot box. Ballot must have human readable text of the voter's choices. The state will furnish the uniform system to counties. Before the equipment purchased, leased or acquired, certified by the United States Election Assistance Commission. Section 20: New Voting System Each precinct must provide a voting booth or enclosure for each 250 electors (was 200). Section 24: Superintendent Duties This provision requires election superintendents, along with their general duties, to ensure directions posted with signs reminding electors to verify their ballot choices before submitting their final ballot into the scanner and stating sample ballots are available for review. Superintendents must also ensure that additional sample ballots are available upon request. Section 26: New Voting System Requirements follow the current requirements in the existing DRE statutes, but now requires ballots to include a candidate' s political party or political affiliation, for partisan offices. Adds§ 21- 2-379.23 that describes the new type of ballot that may be printed by an electronic ballot marker. Ballot must have human readable text of the voter's choices as well as show when the voter has skipped a contest. Exempts records from public inspection if their release would endanger the security of the voting system. Section 27: Absentee Ballot Applications Allows a non- felon in jail who has not updated his or her mailing address the ability to request that an absentee by mail ballot, mailed to the jail. Provides a new process for an absentee ballot application that has a mismatched signature to be curable by the eligible elector. To cure requires signing affidavit and providing a copy of ID. Section 31: Absentee Ballots Protective Measures Prohibits ballot harvesting by strangers; the Federal Election voter assistance standard for disabled/ illiterate electors, covering state and local elections during absentee voting. Sets the second Monday prior to a runoff as the deadline to begin early voting. Section 32: Provisional Absentee Ballots Provides a method for an absentee elector to cure an issue with their absentee oath, such as signature not matching. The elector will have to sign an affidavit and provide a copy of ID. Requires county elections officials promptly send provisional absentee ballots. Section 38: Provisional Ballot Review Provides uniformity and makes clear that county election officials should use all available information when determining whether provisional ballots should count. Section 40: Certification Deadline Moves county certification deadline to the second Friday after the election for pre-certification audits. Section 42: Audits Requires Post-Election Pre-Certification Audits to begin as soon as possible, but no later than November 2020. SEB will create rules and regulations governing the audit process. Audits will require manual inspection of a random sample of paper ballots ( all ballot types must be included) to confirm accuracy, and audits will be open to the public. Requires the SOS to conduct a pilot program to test feasibility of risk-limiting audits. If successful, entire state will use risk-limiting audits by 2024. J