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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Board of Civil Authority - 10/15/2020BOARD OF CIVIL AUTHORITY 15 OCTOBER 2020 The South Burlington Board of Civil Authority held a meeting on Thursday, 22 October 2020, at 6 p.m., via remote participation: MEMBERS PRESENT: C. Shaw, Chair; D. Kinville, City Clerk, P. Taylor, H. Riehle, T. Barritt, B. Gross, A. Gross, M. St. Germain, L. Vera, J. Kirchick, R. Nowak, P. Mahoney 1. Agenda Review: Item #7 was moved to #3. 2. Comments & Questions from the public, not related to the Agenda: No comments or questions where received. 3. Discussion on Poll Watchers, Candidates, and conduct outside polling location: Ms. Kinville said the concern is poll watchers or candidates who get out of control and how to handle the situation. She said only one poll watcher per candidate will be allowed into the polling place at a time. She also noted that the only grounds to challenge a voter are that a person has previously voted or that the person is not on the checklist. If a poll watcher and a BCA worker agree that a person shouldn’t vote, that person would have to go to the Courthouse and get a Judge’s OK to vote. Mr. Taylor suggested giving poll watchers a copy of the criteria and poll watcher policy. Ms. Riehle asked how you would make sure a person is who he/she claims to be. Ms. Kinville said you can ask the poll watcher how they know this is not that person. You can ask if the voter would mind showing an ID. Ms. Kinville said she also spoke with the Policy Chief and City Attorney about how to handle a possible demonstration/protest. Ms. Kinville created a document and they both reviewed, modified and approved it. There are 3 steps or 3 levels to take: 1. Workers should go out several times and meet with candidates to be sure they are obeying the rules. 2. If they are not obeying the rules, ask them to obey. Give them the guidelines and give them 15 minutes to comply. 3. If they are not obeying the rules, impeding voter access, etc., then get some type of reinforcement. Do not threaten. Call the Police from a secure location. Keep away for your own safety and let the Police handle it. BOARD OF CIVIL AUTHORITY 22 OCTOBER 2020 PAGE 2 Ms. Gross asked what to do if voters do not bring their ballots to the polls. Ms. Kinville said there will be an affidavit for them to sign that a ballot was lost, not delivered etc. Mr. Shaw asked what to do if a potential voter is already checked off the checklist. Ms. Kinville explained how to verify a signature from the previously received ballot envelope. If the person says that is not his/her signature, compare the signature on the envelope to their ID. If matches, he/she would have to go to a Judge. If it doesn’t match allow them to vote, make a note in the elections notes book, keep the envelope separate for the clerk’s office. Mr. Barritt and Ms. Riehle left the meeting at this point to attend a City Council meeting. Ms. Kinville noted an error on the ballot where Mr. Kirchick’s name appears twice as a candidate and Mr. Shaw’s name was omitted. Since the 15th JP slot is open, Mr. Shaw would need only 25 write-in votes to be elected. Mr. Shaw recused himself from this discussion. Mr. Taylor moved that any variation of “Chris Shaw’s” name be allocated to him. Mr. Nowak seconded. The motion passed with all present voting in favor. Ms. Kinville also noted that Mr. Kirchick may get more votes than the total number of voters because his name appears twice. Ms. Kinville noted there will be another BCA meeting on 29 October with all election workers. It will include discussion of what each task requires (e.g., front door, check-in table, etc.). Mr. Barritt and Ms. Riehle returned to the meeting at this point. Members then discussed some health and safety measures including washing hands frequently, using the hand sanitizer. Mr. Shaw asked what to do if someone refuses to wear a mask. Ms. Kinville noted it is school policy as well as a city policy that a person must wear a mask to enter the building. If a person refuses, a ballot can be brought outside to enable him/her to vote. Regarding pens, Ms. Kinville said people can use their own or there will be pens provided. There will be a bucket to put a used pen near the tabulator. These can then be sanitized and reused. BOARD OF CIVIL AUTHORTY 15 OCTOBER 2020 PAGE 3 4. Minutes of 30 July 2020: Mr. Taylor moved to approve the Minutes of 30 July as written. Mr. Nowak seconded. Motion passed with all present voting in favor. 5. Approve Presiding Officers and Election Officials for November 3rd election: Presiding officers will be as follows: 7-1 Lynn Vera 7-2 Helen Riehle 7-3 Peter Taylor 7-4 Bob Nowak Mr. St. Germain moved to approve the Presiding Officers for the November 3rd election as presented. Mr. Taylor seconded. Motion passed with all present voting in favor. Mr. Nowak then moved to approve the list of Assistant Election Officials as presented. Ms. Gross seconded. Motion passed with all present voting in favor. 6. Approve List of Voters removed from Check List since the last election: Ms. Kinville said 133 voters have been removed from the Check List since the last election because of death, moving to another state, returned post cards, response to a challenge letter. 479 voters were transferred to another checklist in the state. Mr. Nowak said voters should be aware of the penalty of voting where they are not eligible to vote. Mr. Nowak moved to approve the list of voters removed from the Check List since the last election as presented. Ms. Vera seconded. Motion passed with all present voting in favor. 7. Report on Grant Received from Tech & Civic Life: Ms. Kinville noted that at a meeting she attended in Washington a few years ago, she got on a mailing list from which she heard about the grant. She applied for it and 36 hours later was awarded $8,805.00. BOARD OF CIVIL AUTHORITY 22 OCTOBER 2020 PAGE 4 The money will be used to get new, more powerful laptops for election day. That will leave about $3,000. Ms. Kinville asked whether members felt it would make sense to spend that money on plexiglass dividers to go between workers. Members liked the idea of plexiglass for front line people. P. Taylor would like to see some kind of barrier between candidates and the entrance way instead of just tape. There was also a thought to wait and see what evolves and allow D. Kinville to get what she thinks she needs for elections. 8. Report on Seals Attached to Election Tabulating Machines by Clerk’s Staff after testing: Ms. Kinville noted a problem with one tabulator. The company is overnighting a new card, and the ballots for that district will be processed and members will be advised of the Seal Number. Ms. Kinville then presented the list of seal numbers as follows: 7-1 #02712 7-2 #02710 7-3 #02726 7-4 #02479, which will be replaced with another number. On 10/16/2020 seal #02753 was affixed 9. Other Business: No other business was presented. As there was no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned by common consent at 7:28 p.m. ______________________________ Clerk