Electoral Board Meeting Agenda

Office of General Registrar & Electoral Board 440 Market Street; First Floor Suffolk, Virginia 23434 Burdette J. Lawrence, General Registrar Electoral Board Members P.O. Box 1966 Jim Oaks, Chairman Suffolk, Virginia 23 439-1966 Deborah Wahlstrom, Vice-Chair Telephone: (7 57) 51 4-7 7 50 lsaac Baker, Secretary Fax: (757) 514-7759 bla* ren rsuffolkva.us MINUTES OF THE CITY OF SUFFOLK ELECTORAL BOARD MEETING JANUARY 14,2025 MEETING ATTENDEES: Jim Oaks Chairman, Isaac Baker Secretary, Deborah Wahlstrom, and Burdette Lawrence General Registrar. The Suffolk Electoral Board meeting was held at the Voter Registration Office located at 440 Market Street, Suffolk and was called to order by Chairman Jim Oaks at l:02 p.m. The first order of business was the reorganization of the Board. Dr. Deborah Wahlstrom was newly appointed to the board representing the Republican Party. Chairman Oaks made a motion to nominate the following slate: Jim Oaks, Chairman Deborah Wahlstrom, Vice-Chairman Isaac Baker, Secretary Secretary Baker seconded the motion and the vote carried by a unanimous yes. The Board members and the General Registrar welcomed Dr. Wahlstrom to the Electoral Board. Chairman Oaks motioned to approve the draft minutes as written. Secretary Baker seconded the motion. The minutes were approved by a unanimous yes. Chairman Oaks announced the precincts that were going to be affected by changes. They are White Marsh, Airport, Lake Cohoon, and Huntersville. He reminded the Board and General Registrar that their presence was requested at the City Council work session on January 15.2025 at 4:00 p.m. The new 2025 election calendar and deadline calendar was made available by the Registrar. This information will be given out as early as possible to help with planning around upcoming trainings, meetings, and life events. A new policy for candidate paperwork was presented by the Registrar. This new policy is needed in an effort to protect office staff from rising accusations ofbeing the cause of candidates incurring campaign finance fines and missing opportunities to have their name on the ballot. The new policy informs would be candidates that staff will no longer assist them in a step-by-step manner with completing any paperwork. After careful review of the policy, a motion was made by Chairman Oaks and seconded by Secretary Baker to adopt it. The policy was passed with a unanimous yes. Virginia Electoral Board Association (VEBA), has set their dates for mandatory Electoral Board training. Each Board member will choose which training will be best for them and attend. The meeting was adjourned at 1:30 p.m. The next board meeting will be held February 4,2025 at 9:00 a.m. James L. Oaks, Chairman el" D orah Wahlstrom, Vice-Charrrnan Isaac Baker, Secretary