Electoral Board Meeting Agenda

CITY OF SUFFOLK ELECTORAL BOARD MINUTES OCTOBER 5, 2021 _______________________________________________________ CALL TO ORDER: Erin Rice, Chairman, called to order the City of Suffolk Electoral Board meeting at 9:05 a.m., in the Voter Registration Office, 440 Market Street, First Floor, Suffolk, Virginia. ROLL CALL: The following persons were in attendance: Erin Rice, Rev. Isaac Baker, Beverly Outlaw, Lester Ward, Susan Saunders, Jim Oaks and Linda Oaks. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF LAST MEETING: Ms. Rice stated that the minutes from the September 14, 2021 Electoral Board Meeting had been posted on the Registrar’s website within the time period required and therefore inquired of the Board if they would approve the minutes as provided. Rev. Baker made a motion that the minutes be approved as provided, Ms. Outlaw seconded the motion and the motion carried by 3-0. OLD BUSINESS: Ms. Rice stated that she and Ms. Saunders have an appointment at the Salvation Army, 400 Bank Street, the site of the Olde Towne Precinct on Thursday, October 7, 2021, at 10:00 a.m., to view an area in the facility that will be larger and more advantageous to conduct voting. Lt. and Capt. Simmons, as well as Ms. Donna Smith, Chief of the Olde Towne Precinct, will be in attendance. Ms. Saunders reported to the Board on updates provided by the City regarding employee/staff COVID testing. Mr. Lester Ward inquired as to the policy and procedures for officers of election on Election Day. Would testing be implemented and if so, where and when. What would occur if an officer of election tested positive? Ms. Saunders is to check with the Director of Human Resources for further guidance. Ms. Saunders provided to the Board a list of those officers of election that have agreed to be on a stand-by/as needed list to work at the Voter Registration Office during early voting. The officers have been trained in our office as to the procedures of early voting, have all worked here for one week and therefore, have hands-on experience and knowledge and will be ready, willing and able to start whenever they are needed. Ms. Rice stated that the next item on the agenda is ballot drop boxes. Ms. Saunders reported that we have advertised in the Suffolk News Herald information not only on  -2- the ballot drop box locations, but also information, dates, times, locations and specifically Sunday voting on October 24, 2021. Ms. Rice was able to communicate with a representative from the Suffolk News Herald information regarding Sunday voting. Ms. Saunders advised the Board that the Election Day advertisements will appear on October 3, October 20, October 24 and October 31, 2021. Ms. Rice asked for an update on the number of in-person absentee voters we have had to date and was advised by Ms. Saunders that as of this morning that number was 1,000. As far as mail-in ballots, the Deputy Registrar, Ms. Burdette Lawrence had that information. Ms. Lawrence has been responding by letter to voters who have errors in the absentee by mail process and returning their ballot so they may make the correction(s) and return the ballot back to the office. The process is referred to as “curing”. Ms. Saunders advised the Board that two ballots were inserted in the Treasurer’s Drop Box by mistake and were brought to our office by Andrew Owen, Chief Deputy Treasurer for the City of Suffolk and were given to Ms. Stacey Folsom, Assistant Registrar, who, in turn, gave them to Ms. Burdette Lawrence, in our office. The Electoral Board will adopt a plan of action if this should occur in the future. The Electoral Board determined their routes of travel on Election Day: Erin Rice: Southern End of City visits Lester Ward: City Wide visits Beverly Outlaw: Northern End of City visits Rev. Isaac Baker: Downtown Area of the City visits Ms. Rice inquired as to the process of conforming to FOIA in regard to the canvassing of the votes after the November 2, 2021 Election. Ms. Saunders will arrange for visual observation with video camera equipment if needed. The arrangement will be as used in prior elections and Ms. Saunders will contact the Media Department for the City of Suffolk in regard to setting up the equipment. Ms. Outlaw cited that the Board will have to go into closed session in order to look up voters in the computer through the VERIS system. NEW BUSINESS: Mr. Lester Ward expressed concern regarding the poll watchers and observers disrupting the precincts on Election Day. He stated that the observers were very disruptive at the Voter Registration Officer for in-person voting and was concerned that the same would be true at the individual precincts. This would be an issue for the Board members to address with the poll watchers on Election Day. Ms. Rice commented that the observers need access to the precincts at 5:00 a.m., when the officers of election arrive at the precincts and this should be addressed at the  -3- Chief/Assistant training. Ms. Outlaw added that during the training it should also be stressed that the observers and officers of election should work together. Safety concerns at the Voter Registration are regarding poll watchers approaching vehicles and the possibility of being struck by a vehicle on their way to our building. Ms. Rice commented as to the status of CISA, which is the assessment of physical security in our office building. Ms. Saunders replied that she enlisted the help of Wayne Rhoads, Assistant Director of Capital Programs for the City of Suffolk. He prepared an email addressing the security in the Human Resources building and suggested that we install a “duress” button that will be linked to the Suffolk Police Department. Ms. Saunders is to contact Mr. Rhoads and make the request. Ms. Rice suggested that the Board revisit the issue of security during the December, 2021 Electoral Board meeting. PUBLIC COMMENT: Ms. Linda Oaks spoke regarding the Secretary of the Electoral Board and the fact that she delegated work to the Registrar instead of performing the duties herself. Mr. Jim Oaks remarked on the excellent performance of the staff at the Voter Registration Office and ease of voting. He also offered suggestions regarding the ballot drop boxes and remarked on CISA. MS. RICE REQUESTED A BREIF BREAK/ADJOURNMENT AT 10:50 AM BEFORE ADDRESSING FORMS: The meeting resumed at 11:00 a.m. for the discussion of forms used during the canvassing of the votes. Ms. Rice suggested that the CAP officers not write on the voting machine tapes and that they prepare one Statement of Results per day, which would be combined for a total number of votes. Ms. Outlaw suggested that on the Call-In Sheet, “Hand Counted Votes” be changed to “Over Votes”.  -4- ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, this meeting was adjourned at 11:52 a.m. The next time the Electoral Board will meet is on Wednesday, November 3, 2021, for the canvassing of the votes of the November 2, 2021 General Election. _______________________________ Erin Rice, Chairman _______________________________ Rev. Isaac Baker, Vice Chairman _______________________________ Beverly Outlaw, Secretary