Electoral Board Meeting Packets

CITY OF SUFFOLK ELECTORAL BOARD MINUTES JUNE 2, 2020 ____________________________________________________________ CALL TO ORDER: Erin Rice, Chairman, called to order the telephone conference call meeting of the City of Suffolk Electoral Board at 9:02 a.m., on Tuesday, June 2, 2020. This meeting was monitored by Charlie Harcum, Network Manager of the Information Technology Department for the City of Suffolk. The telephone conference call was necessitated by the Covid-19 virus and under the guidelines presented by Governor Northam. ROLL CALL: The following persons were in attendance on the conference call: Erin Rice, James Banks, Beverly Outlaw, Lester Ward, Susan Saunders and Charlie Harcum APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF LAST MEETING: Ms. Saunders read the minutes from the May 5, 2020 Electoral Board meeting. Ms. Outlaw moved that the minutes be approved as read and Mr. Banks seconded the motion. No public speakers attended the meeting. OLD BUSINESS: Ms. Outlaw advised the Board that she signed the Election Service Agreement from Atlantic Election Services, Inc. for the period of July 1, 2020 until June 30, 2021. Ms. Saunders will forward the Agreement to Mr. Overbey, President of Atlantic Election Services, Inc. Ms. Outlaw inquired as to the availability of the facilities used as polling sites due to concerns with the Corona Virus. Ms. Saunders will call the privately owned facilities to ascertain whether they have any restrictions of use or if they deem their facility available for voting on June 23, 2020. Ms. Outlaw requested Ms. Saunders to call the Department of Elections for clarification on the requirement of wearing masks at the precincts on Election Day. Ms. Outlaw advised the Board that the State of Texas deemed that excuse 2A was not a valid reason code to use in order to vote absentee and that she had not heard of any decision regarding this in Virginia. Ms. Rice stated that she had not received any  -2- information, but would advise the Board if she heard anything regarding Virginia’s decision. Ms. Rice inquired as to the party representatives being present at the polling places. Ms. Outlaw responded that the local democratic party had chosen not to have representatives in the polling places as observers respecting the need to isolate during this pandemic. Ms. Outlaw inquired as to the status of the fiscal year 2020/2021 budget. Ms. Saunders replied that she would advise the Board as soon as the final budget was announced. NEW BUSINESS: Ms. Rice inquired as to the new laws which will take effect on July 1, 2020. Ms. Saunders replied that the Department of Elections should be advising all the localities of the new laws, rules and regulations in the very near future. Ms. Outlaw suggested to the Board that they restrict their visits to the polling places on June 23, 2020, in order to avoid unnecessary contact with the public and voters. For canvassing of the votes on June 24, 2020, Ms. Saunders said that she would have appropriate personal protective equipment for the board members and any representatives and/or observers. Social distancing would also be observed during the canvassing. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, this meeting was adjourned at 10:07 a.m. The next Electoral Board meeting will be held by telephone conference on Tuesday, July 7, 2020, at 9:00 a.m. ________________________________ Erin Rice, Chairman ________________________________ James Banks, Vice Chairman _____________________________ Beverly Outlaw, Secretary