MINUTES

                        City of Charlottesville Electoral Board
                                Meeting of Aug 11, 2020

The meeting was called to order by the Chair at 6:05 pm on Tuesday August 11 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) and
Director of Elections and General Registrar Melissa A. Morton.

On a motion by the Chair, seconded by the Vice Chair, the agenda was unanimously
approved without change.

On a motion by the Chair, seconded by the Vice Chair, the minutes from the July 7
meeting were unanimously approved without change.

Public Comment

Mr. Seth Ragosta, local counsel for the Virginia Democratic Party was the only member
of the public present. He explained his role as an election observer and answered
several board questions.

Report of the General Registrar

Ms. Morton informed the Board that, at its August 3 meeting, the Charlottesville City
Council approved the proposed purchase of additional equipment for the November 3
election using funds from the CARES act appropriation. This vote was on the first
reading; a second vote is planned for August 17 but no problems are expected.

Also on the agenda for the August 17 City Council meeting will be a decision to move
the Central Absentee Precinct (CAP) from the basement conference room in City Hall to
City Space. This move is necessary because the old location is inadequate to
accommodate the anticipated dramatic increase in absentee voting and need for social
distancing due to the pandemic. This move applies both to CAP activities on election
day and to the pre-processing of ballots received by mail that is planned for six dates in
October. Council approval is expected.

Ms. Morton briefed the Board on plans to produce a series of public service
announcements (PSAs) in cooperation with the Albemarle County General Registrar.
The PSAs will cover several critical election topics including voting by mail, voter
registration, early voting, no-excuse absentee voting and changes to the voter ID
requirements. There will also be one Spanish language PSA covering general


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information on voting. The Chair praised the General Registrar’s initiative in producing
these PSAs and stressed that voting early must be emphasized.

Regarding election preparation, Ms. Morton reported that she is seeking canopies to
shelter voters waiting to enter the polling places. She also reported that a City election
security group has been established that includes representatives of the City Police,
Sheriff, City Attorney, Commonwealth’s Attorney, Fire Department, and other city
officials. While in-person training for officers of election is the goal for this election,
particularly for new officers, a set of virtual training programs is being developed for use
in the event that in-person training is not possible due to the pandemic.

Appointment of Officers of Election

Ms. Morton presented applications from 84 individuals seeking appointment as Officers
of Election. There was a brief discussion on the superior qualifications of many new
applicants and the fact that they are younger than many of our currently serving officers.
With the addition of this group to the large contingent appointed at the July meeting, we
now have a more than adequate roster of personnel to staff the ten precincts on
November 3. On a motion by the Chair, seconded by the Vice Chair, the 84 applicants
were unanimously appointed as Officers of Election for a three-year term. A list of those
appointed is attached to these minutes.

Additional Election Preparation Issues

In discussing the staffing levels required for the general election it was agreed that the
combined turnout for absentee, early in-person, and election day voting could be as
high as 90% of active voters. If the pattern for the June 23 primary persists roughly
50% of those who vote will do so in person on November 3. Election day staffing at the
precincts will have to be augmented due to pandemic-related requirements including
frequent cleaning of surfaces and management of social distancing. Ms. Morton
reviewed the budget implications of the staffing requirements and concluded that funds
are available to cover these costs.

Ms. Morton distributed copies of an updated election calendar, which was reviewed in
detail with emphasis on events requiring Board participation such as acceptance testing
of new electronic pollbooks, logic and accuracy testing of voting equipment and training
of officers of election. The Chair emphasized the need for separate training for closers.
She also stressed the need for emphasis on better cleaning of surfaces in the polling
places.

In answer to a question from the Chair, Ms. Morton reported that state certification of
the new DemTech electronic pollbooks is expected to be completed on August 15 and
that the order for 30 of the new pollbooks and associated software would be submitted

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on August 24. According to the vendor, delivery can be expected a few days later. The
Board and staff plan to conduct acceptance testing of this equipment on Wednesday
September 9 in the office of the General Registrar.

The next meeting will be held in the office of the Charlottesville General Registrar at
11:00 am on Monday, September 14 in conjunction with logic and accuracy testing of
voting equipment to be used for absentee voting, which begins on Friday, September
18.

The meeting was adjourned at 8:10 pm.


Respectfully submitted:



James Nix, Secretary



Anne Hemenway, Chair                                   Jon Bright, Vice Chair




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