MINUTES City of Charlottesville Electoral Board Meeting of March 22, 2022 The meeting was called to order by the Chair at 6:10 p.m. on Tuesday March 22 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), and Director of Elections and General Registrar Taylor Yowell. On a motion by the Vice Chair the agenda was unanimously approved without change. On a motion by the Vice Chair, the minutes of the February 9, 2022 meeting were unanimously approved without change. Public Comment No members of the public were present for this meeting. Appointment of Election Officials Ms. Yowell presented applications from 21 individuals seeking reappointment as election officials along with two new applications. On a motion by the Vice Chair the following were unanimously appointed for three-year terms: Reappointments: Krista Townsend Shaquitta Morton Lyndele Von Schill Jum Jirapan Eric Gilchrist Jody Knowles Amy Anderson Jeff Gregerson Amy Stewart Adam Peters Carolyn Ross Eleanor Hartless Richard Kelley Vera Mason Rebecca Van Den Heuvel Stephen Haske Karen Christiansen Rebecca Hill Emily Mead Karen Jackson-Reid Keith Cain New Appointments: Kathryn Bertoni Sarah Adams Discussion Items Hart voting equipment upgrade - Ms. Yowell reported that the Hart voting equipment upgrade was completed as scheduled and that the staff training following the software Minutes March 22, 2022 Page |1 installation was comprehensive and well executed. All members of the staff have now been trained on the conduct of elections with the Hart equipment from set up of the election to post-election reporting. Several features of the new software were highlighted including the capability to adjudicate improperly marked absentee ballots on the computer screen. Previously it was necessary to remove for hand counting all problem ballots and then rescan the remaining ballots in the batch. This will save considerable time and effort in processing ballots received by mail. The upgrade also provides a more efficient system for resolving write-in ballots and incorporates reporting features that will facilitate reporting of central absentee results by precinct, as required by a law passed in the recently concluded session of the General Assembly. Planned meeting with EPB vendor - A meeting with a representative of Dem Tech, the vendor supplying our electronic pollbooks, to discuss problems and concerns resulting from the last election is still planned but the company has recently been purchased and an internal reorganization must be completed before the meeting can be scheduled. VEBA annual meeting - There was a brief discussion of the Virginia Electoral Board Association annual meeting held March 18-20 and attended by the three board members and the general registrar. There was a generally positive assessment of the meeting, the first to be held in three years. Election planning – Ms. Yowell reported that preparation for the June 21 primary is proceeding on schedule. The only aspect of the election discussed in detail was the need for traffic control at the Tonsler and Key Recreation precincts. It was decided that uniformed traffic control was necessary at Tonsler only during the late afternoon while at Key Rec traffic control support was required during both the morning and afternoon high traffic periods. Logic and accuracy (L&A) testing of both the early voting and election day machines was confirmed for Monday, May 2. Ballot printing was scheduled for the week prior to L&A. Turnout, as always, is difficult to predict but Ms. Yowell noted that for the previous Democratic House of Representatives primary in Jun 2020 there were 7754 ballots cast. Redistricting and School Tour – The Vice Chair and General Registrar recently conducted a tour of the Jackson Via, Burnley Moran and Greenbrier elementary schools and Charlottesville High School to assess their suitability as potential polling places. These locations are under consideration as solutions to facility problems with the Tonsler and Alumni Hall precincts as well as the imbalance in voter populations within the current precinct boundaries. It was acknowledged that the first step in this process Minutes March 22, 2022 Page |2 must be selecting the polling locations after which the precinct boundaries can be drawn to balance voter numbers. Of the four schools surveyed Jackson Via and Charlottesville High School were found to be the best options based on internal layout, ease of access and the availability of parking. A consensus was then reached favoring the following list of polling locations: Jackson Via Elementary School Charlottesville High School Carver Recreation Center Venable Elementary School Johnson Elementary School Clark Elementary School Walker Upper Elementary School Buford Middle School Key Recreation Center Ms. Yowell will meet with the Charlottesville GIS coordinator next week to begin discussions on drawing precinct boundaries to balance voter population among these nine precinct polling places. This will be a multi-step process culminating in public hearings followed by passage of an ordinance by the City Council and a mailing to all affected voters. The next meeting will be held in the office of the Charlottesville General Registrar starting at 6:00 p.m. on Tuesday April 19, 2022. The meeting was adjourned at 8:18 p.m. Respectfully submitted: James Nix, Secretary Jon Bright, Chair Anne Hemenway, Vice Chair Minutes March 22, 2022 Page |3