MINUTES

                          City of Charlottesville Electoral Board
                                Meeting of August 8, 2019

The meeting was called to order by the Chair at 5:47 p.m. on Thursday, August 8, in the
office of the Charlottesville General Registrar. Those present were Electoral Board
members Anne Hemenway (Chair), Jon Bright (Vice Chair), and Jim Nix (Secretary),
Director of Elections and General Registrar, Melissa Morton and Acting Deputy
Registrar Jamie Virostko.

On a motion by the Chair, seconded by the Vice Chair, the agenda was amended to
eliminate an executive session and unanimously approved.

On a motion by the Chair, seconded by the Vice Chair, the minutes of the July 30, 2019
meeting were unanimously approved without change.

Public Comment - No members of the public were present for this meeting.

Registrar’s Report

Ms. Morton provided the Board members with an update on the progress of the
following priority issues:

        1) Hiring a new Deputy Registrar.

        2) Information on the upcoming demonstration of new electronic poll books
        (EPBs) under consideration for purchase. Two vendors have been scheduled to
        demonstrate their EPBs in late August. The Vice Chair requested that additional
        vendors be approached for demonstrations. In the discussion that followed, the
        Registrar presented the possibility of leasing rather than purchasing the new
        EPBs. Members of the Board requested a cost comparison of purchasing and
        maintenance vs. leasing (which would presumably include maintenance costs).
        The Registrar responded that one vendor was already preparing a report with a
        breakdown of those figures.

        3) The November 5, 2019 Election Calendar. The Registrar also provided the
        Board members with a detailed draft election calendar

        4) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the Electoral Board and the
        City Manager. The Registrar provided Members of the Board with an MOU draft
        that had been prepared by the City Attorney. Prior to the meeting with the City


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        Manager, the Board will review the City Attorney's draft and make revisions as
        deemed necessary.

Appointment of Officers of Election

Ms. Morton presented an application for an individual wishing to become an officer of
election. The board reviewed this application and, on a motion by the Chair, seconded
by the Secretary, Brenda Fortune was unanimously approved for appointment to a
three-year term.

Other Business

The Vice Chair voiced concerns about the challenges of implementing early voting.
Early voting is scheduled to begin taking place October 24-31, 2020 in conjunction with
the November 3, 2020 Presidential election. The law establishing the early voting period
was passed by the General Assembly earlier this year. While further details will not be
available until implementing legislation is passed during the 2020 Assembly Session,
costs anticipated for implementing this major change in the voting process must be
included in the budget to be submitted before the end of this calendar year. While it is
impossible to accurately predict the number of Charlottesville voters who will take
advantage of the early voting period, Members of the Board and the Registrar agree
that the number could greatly exceed the number of City residents who normally vote
absentee-in-person during a Presidential election. Accommodating the potential volume
of foot traffic, while maintaining the level of security of a polling place, will present
challenges in terms of physical space and staffing at the current Voter Registration
Office location. The Board believes that establishing a second location for early voting
may prove necessary. The Chair will schedule a meeting of the Board and the City
Manager to discuss this issue as soon as possible.
The next meeting of the Board will take place in the office of the Charlottesville General
Registrar at noon on Monday, September 16 in conjunction with Logic and Accuracy
testing in preparation for the start of absentee voting on Friday, September 20.

The meeting was adjourned at 7:40 p.m.

Respectfully submitted:



James Nix, Secretary



Anne Hemenway, Chair                                    Jon Bright, Vice Chair
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