Election Commission

City of Battle Creek Election Commission Meeting 10 N. Division Street – Room 112 Battle Creek, MI September 12, 2013 3:00 PM Present: Jill Steele, Steve Hudson and Vicki Houser Absent: None Call to Order: The meeting was called to order at 3:08 P.M. Approval of Minutes: City Clerk Houser noted the first order of business was the approval of the May 30, 2013 meeting minutes. A motion was made by Jill Steele, supported by Steve Hudson, to approve the May 30, 2013 Election Commission meeting minutes as presented. All yes, none opposed. Motion carried. Review of November 5, 2013 City Election Ballots: Clerk Houser distributed the proof ballots to Ms. Steele and Mr. Hudson, requesting they review the proof ballots with each candidate’s Affidavit of Identity. Ms. Houser also discussed a candidate’s request that the name rotation on the ballots be based upon previous voter turnout history. Ms. Houser noted the ballots are currently rotated alphabetically, stating each candidate in the noted ward is listed first on 2 ballots and second on 2 ballots. Ms. Houser noted the candidate requested that her name appear first on one of the historically high voter turnout precinct ballots, and first on one of the lower voter turnout precinct ballots. Ms. Steele inquired as to the rotation on all of the ballots for the current election and past elections. Ms. Houser stated the names on all of the ballots for the November 5, 2013 election rotate the names alphabetically on the precinct ballots, noting the candidate that appears first on the lowest precinct number ballot, will be rotated to the last position on the second precinct ballot, continuing the rotation on subsequent ballots. Ms. Steele researched the alphabetical filing of someone’s name when the last name was hyphenated. Ms. Steele noted that according to the Chicago Manner of Style and the Modern Language Association, the first element of the hyphenated name establishes the alphabetical order of the name. Mr. Hudson, Ms. Houser and Ms. Steele agreed the placement of all of the candidates’ names were rotated appropriately and uniformly among all of the precinct ballots, for the November 5, 2013 election and past elections, noting the candidates’ names matched the candidate’s Affidavit of Identity filings. 1 A motion was made by Jill Steele, supported by Steve Hudson, to approve the proof ballots and the candidate rotation as presented. All yes, none opposed. Motion approved. Assignment of Precinct Inspectors: Clerk Houser noted she had sent interest letters to election workers to work the November election and anticipated staffing each precinct with four to five workers. A motion was made by Jill Steele, supported by Steven Hudson, to authorize the City Clerk to hire the 110 election workers for the November 5, 2013, City Election. All yes. Motion carried. Public Comments: There were no public comments. Commission Comments: There were no Commission comments. Adjournment: The meeting was adjourned at 3:58 PM. /vlh 2