Board for Registration of Voters

Regular Meeting

Burlington, VT · February 3, 2026

Minutes

BURLINGTON BOARD FOR REGISTRATION OF VOTERS POLICE DEPARTMENT COMMUNITY ROOM, 1 NORTH AVE, BURLINGTON, VT, 05401 OR REMOTELY VIA ZOOM. MINUTES OF MEETING February 3, 2026 1. Call Meeting to Order The meeting was called to order at 6:05. Board members in attendance: Lesley Gendron, Alison Harte, Adam Franz, Karen Rowell, Kevin Lewis, Colleen Montgomery, Jeanne Keller, Annie Schneider, and Youth Member Will Cunningham Board member absent: Grace Grundhauser, Michelle Lefkowitz, Lauren Ebersol, Janet Stambolian Also in attendance: Sarah Montgomery, Assistant City Clerk; Jeff Comstock 2. Agenda Karen Rowell made a motion to adopt the agenda. Seconded by Annie Schneider. Adopted unanimously. 3. Meeting Length The meeting was set to end at 7:00pm. 4. Adopt Minutes Jeanne Keller made a motion to adopt the minutes. Seconded by Kevin Lewis. Approved unanimously. 5. Public Forum Jeff Comstock, ward 7 resident, spoke about two election-related bills that have been introduced in the legislature, H.670 and H.671. H.670 relates to voter ID requirements for Vermont, in relation to both in-person and mail-in-ballots. H.671 relates to citizenship verification, which would start with the voter registration process. He shared that, as someone with election official experience, his focus is on ID verification with mailed ballots, since he feels that is where the greater risk is. He noted that, in his opinion, the current Vermont election law does not fully support the board in effectively doing its work. He said that the two bills would improve the quality of the voter eligibility checks and election integrity in Vermont. The other issue that he would like addressed by the legislature is the current legal definition of residency. He mentioned the biennial checklist review, and how only voters who have not voted within the past four years are reviewed. He said that this is a concern, especially for student voters who may move within those 4 years. He said that between 2020 and 2025, the election team in ward 7 processed more than 13,000 mail-in ballots. Due to this, he believes that the board should give some deference to the election officials who are processing these ballots. Will Cunningham asked if there was a difference between the Vermont and federal definitions of residency. Jeff Comstock replied that there is a difference, and in Vermont there are 3 or 4 legal definitions of residency; one is specific to voting. He is concerned about these discrepancies. Will Cunningham asked for clarification on what power he is suggesting the board should be entrusting to election officials, regarding voter registration. Jeff answered that he is not requesting any additional authority, just that the board does not disregard the concerns election officials express. Kevin Lewis asked what evidence has been found that people are using the mail-in ballot system to commit fraud. Jeff Comstock answered that there is no way to further investigate. Karen Rowell said that the system the Secretary of State has in place does not allow for this verification. She said that in races that are very close, this is especially important. Annie Schneider proposed ending the discussion, so the board could move forward with the agenda. 6. Clerk's Report Sarah Montgomery reported that there are currently 29,397 registered voters. Out of the total voters, 5,026 are currently challenged. In January: 162 voters newly registered, 39 voters were removed from the checklist, and 114 voters were transferred out of Burlington into other Vermont towns. For the upcoming Annual City Election on March 3, 2026: Ballots are finalized, and sample ballots are on the website. Absentee ballots will be mailed out to all active registered voters. This equals a total of 24,056 votes. Voters who are challenged or who have not taken the voter's oath will not be automatically mailed a ballot. 7. Annual City Election Prep Colleen Montgomery reminded everyone about the pre-election training that will happen on Wednesday, 2/25, at 5:00pm at City Hall. Lesley Gendron looked at the volunteer list and noted that it looks like Lauren Ebersol is making progress. Sarah Montgomery said Lauren will follow up with board members if she needs help. Colleen Montgomery asked if everyone had been able to log into VEMS. Karen Rowell said she is still struggling to get into the system, but will work with Tenzin to troubleshoot. Annie Schneider said she has not received the activation information; Sarah will help troubleshoot. Lesley Gendron said that she is working on an Election Day summary sheet, which she will share once it is complete. Jeanne Keller asked if it would be helpful to go through the flowchart as part of the pre-election training. Lesley Gendron agreed and added that it would be helpful to go over specific scenarios, so the volunteers understand what to expect. Annie Schneider asked Will Cunningham if he was able to work the full day. He can work most of the day, and Annie will find coverage for the remainder of the shift. Alison Harte asked when the next election posting should go out, on Front Porch Forum as well as any other recommended outlets or distribution lists, asking voters to check their voter registration if they haven't received their ballot. Sarah Montgomery said that her office advises voters to check in if they have not received their ballot by 2/18, so a similar timeline might make sense. Jeanne Keller asked if anyone had done any other recent voter registration outreach. She asked if the League for Vermont Women Voters has been doing registration in schools. Will Cunningham said it is tricky since most high school students aren't old enough to vote yet, and often when they are eligible, they do so automatically through the DMV. Jeff Comstock asked about tabling at UVM for a voter registration drive - he noted that the board had previously discussed this and found that UVM would charge a $30 fee. Adam Franz said the fee applied to outside organizations tabling, which the board is considered. 8. New Business No new business. 9. Adjournment At 6:47, Jeanne Keller made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Annie Schneider. Passed unanimously.

Agenda

Packet

Board for Registration of Voters Tuesday, February 3, 2026, 6:00 PM, Police Department Community Room, 1 North Ave, Burlington, VT, 05401 OR remotely via Zoom. Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/93712437108 Meeting ID: 937 1243 7108 1. Agenda 1.1. Motion to amend/adopt agenda 2. Meeting Length 2.1. Set Meeting Length 3. Adopt Minutes File Attachments 1. Board for Registration of Voters Minutes Jan 2026 Board for Registration of Voters Minutes Jan 2026 .pdf 4. Public Forum 5. Clerk's Report 6. Annual City Election Prep 7. New Business 8. Adjournment 8.1. Motion to Adjourn Page 1 of 4 BURLINGTON BOARD FOR REGISTRATION OF VOTERS 1ST FLOOR CITY HALL, 149 CHURCH STREET, BURLINGTON, VT 05401 MINUTES OF MEETING January 6, 2026 1. Call Meeting to Order 1. Call Meeting to Order Chair Grace Grundhauser called the meeting to order at 6:oo pm. In Attendance: Janet Stambolian, Michelle Lefkowitz, Jeanne Keller, Kevin Lewis, Karen Rowell, Colleen Montgomery, Adam Franz, Lesley Gendron, Lauren Ebersol, Grace Grundhauser, Annie Schneider, Alison Harte, Youth Member Will Cunningham Also present: Sarah Montgomery, Assistant City Clerk 2. Agenda 2. Agenda 2.1. Motion to amend/adopt agenda 2.1. Motion to amend/adopt agenda The agenda was approved. 3. Announcements 3. Announcements There were no announcements. 4. Meeting Length 4. Meeting Length 4.1. Set Meeting Length 4.1. Set Meeting Length The meeting length was set for one hour. 5. Adopt Minutes 5. Adopt Minutes 5.1. Motion to adopt previous meeting's minutes File Attachments 1. Board for Registration of Voters Minutes Board for Registration of Voters Minutes 12022025 12022025.pdf 5.1. Motion to adopt previous meeting's minutes Jeanne Keller made a motion to adopt the minutes. Seconded by Lauren Ebersol. Approved unanimously. Page 2 of 4 6. Public Forum 6. Public Forum No members of the public were present. 7. Clerk's Report 7. Clerk's Report Sarah Montgomery reported that there are currently 29,348 registered voters. Out of the total voters, 5,044 are challenged. In December, 145 new voter registered, 86 voters were transferred out of Burligton into other Vermont towns, and 43 voters were removed from the checklist. The Clerk's office is preparing for the Annual City Election. For this election, there will only be local content on the ballot, which means that All Legal Resident voters can fully participate in the election. Sarah Montgomery shared that the ward 2 polling place will be returning to Integrated Arts Academy, and noted that there are no other polling place changes. She shared that ballots will be mailed out to all active registered voters no later than 2/11. Janet Stambolian asked if the numbers of voters registering each month are predictable. Sarah Montgomery answered that they are roughly the same each month in off-election seasons, but they increase significantly around elections, especially state elections. 8. Approval of Voter Challenges 8. Approval of Voter Challenges Jeanne Keller made a motion to approve the voter challenges as presented, but to exclude two specific voters if their addresses in their voter registration had been updated to be different than what was on the list. Seconded by Michelle Lefkowitz. Approved unanimously. 9. Election Day Prep 9. Election Day Prep Grace Grundhauser reviewed the polling place coverage schedule she sent to the board via email. She made a few revisions based on feedback and shared the updated coverage schedule. Grace asked if everyone was able to successfully log in into the new election management system. A few members have unresolved issues that they will work through. Lauren Ebersol gave an update about volunteer recruitment. She has a list of people who have volunteered at previous elections. She asked if board members would be interested in helping reach out to individuals to help plan election day volunteer coverage. Grace Grundhauser recommended not reaching out to all the potential volunteers since there are so many and the need is for only 10 people total, with 4-hour shifts each. Lesley Gendron recommended reaching out to people who have worked in recent elections and who are comfortable with technology. Grace Grundhhauser shared the BRV Election Day Guide, which is also posted on the City website. She made some revisions and will finalize before the election. She walked through some of the specific additions and changes, reviewing some of the expectations for the conduct of board members at the polling place. Jeanne Keller asked what it meant to "limit remarks about local politicians"? She recommended that the language be more clear, suggesting changing the word limit to avoid. The board agreed to make this revision. Grace noted that the specific phone interpreter information would be pulled out of the guide that is published on the website, but it will still be included in the binder on election day. Alison Harte asked if board members would still receive the listing of each other's phone numbers on election day. Grace confirmed they would, and asked Sarah to include her and Tenzin's phone numbers there as well. She highlighted some additional information she added about assisting All Legal Resident Voters, including the differences in the forms, information about voter registration being public record, and the need to ask directly about citizenship status. Grace Grundhauser highlighted an addition in the guide that shows a very limited scenario where board members would need to ask for an ID from a voter. She noted that the only time a voter in VT needs to present an ID when they are registering to vote is if they are registering online or by mail. She stated that it Page 3 of 4 was previously the Clerk office's procedure to reject new registrants who did not meet this requirement. New guidance from the Secretary of State's office stated that voters registering online or by mail should be allowed to register to vote without the ID presented, but must have their ID verified before they are permitted to vote, so the clerk's office changed their practice. This may result in a voter appearing on the checklist with a "VNP" code. These voters would be directed to the BRV with a card with the checklist code. To assist these voters, the board member should check to see if their ID number (SSN or VT ID #) has been verified in VEMS - if the ID number has been verified, no further action is needed. If the ID # has not been verified, one of the specified ID types should be presented for verification. Sarah Montgomery noted that the ID requirement is to prove the voter's identification, not their residency. Jeanne Keller asked about the social security or VT ID number being unverified. Sarah Montgomery answered that that is a different process and no ID should be reviewed in those scenarios; the voter should continue to write their ID number down on their own. Sarah said that there are only 3 voters currently on the checklist who this scenario applies to. She also noted that if the voter does not have an ID to present, they can fill out a new registration form and be permitted to vote. Adam Franz asked if non-citizen new voter registration forms required ID to be presented on Election Day. Sarah Montgomery answered that there is an option on that registration form to present an ID, only if the voter does not have a VT ID number. This is different from the citizen registration form, because we are unable to enter our resident voters into the state system, and are unable to verify a social security number due to that. Sarah noted that the majority of currently registered resident voters have provided their VT ID number, so generally this secondary ID verification has not been required. The board members discussed the VNP code needing to be added to the BRV to Ward Clerk form and the flow chart needing to be updated with this scenario. Alison Harte asked when Front Porch Forum outreach posts should be done prior to the election. The board discussed the content of the post. Jeane Keller recommended posting something after the ballot mailing goes out, alerting people of steps to take if they did not receive a ballot. Sarah Montgomery added that it might be helpful to also post asking people to verify their information is current before the ballot mailing data is finalized. Karen Rowell asked that the information be shared further than just on Front Porch Forum. She recommended the Daily Chronicle and The Morning Drive radio program. Alison Harte noted that the Daily Chronicle may charge a fee for posting. Karen Rowell said they may be willing to write a story for free; Grace Grundhauser suggested asking them if they would waive the fee. 10. New Business 10. New Business No new business. 11. Adjournment 11. Adjournment 11.1. Motion to Adjourn 11.1. Motion to Adjourn Michelle Lefkowitz made a motion to adjourn. Seconded by Jeanne Keller. Approved unanimously. Page 4 of 4