Electoral Board Meeting Packets

CITY OF SUFFOLK ELECTORAL BOARD MINUTES AUGUST 3, 2021 ______________________________________________________________________________ CALL TO ORDER: Erin Rice, Chairman, called to order the City of Suffolk Electoral Board meeting at 9:10 a.m. on Tuesday, August 3, 2021, 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, Miller Carey, James Banks and Susan Saunders. APPROVAL OF MINUTES OF LAST MEETING: Ms. Rice requested that a change be made to the minutes to indicate use of her formal name (from Erin to Ms. Rice). Ms. Saunders made the change to the minutes. Ms. Outlaw moved that the minutes be approved as amended and Isaac Baker seconded the motion. The motion carried by a vote of 3-0. Ms. Rice commented on the Virginia Redistricting Commission Updates wherein she inquired from the board if they would like to provide any written comments regarding the redistricting. Ms. Outlaw said that what is important to her is that contiguous neighborhoods be kept together. Ms. Rice commented that the commission would eliminate split precincts. The board concluded that they would withhold from making any comments until after the commission has done additional research. Rev. Isaac Baker advised the board that he and Delegate Clinton Jenkins made a visit to the Salvation Army Building on Bank Street in Suffolk, to determine what would be a suitable voting area on election days. He stated that the current area was too small and after meeting with the Salvation Army Captain and his wife, they suggested using the sanctuary for voting purposes. Ms. Saunders is to call and make an appointment for an additional site visit with Ms. Rice and the chief of the precinct, Donna Smith. Ms. Rice reminded the Board members of the Tidewater District Electoral Board meeting on August 16, 2021. The meeting will be held in Virginia Beach at the Town Center City Club in Town Center, Virginia Beach. Ms. Rice asked Ms. Saunders for an update on the ballot drop boxes. Ms. Saunders referred the Board to the information she handed out from American Security Cabinets and the City of Suffolk ballot cameras information. Mr. Tim Forbes, Physical Security Administrator for the City of Suffolk has advised Ms. Saunders that cameras will be installed at the Airport location.  -2- Cameras are already installed at the North Suffolk Library location. The estimated delivery date for the ballot drop boxes is August 16, 2021. Waiting on reply from Zakia regarding how many times a day to check ballot drop boxes. Ms. Outlaw stated that she would like to review documents used during elections, including the call-in sheets, statement of results, and canvassing paperwork, and the tally sheet used during canvassing. She suggested having a workshop or reviewing at the next board meeting, which will be held on September 14, 2021. Ms. Rice commented that she would prefer to review the material during the next board meeting. Ms. Outlaw would like further, additional and more specific guidance from the Department of Elections on what the authorized observers are allowed to do at the precinct on election days. The instructional material provided by ELECT is not clear on certain issues. Ms. Saunders was instructed to get clarification from ELECT and report back to the board. Ms. Outlaw commented that the officers of election and the chiefs and assistant chiefs need to be educated on the use of documents and further advise them on what is allowable for authorized observers. She also commented that the Central Absentee Precinct officers need clarification as well. Ms. Rice made a suggestion to have a voting machine programmed in order to run the provisional ballots through instead of hand-counting them. Ms. Rice inquired about obtaining break downs of information regarding who early voters are and where they are located. The City of Chesapeake has precinct specific ballots so they can identify how the absentee voter voted and where they are coming from. Ms. Saunders will check with our voting machine vendor to determine if this is an option for Suffolk. Rev. Baker advised that he had called a number of Voter Registration Offices throughout the area to ascertain which ones would be open for Sunday voting. He reported that the responses varied from cities to counties. The larger cities, such as Chesapeake, Virginia Beach, Newport News and Hampton were going to be open on a Sunday with minimal operational hours, while the counties were more likely not going to be open on Sundays. They cited that they did not see the need, as their absentee lines were not that long and also felt that it was not feasible financially. Ms. Outlaw suggested that the board open the discussion up to public comment. Ms. Rice requested Ms. Saunders to check with the city on how to set up a notice on the office website as well as the city’s website for written comment from the public on their opinion of having Sunday voting. PUBLIC COMMENT: Mr. Miller Cary commented regarding the Voter Information Notices being mailed to the voters in the Holland Precinct having the incorrect address of the Southwestern Elementary School; poll  -3- watcher restrictions at polling places on election day and whether Sunday voting would be necessary. Ms. Outlaw moved to close the meeting in order to discuss Ms. Susan Saunders’ yearly evaluation, in accordance with Virginia Code Section 2.2-37ll. Rev. Baker seconded the motion. Ms. Outlaw moved that the Electoral Board for the City of Suffolk, Virginia, certify that the only matters discussed in the closed meeting just concluded were issues regarding the evaluation of the general registrar. Rev. Baker seconded the motion and the motion carried by a vote of 3-0. ADJOURNMENT: There being no further business, this meeting was adjourned at 1:20 p.m. The next Electoral Board meeting will be held on Tuesday, September 14, 2021. The workshop regarding the issue of Sunday voting in the City of Suffolk, will follow the meeting. __________________________________________ Erin Rice, Chairman __________________________________________ Rev. Isaac Baker, Vice Chairman __________________________________________ Beverly Outlaw, Secretary