MINUTES City of Charlottesville Electoral Board Meeting of April 12, 2021 The meeting was called to order by the Chair at 6:00 p.m. on Monday, April 12 in the office of the Charlottesville General Registrar. Those present were Electoral Board members Jon Bright (Chair), Anne Hemenway (Vice Chair), and Jim Nix (Secretary), Director of Elections and General Registrar Melissa Morton, Deputy Registrar Taylor Yowell and Voter Registration Manager Jamie Virostko. On a motion by the Secretary, seconded by the Vice Chair, the agenda was unanimously approved without change. On a motion by the Vice Chair, seconded by the Secretary, the minutes from the March 26 meeting were unanimously approved without change. Public Comment There were no members of the public present for this meeting. Registrar’s Report Ms. Morton officially informed the Board that she was resigning from the position of Charlottesville General Registrar, effective April 19, 2021, for personal reasons. Ms. Morton advised the Board that she had received two requests for detailed information on our voting equipment under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA). The local requests were part of state-wide FOIA requests. No problems are anticipated in compiling and reporting the requested information. Regarding the upcoming primary election, Ms. Morton reported that the Department of Elections had approved the Charlottesville ballot, that the memorandum of understanding with City Department of Parks and Recreation had been signed and that delivery of the new pollbooks had been confirmed for April 13. She also advised the Board that she has initiated the process of changing the location of the election day Central Absentee Precinct from the basement of City Hall to the same City Space facility that is used for pre-processing of mailed ballots. Precinct Boundary Review The Vice Chair briefly reviewed the progress of the committee formed to prepare a precinct realignment plan for consideration by the Charlottesville City Council. Ms. Minutes Apr 12, 2021 Page |1 Hemenway expressed the view that the statute governing the requirements for county and city precincts (Code of Virginia § 24.2-307) is confusing and out of sync with recent changes in voting patterns. No precinct may be created to have more than 5000 registered voters and localities must modify precinct boundaries when turnout in a presidential election exceeds 4000 in any precinct. No doubt set to minimize lines at the polls, these limits may no longer be appropriate in an era when a great many ballots are cast before election day. The Vice Chair will attempt to seek an opinion from the Virginia Attorney General’s office as to how to proceed at this time. Closed Session On a motion by the Secretary, seconded by the Vice Chair and passed unanimously, the Board agreed to meet in closed session in order to discuss a personnel matter. Following the closed session, on a motion by the Secretary, seconded by the Vice Chair and passed unanimously, the Board certified that only public business matters lawfully exempted from the open meeting requirements of the Virginia Freedom of Information Act were heard, discussed or considered in the closed session. Appointment of Acting Registrar Following the return to open session the Vice Chair moved that Taylor Yowell be appointed Acting General Registrar for the City of Charlottesville effective April 20, 2021. This motion was seconded by the Chair and passed unanimously. Ms. Yowell will serve as Acting Registrar until a permanent General Registrar has been appointed. The next meeting will be held in the office of the Charlottesville General Registrar starting at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, April 19, 2021 to be immediately followed with logic and accuracy testing of voting equipment in preparation for the start of early voting. On a motion by the Chair, seconded by the Vice Chair, the meeting was adjourned at 8:05 p.m. Respectfully submitted: James Nix, Secretary Jon Bright, Chair Anne Hemenway, Vice Chair Minutes Apr 12, 2021 Page |2