MINUTES City of Charlottesville Electoral Board Meeting of June 11-14, 2019 The meeting was called to order by the Chair at 7:00 p.m. on Tuesday, June 11, in the office of the Charlottesville General Registrar. Those present for all or a portion of this meeting were Electoral Board members Anne Hemenway (Chair), Jon Bright (Vice Chair), and Jim Nix (Secretary), General Registrar, Rosanna Bencoach, Election Manager Melissa Morton, Assistant Registrar Katie Mauller, Acting Deputy Registrar Jamie Virostko, Voter Equipment Technician Bob Hodous and Charlottesville Clerk of Court, Llezelle Dugger. This meeting was convened for the purpose of compiling the results of the June 11, 2019 Primary Election and completing necessary follow-up actions including the canvass of the election to establish the official results, the review of provisional ballots, and the count of provisional ballots approved by the Electoral Board. There was no formal agenda for this meeting. Reporting of Election Results Beginning shortly after the polls closed at 7:00 p.m., several members of the staff tabulated election results received by telephone from election officers at the nine city precincts. Officers of election in each precinct read the numbers over the phone directly from the tabulation tapes printed by the ballot scanners. The election results were recorded in the office on worksheets provided by the registrar. The completed worksheets displaying the unofficial election results were posted on the office window. The turnout figures and tally of each precinct’s results were entered into the State’s election reporting system by the General Registrar. Beginning at approximately 8:00 p.m., the Chief Election Officers from each precinct arrived to turn in election documentation along with the digital memory devices on which the election results and voter turnout data had been recorded. As the precinct chiefs arrived, Voter Equipment Technician, Robert Hodous, downloaded the digital data into the stand-alone computer used to compile election results. He then printed out complete tallies of election results by precinct. The meeting was suspended at 10:30 pm and was resumed at 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday, June 12, 2017. Public Comment Ms. Suzanne Michels, Co-chair of the Charlottesville Democratic Committee, attended the morning session on Wednesday June 12. She was the only member of the public present for any part of this meeting. She commented that the primary election went Minutes, Jun 11-14, 2019 Page |1 smoothly and that she had not received any complaints from Charlottesville polling locations. The Vice Chair informed her that the Board had received several reports of inappropriate actions by campaign volunteers at polling places. In the discussion that followed Ms. Michels agreed that a training session for campaign volunteers should be scheduled before the general election. The Secretary suggested that the Board should offer support for that training to both political parties as well as to independent candidates. Appointment of Charlottesville General Registrar Upon the resumption of the meeting Wednesday morning the Chair announced that the search for a new General Registrar had been completed. An offer had been made to Ms. Melissa Morton, which she accepted. The Chair then moved that Ms. Morton be appointed as General Registrar for the City of Charlottesville for a four-year term to commence on July 1, 2019. The motion was seconded by the Vice Chair and approved unanimously. Canvass of the Election During the canvass of each precinct the Statement of Results (SOR) forms were examined to verify that the number of voters reported on the SORs as checked in and the number of ballots scanned matched the totals on the tapes from the poll books and ballot scanners. The SORs were also examined to verify that the number of voters checked in was consistent with the number of ballots scanned. In two precincts there was uncertainty concerning whether several ballots not scanned were spoiled or voided precinct ballots or voided absentee ballots. These ballots had been correctly sealed in envelope 4, which the Board may open only with authorization from ELECT. Authorization was requested Wednesday morning and granted later in the day. The envelopes were opened Friday morning. Inspection of the ballots resolved the issue. The canvass was paused at 11:00 a.m. in order to provide an opportunity for provisional voters to address the Board concerning the status of their ballots. No provisional voters were present. The canvass was resumed a few minutes later. The canvass was nearly completed, with only a few questions remaining unresolved, when it was suspended at noon so the Board could attend to other issues. Closed Session to Discuss a Personnel Matter On a motion by the Chair, seconded by the Vice Chair, the Electoral Board voted (Ayes: Anne Hemenway, Jon Bright and Jim Nix; Noes: None; Absent: None) to meet in closed session as authorized by Va. Code sec. 2.2-3712, specifically: Virginia Code Section 2.2-3704.01 for the discussion of personnel information concerning identifiable individuals. Minutes, Jun 11-14, 2019 Page |2 On a motion by the Chair, seconded by the Vice Chair, the Electoral Board certified by the following vote (Ayes: Anne Hemenway, Jon Bright and Jim Nix; Noes: None; Absent: None) that to the best of each Board member’s knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and identified in the Motion convening the closed session were heard, discussed or considered in the closed session. The meeting was suspended at 5:30 pm to be resumed at 9:00 am on Friday, June 14, 2019. Resumption of Canvass The Board reconvened and the canvass was resumed at 9:15 am, Friday, June 14. Several precincts experienced syncing problems with electronic poll books (EPBs) when two were in use. This was apparently due to wear in the connectors. In one precinct the number of voters checked in did not match on the two EPBs at closing. Even the higher total was fourteen fewer than the number of ballots scanned. Once the activators were loaded into VERISthe EPB vendor system, however, it was confirmed that the number of voters checked in matched the number of ballots scanned. Provisional Ballot Meeting On a motion by the Secretary, seconded by the Vice Chair, the Electoral Board voted (Ayes: Anne Hemenway, Jon Bright and Jim Nix; Noes: None; Absent: None) to meet in closed session as authorized by Va. Code sec. 24.2-653, specifically: To determine the validity of provisional ballots. Election Manager Melissa Morton and Acting Deputy Registrar Jamie Virostko were permitted to remain present for the closed meeting. The closed session was suspended at 9:55 a.m. for thirty minutes so that the Board members and staff present could attend a ceremony honoring Charlottesville’s first General Registrar, Charlotte Riddick. A proclamation issued by the Virginia General Assembly honoring Ms. Riddick was read by Delegate David Toscano. On a motion by the Chair, seconded by the Vice Chair, the Electoral Board certified by the following vote (Ayes: Anne Hemenway, Jon Bright and Jim Nix; Noes: None; Absent: None) that to the best of each Board member’s knowledge only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act and identified in the Motion convening the closed session were heard, discussed or considered in the closed session. Minutes, Jun 11-14, 2019 Page |3 Actions Taken on Provisional Ballots Of the total of ten provisional ballots five were cast by voters who had requested by-mail absentee ballots but did not bring them to the polls. Since no absentee ballots had been received from these voters, their provisional ballots were unanimously approved to be counted on a motion by the Chair, seconded by the Vice Chair. The other five provisional ballots were cast by voters without ID at the polls. One of these provided an acceptable ID by the June 14 deadline and was unanimously approved on a motion by the Chair, seconded by the Vice Chair. Four voters who cast ID provisional ballots did not provide ID by the deadline. On a motion by the Chair, seconded by the Vice Chair, these ballots were rejected. In summary, of the ten provisional ballots submitted, six were accepted and four rejected. The approved ballots were then opened and hand counted by the Board members. The tally of provisional ballots was entered into VERIS by the Acting Deputy Registrar. Conclusion of Canvass Abstracts of the results of the election were then printed, signed and sealed by the Board members. The next meeting of the Board will take place in the office of the Charlottesville General Registrar at 5:45 pm on Tuesday July 2, 2019 The meeting was adjourned at 1:10 p.m. Respectfully submitted: James Nix, Secretary Anne Hemenway, Chair Jon Bright, Vice Chair Minutes, Jun 11-14, 2019 Page |4