City Council

Minutes of Special Meeting of Board of Canvass of Ogden City, Utah, November 17, 2015 Page Minutes of the Special Meeting of the Ogden City Board of Canvass held on Tuesday, November 17, 2015, at 5:45 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 Assistant City Attorney Mark Stratford City Recorder Tracy Hansen Comptroller Lisa Stout Public Services Director Jay Lowder Public Ways and Parks Manager Perry Huffaker Council member Elect Luis Lopez Council member Elect Ben Nadolski Deputy City Recorder Julia LaSeure Consideration of Certifying the November 3, 2015 Municipal General Election Results A memo from the City Recorder came before the Council to consider certifying the November 3, 2015 Municipal General Election results. The memo stated 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 that are 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 where it indicates the municipal legislative body along with the mayor is the board of municipal canvassers for local elections. The Board of Canvass 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 indicated each member of the Board of Canvassers shall declare the person with the highest number of votes within the boards 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 of Canvass certify the results presented in the Board of Canvass meeting as the official results for the November 3, 2015 Municipal General Election. City Recorder Hansen summarized the staff memo and reviewed the summary of votes cast as follows: Summary of Votes Cast:  Registered Voters 22,533   Number of Ogden Precincts 45  Ballots Counted City ‐Wide 8,416  Percentage of Votes Counted City ‐Wide 37.35% Ogden City Mayor Number of Votes Percentage of Votes Mike Caldwell 6,642 79.68 Duly Nominated Sebastian Benitez 1,694 20.32 Ogden City Council Municipal Ward 2 Number of Votes Percentage of Votes Richard Hyer 1,570 100 Duly Nominated Ogden City Council Municipal Ward 4 Number of Votes Percentage of Votes Ben Nodalski 2,113 58.29 Duly Nominated Daniel Gladwell 1,512 41.71 Ogden City Council At Large Seat C Number of Votes Percentage of Votes Luis Lopez 4,249 51.80 Duly Nominated John Ogden 3,954 48.20 Ms. Hansen noted 7.6 percent of the total votes were cast in person at polling locations on Election Day; this equates to 637 votes. Thirty one of those ballots were provisional ballots and 27 of those were counted after four were disqualified due to the inability of the voter to prove their residency in Ogden. She then reviewed the following data regarding by-mail ballots:  Ballots Sent: 22,533  Returned by US Post undeliverable: 877 (considerable decrease from Primary Election)  Voted Ballots Returned: 7,928  Total Ballots Not Counted: 149  Total by Mail Ballots Counted: 7,779 She briefly summarized the reasons that the 149 ballots were not counted and mentioned that voters are given ample opportunity to make the necessary changes to the ballot envelope to ensure that it will be counted. Board member Wicks stated a number of ballots were not counted because they were not returned in a timely manner and asked if those voters were informed that their ballot did not count and the reason why. Ms. Hansen replied she is not sure whether voters are notified that their ballot will not be counted, but every person that was mailed a ballot was also mailed a post card and clear instructions indicating the date by which their ballot must be received or post marked, which was November 2, 2015 for the General Election. She noted she has received a good amount of positive feedback regarding the election method that was used. The hybrid option provides voters with the opportunity to choose between submitting their ballot by mail or by visiting a polling location to vote in person on Election Day. She mentioned that one improvement made between the Primary Election and General Election relates to the number of ballots not counted on Election Day. On Primary Election Day the County received approximately 1,200 ballots that were not counted that day, but efforts were made to retrieve ballots from polling locations at multiple times throughout General Election Day to ensure that it would be possible to release more accurate results on election night. Through the combined efforts of the County and Ogden City, there were only 260 ballots received on Election Day that were not counted in the totals reported that night. She stated those 260 ballots have been processed and information regarding them is included in the canvass report. She added she and her staff worked closely with the County in processing and counting ballots. It was a very educational experience and reinforced her confidence in the County’s processes that prevent voter fraud. She indicated that she would invite Council members to participate in a similar process during next year’s election cycle. Vice Chair White acknowledged a 37 percent voter turnout is an improvement over past turnout numbers, and asked if that number is expected to increase as the City continues to use the vote by-mail hybrid system. Ms. Hansen answered she is hopeful that voter turnout will continue to increase; however, voter turnout during Mayoral elections is typically higher and the next municipal election is for Council seats only. She stated the County will be preparing information regarding voter turnout trends that may be helpful in projecting the type of voter turnout the City can expect to see. Vice Chair White asked if staff feels the information provided to voters in advance of the deadline to mail their ballot was helpful in increasing voter turnout. Ms. Hansen answered yes and stated the County received feedback that the postcards helped voters to better understand the vote by- mail process and their options for returning their ballot. She stated she would like to provide similar information to voters in future election cycles, but perhaps she will provide it earlier. Board member Blair asked who sets the ballot postmark deadline. Ms. Hansen replied that deadline is set by State Law. She noted the majority of the phone calls received on Election Day were from people asking if they could still mail their ballot that day, November 3. She stated she and her staff directed voters to deliver their ballots to a ballot box at a polling location in the City. BOARD MEMBER BLAIR MOVED TO CERTIFY THE GENERAL ELECTION RESULTS AND DECLARE THE PRINTOUT AS THE OFFICIAL RESULTS OF THE GENERAL ELECTION FOR OGDEN CITY HELD ON NOVEMBER 3, 2015. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY BOARD MEMBER STEPHENS, ALL VOTING AYE. Board member Stephens congratulated Council member-elect Nodalski and Council member-elect Lopez on their election to the City Council. He also congratulated Mayor Caldwell on being reelected.  There being no further business to come before the Board, BOARD MEMBER WICKS MOVED THE MEETING ADJOURN AT 5:56 P.M. MOTION WAS SECONDED BY BOARD MEMBER GARNER, ALL VOTING AYE. /s/ Julia LaSeure JULIA LASEURE, MMC DEPUTY CITY RECORDER /s/ Richard A. Hyer RICHARD A. HYER, CHAIR APPROVED: 01/12/16