Board of Elections Supervisors

Board of Election Supervisors Hybrid Meeting May 12, 2022 7:00 p.m. Final Minutes Member District Present Absent 1. Tina Batten Mayoral X Appointment 2. Yousuf Jaleel 4 X 3. John Payne 3 X 4. Lynea Cooper 1 X (Virtually) 5. Cameron Thurston 2 X Also present: Janeen S. Miller, City Clerk; Joi Woods, Contract Secretary (Virtually) 1. Call to Order: The meeting was called to order by Chief John Payne at 7:04 p.m. 2. Approval of the May 12, 2022 meeting agenda Yousuf Jaleel made a motion to approve the May 12, 2022 meeting agenda. Cameron Thurston seconded the motion. The motion passed. 3. Approval of Minutes- February 10, 2022 Yousuf Jaleel made a motion to approve the February 10, 2022 meeting minutes as written. Cameron Thurston seconded the motion. The motion passed. 4. Items to review before the 2023 Election The BOES revisited priority items for the 2023 election. Highlighted topics included: A. Specific training for Election Judges based upon their assigned tasks. Training specifications should be required of the vendor for training and the Judge’s Manual. B. Election Vendors 1. Implementing a RFP process for Election Vendors for E-Poll Books and tabulators with the goal to secure a vendor by April 2023. 2. Identifying what equipment and vendors are used by PG County in an effort to lower the learning curve for City Election Judges who have familiarity working in county elections. a. Janeen Miller will survey other municipalities to identify potential vendors and their willingness to share Preprocessing Procedures. C. Potential Election Timeline Adjustments The board reviewed and discussed: 1. Prioritizing items that involve recommending changes to the City Code or the City Charter to allow adequate processing time. 1  2. Change in Election Day A change in the date of Election Day must be approved by Council vote on or before March 31 of a general election year. If no action is taken by March 31, the election date will default to the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November. 3. The current election schedule and associated timeline are dictated by the City Code and the City Charter. The board reviewed the accompanying data. Janeen Miller and John Payne will review and prioritize potential topics for future meetings, including:  Prerecorded training for candidates  Mailing and use of ballots  Mail processing time and potential delays D. Redistricting proposals are anticipated by September 2022, with a vote by the end of the year The board discussed: 1. Consideration of additional checks and balances to verify all residential addresses are correct for election purposes. E. Review of Election Procedures The board discussed: 1. Incorporating feedback from 2021 Election Judges and lessons learned captured during the 2021 Election. 2. Conducting Tabletop Exercises to review and test procedures 3. Adjusting the interval between Election Day and canvass date to allow time for ballots to come back in the mail. Mayor and Council indicated this could be up to 7 days. F. Assessing and addressing low voter turnout & voter initiatives The board discussed: 1. The city survey will include an open-ended question to gain feedback about voter initiatives and assess reasons for low voter turnout. A random sampling of 1/10th of the city’s population (approximately 3,500 residents) will receive the survey. 2. Mailing ballots to all residents a. Assessment of risks due to the transient student population 3. Providing onsite voter registration 5. New Business: Board Vacancy & Applications The Board discussed reapplying for their board positions 6. Meeting schedule The Board discussed the Hybrid Meeting schedule for the remainder of the year. A. Meetings will be held on the 2nd Thursday of the month, with the exception of June & August. No meeting will be held in August. 2  B. Meeting Dates: 6/16/22, 7/14/22, 9/8/22 10/13/22, 11/10/22, 12/8/22 7. Adjournment Yousuf Jaleel motioned to adjourn the meeting. Cameron Thurston seconded the motion. All were in favor. None opposed. The motion passed. The meeting adjourned at 8:17 p.m. 3