City Council

Minutes of Special Meeting of Board of Canvass of Ogden City, Utah, August 25, 2015 Page Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Ogden City Board of Canvass held on Tuesday, August 25, 2015, at 5:57 p.m. in the Council Chambers located on the third floor of the Municipal Building, 2549 Washington Boulevard, Ogden City, Weber County, Utah. Present: Chair Richard A. Hyer Vice Chair Marcia L. White Board members Bart E. Blair Neil K. Garner Caitlin K. Gochnour Doug Stephens Amy L. Wicks Council Executive Director Bill Cook Council Deputy Director Janene Eller-Smith Council Policy Analyst Glenn Symes Communications Manager Amy Sue Mabey Also present: Mayor Michael P. Caldwell Chief Administrative Officer Mark Johnson City Attorney Gary Williams City Recorder Tracy Hansen Community and Economic Development Director Tom Christopulos Community and Economic Development Deputy Manager Brandon Cooper Planning Manager Greg Montgomery Deputy City Recorder Julia LaSeure Consideration of Certifying the August 11, 2015 Municipal Primary Election Results A memo from the City Recorder came before the Council to consider certifying the August 11, 2015 Municipal Primary Election results. The memo indicated Utah Code 20A-3-309 states after the polls have closed on the date of the election, the election officer shall publicly release the results of ballots that have been counted on the day of the election; however, the election officer may not release any results from absentee (by-mail) ballots that are counted after the date of the election through the date of the canvass. On the date of the canvass, the election officer shall provide a tally of all absentee (by mail) ballots counted after the date of the election and the resulting tally shall be added to the official canvass of the election. State law pertaining to the Board of Canvass for Municipal Elections is also found in Section 20A, Chapter 4 of the Utah Code which indicates the municipal legislative body along with the mayor is the Board of Municipal Canvassers (Board) for local elections. The Board is to meet to examine the returns at the usual meeting place of the municipal legislative body no sooner than seven (7) days after the election and no later than fourteen (14) days after the election. The memo stated each member of the Board shall declare the person with the highest number of votes within the Board’s jurisdiction “nominated” and shall certify: 1. The total number of votes cast in the Board’s jurisdiction; 2. The names of each candidate whose name appeared on the ballot; 3. The title of each ballot proposition that appeared on the ballot; 4. Each office that appeared on the ballot; 5. From each voting precinct: a. The number of votes for each candidate; and b. The number of votes for and against each ballot proposition; 6. The total number of votes given in the board’s jurisdiction to each candidate; 7. The number of ballots that were rejected; and 8. A statement certifying that the information contained in the report is accurate. The memo concluded the City Recorder recommends the Board certify the results presented in the Board of Canvass meeting as the official results for the August 11, 2015 Municipal Primary Election. City Recorder Hansen summarized the staff memo and reviewed the summary of votes cast as follows: Summary of Votes Cast:  Registered Voters City‐Wide 33,087  Active Voters City‐Wide 24,956  Number of Ogden Precincts 45  Ballots Counted City‐Wide 4,905  Percentage of Votes Counted City‐Wide 14.82% Ogden City Council Municipal Ward 4 Number of Votes Percentage of Votes Dori Mosher 374 16.90 Ben Nadolski 678 46.03 Duly Nominated John H. Thompson 147 9.98 Daniel Gladwell 399 27.09 Duly Nominated Ogden City Council At Large Seat C Number of Votes Percentage of Votes Eric Holmes 599 18.06 Vance Jay Jackson 418 12.60 Luis Lopez 926 27.92 Duly Nominated Virginia Reza 459 13.84 John Ogden 915 27.59 Duly Nominated Ms. Hansen then noted ten provisional ballots were cast on Election Day and each of them were verified and counted. She provided a by-mail ballot summary as follows:  Ballots Sent: 24,956  Returned by U.S. Post Undeliverable: 1,896  Voted Ballots Returned: 4,785  Total Ballots Not Counted: ‐96  Total By-Mail Ballots Counted: 4,689 Ms. Hansen concluded that while the voter turnout using the by-mail hybrid system was double the turnout in the City’s last Primary Election, she still feels this turnout is low and hopes for an improvement in the General Election. Board member Wicks asked if any of the 96 ballots not counted would have been counted if the voter had acted to correct any errors made in completing their ballot affidavit. Ms. Hansen answered yes and noted that the majority of the ballots not counted were a result of no signature or a signature that did not match the signature on the voter’s record. These voters were given the opportunity to visit the Weber County Clerk’s office by a certain deadline to correct those errors. In the case of the 96 ballots that were not counted, those voters did not take advantage of that opportunity. She noted the County sends a letter or telephones the voters whose ballots are in question. Board member Stephens asked if there are any efforts made to contact the voters whose ballots were returned undeliverable by the U.S. Postal Service. Ms. Hansen reported there is a full-time employee with Weber County who works specifically to address voter registration issues and tries to reach the voters whose ballots have been returned by the post office. Most often it is not possible to do that because the voter’s address is no longer valid and there is no way to contact the voter. Ms. Hansen read the following quote from Mark Thomas, Utah Elections Director: “As much as everyone tries, there is just no such thing as a perfect election – there never is. By conducting vote‐by‐mail in such a widespread election in so many cities, it allows us to learn what we need to do better. I think everyone did the best they could to prepare, knowing there were going to be some challenges.” Ms. Hansen explained that she did not feel Ogden had a significant amount of challenges in the by-mail Primary Election, but the challenges the City did face included a lack of candidate information, failure of voters to seal their return ballot envelopes, frustration with the inability to count all by-mail ballots on Election Day, the inability for voters to deliver their ballots in person to a drop box in the Municipal Building on the weekends, and postcard mailer and notices. She mentioned the lack of candidate information and noted that a website has been developed to provide voters with this information: www.vote.utah.gov. Each candidate is given the opportunity to create a profile on that website, but only four of the City’s candidates took advantage of that opportunity. Chair Hyer stated he is aware there is a deadline for submitting information for that website and after that deadline candidates cannot edit or add to the information on the website. He asked if there are any opportunities to change those rules. Ms. Hansen explained Weber County has discussed that issue with the Lieutenant Governor’s Office as they feel the deadline is too early and they would like candidates to have an opportunity to edit the information they include on the website. She added that for races where no primary election was required, candidates are not allowed to place their information on the website and she has asked to have that changed as well as voters are interested in information about candidates whether or not they are subject to a primary election. Board member Garner stated it is his understanding that candidates have an opportunity to place their profile on the website after the Primary Election as well. Ms. Hansen stated that is correct. Ms. Hansen briefly summarized the various options voters have for returning their ballot for tabulation. She noted nearly 1,200 paper ballots were dropped off at the polls on Election Day; these ballots qualified for counting, but were not included in the totals released that evening. State Law only allows election officials to release results on the night of the election and then not again until the night of the canvass; several election officials would like to see that law changed. This coupled with a few additional challenges associated with tabulating election results in a hybrid by-mail election are the reasons there is a difference between the unofficial results and the results provided this evening for the canvass. She concluded she feels the election was a success, though she reiterated she would like to see a greater increase in voter turnout in the General Election. BOARD MEMBER GARNER MOVED TO CERTIFY THE PRIMARY ELECTION RESULTS AND DECLARE THE PRINTOUT AS THE OFFICIAL RESULTS OF THE PRIMARY ELECTION FOR OGDEN CITY HELD ON AUGUST 11, 2015. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY BOARD MEMBER BLAIR, ALL VOTING AYE.  There being no further business to come before the Board, BOARD MEMBER GARNER MOVED THE MEETING ADJOURN AT 6:10 P.M. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY BOARD MEMBER WICKS, ALL VOTING AYE. /s/ Julia LaSeure JULIA LASEURE, MMC DEPUTY CITY RECORDER /s/ Richard A. Hyer RICHARD A. HYER, CHAIR APPROVED: October 6, 2015