Electoral Board

City of Radford Electoral Board Minutes of Public Meeting March 6, 2023 Chairwoman Ann Craig called the March meeting of the City of Radford Electoral Board to order at 3:30 p.m. on March 6, 2023, in the office of the General Registrar located at 619 2nd Street, Room 143, Radford, Virginia. Present were Chairwoman Craig, Vice Chairman Guy Wohlford, and Secretary Carol Colby, constituting a quorum, as well as Registrar Lindsey Holman. Report of General Registrar Ms. Holman advised Board members about the submission of a budget to the City of Radford. She and the board members discussed a number of specific concerns, including increasing the budget for Board members’ attendance at upcoming training sessions. Ms. Holman advised the Board that Basil Edwards, City of Radford Director of Operations, had requested budget metrics from her office for the city’s budget book. Ms. Holman informed Board members that the budget book treats the General Registrar’s office and the Electoral Board as a single category, and requested that she and the Board work together to draft the budget metrics to be submitted. Discussion included the hiring of a new General Registrar in the previous year; Board member attendance at annual state and regional training programs in the previous year; the goal of continued training for Ms. Holman and Board members in the coming year; new equipment purchased in the previous year; the goal of implementing previously-purchased software in the coming year; and new mailing and signage for upcoming elections. Ms. Holman recommended additional mailing and signage due to voter confusion following the relocation of two of the city’s polling places in recent years, as well as the addition of a new precinct. Board members discussed the feasibility of sending new voter cards for all registered voters in the city, as all but one of the four precincts had seen changes in the preceding few years. Secretary Colby made a motion to explore the cost of sending new voter cards to all registered voters in Radford. Vice Chairman Wohlford seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. Ms. Holman advised the Board about legislative changes from the recent Virginia legislative sessions. Ms. Holman advised the Board that there will need to be a closed session meeting involving the General Registrar, the Electoral Board, the Radford City Manager, and the city’s head of Information Technology to develop a remediation plan for infrastructure security. Chairwoman Craig asked Ms. Holman to inquire about the other parties’ availability to schedule the meeting. Chairwoman Craig recommended that the Board and General Registrar could discuss the cost of sending out new voter cards in open session at the same meeting. Old Business The Board discussed the additional training they will require of George Harkrader before he will be permitted to serve as an Officer of Election. Ms. Holman advised that the Virginia Electoral Board Association has online training modules. Chairwoman Craig agreed to communicate with Mr. Harkrader, asking him to perform the requisite training module, take the quiz associated with it, and submit the results to the Board. New Business Ms. Holman shared her concern that the General Registrar’s office is at risk of being closed should she and the office’s sole part-time employee both be unavailable due to illness or personal circumstance. She advised the Board that her counterpart in another jurisdiction addressed this situation by asking the local Electoral Board to select a number of Officers of Election to be available on call as backup in exigent circumstances. She stated that after Radford’s new Officers of Election have been sworn in, the Board could select a number of them to serve in such a role. Ms. Holman also advised that another regular employee could be necessary in her office in the run up to the 2024 presidential election. She stated that she has reached out to the city’s Human Resources Director, to discuss the matter. Vice Chairman Wohlford made a motion to ask the General Registrar to investigate the costs associated with having a temporary employee, preferably an Officer of Election, to provide office support during critical times. Secretary Colby seconded the motion, which carried unanimously. The Board discussed dates for its April meeting. The Board and Ms. Holman discussed the delegation of duties to the General Registrar. Ms. Holman stated that she intends to continue the division of duties conducted by her predecessor, Tracy Howard. This includes the preparation of ballots and machines after early voting ends but before elections. It also includes the preparation of poll books and testing to ensure that the names of early voters are accurately shown to have voted on the poll books. Ms. Holman shared that she intends to procure a device from Demtech to increase the efficiency of using multiple poll books. Ms. Holman and the Board discussed increasing Board members’ participation in the training of Officers of Election, including the possibility of providing information to them about online training opportunities. Upon motion by Secretary Colby and second by Vice Chairman Wohlford, the meeting was adjourned at 4:35 p.m. The Board’s next meeting will be dependent on the availability of third parties and as such, was not set. Ms. Holman said she would notify the Board of possible dates.