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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes - Board of Civil Authority - 02/24/2021BOARD OF CIVIL AUTHORITY FEBRUARY 24, 2021 The South Burlington Board of Civil Authority held a meeting on Wednesday, 24 February 2021, at 6:30 p.m., via remote participation: MEMBERS PRESENT: C. Shaw, Chair; D. Kinville, City Clerk, T. Barritt, B. Gross, A. Gross, M. St. Germain, L. Vera, R. Nowak, P. Mahoney, M. Mahoney, M. Emery, Sen. T. Chittenden, C. Trombly, C. Santarello, C. Callea 1. Agenda Review: No changes were made to the Agenda. 2. Comments & Questions from the Public not related to the Agenda: No issues were raised. 3. Minutes of 26 January 2021: Maurice Mahoney moved to approve the Minutes of 26 January 2021 as written. Mr. Barritt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 4. Approval of Presiding Officers and Assistant Election Officials: The presiding officers for the March election will be: 7-1 Lynn Vera 7-2 Sen. Thomas Chittenden 7-3 Peter Taylor 7-4 Donna Kinville Ms. Kinville also showed the list of Assistant Election Officials. Ms. Vera moved to approve the Presiding Officers and the Assistant Election Officials as presented. Ms. Emery seconded. Motion passed unanimously 5. List of Voters Purged from the Checklist: Ms. Kinville noted that 951 people were removed because they were challenged and had not BOARD OF CIVIL AUTHORITY 24 FEBRUARY 2021 PAGE 2 voted in 2 General elections. They were sent postcards asking whether they were still residing in the city back in 2017 and 2018. Ms. Kinville said this process occurs every 2 years, but sometimes 6 years will go by before a person can be removed from the checklist. She anticipated there will be a big jump in purged voters in 2 years because there were a lot of challenges in November. Ms. Kinville noted that it did help to have sent November ballots to all people on the checklist, so it could identify people who no longer live in the city when ballots were returned as “undeliverable.” This will not happen in March, as ballots will be forwarded when there is a forwarding address. Ms. Kinville added that when the March election is over, she will go through returned ballots and try to contact those people. If they can’t be contacted, challenge letters will go out. She noted that they work hard all year to remove people who no longer live in the city. Letters are sent when a property is sold. If someone comes into the polls on election day and is on the challenge list, they can be asked to confirm their residence and they can then receive their ballot. Ms. Kinville noted that often these people have moved to a different district in South Burlington and didn’t think to provide their new address. There are currently about 14,000 active voters in the city and 2,000 on the challenged list. Maurice Mahoney moved to approve the list of voters purged from the checklist as presented. Mr. Barritt seconded. Motion passed unanimously. 6. Discussion of Pay for Recounts: Mr. Barritt noted that last March there was a recount, and he had not realized that those who participated would get the flat “meeting fee” and not be paid by the hour. The recount took 3 hours. Ms. Vera said that if election officials are needed to be there, they should be paid by the hour. If their presence is voluntary, it should remain so. Following a brief discussion, Mr. Barritt moved that the BCA be paid by the hour for any recount activities. Ms. Vera seconded. The motion passed 14-1 with Ms. Callea opposing. 7. Election Training: Ms. Kinville asked that presiding officers show the new people everything they need to know. She noted that for this election, all active voters received ballots by mail. There will, however, BOARD OF CIVIL AUTHORITY 24 FEBRUARY 2021 PAGE 3 be people coming to the polls. They should bring their ballots with them; if they do not, there is an affidavit for a lost ballot that they must sign. Ms. Kinville stressed that everyone who walks past the front desk, even with a ballot, must be checked off as voting on the checklist. The checklist for the city will have all voters, active and challenged. The checklist at the front check-in table will only have active voters. If someone is challenged, officials should have them fill out a form to fill out and to prove their residency. They can then go back to the front desk to get a ballot. There will be someone at the front door to be sure everyone entering has a face covering. If they do not, a ballot can be brought out to them. There were one or 2 in November, but most people abide by the rules. There will be masks available for those who may have forgotten theirs. There will be an “in one door, out the other” flow of traffic. There is a sign-in sheet for checking in workers. Temperatures will be taken and workers will be asked if they have any symptoms. Everyone working has to sign the sign-in form. There will be no provisional ballots for the local election. There will be a lot of absentee ballots. There are already 2,800. Ballots will be processed tomorrow and Friday. Ms. Kinville explained the rules/procedure for this. She stressed that there is to be no conversation regarding ballots being processed. Those ballots will be marked off the checklist. Workers can use the “notebook” to record anything unusual that happens at the polls on Election Day. There is a form for closing procedures. Those doing the close-out should not tell the front desk people what the count is. Ask for their count, and tell them whether it is OK, close, or way off. Because this is a local election, write-in votes do not need to be counted if the total number of write-ins is not greater than the total of the candidate with the most votes. Ms. Kinville said there is a federal/state move to require people to declare if they wish to be a write-in candidate. There will be outdoor barriers for people outside holding signs. They must stay behind those barriers. No unattended signs are permitted in the concrete areas near the buildings. Any such signs should be removed. BOARD OF CIVIL AUTHORITY 24 FEBRUARY 2021 PAGE 4 Ms. Kinville show members the book of “everything you need to know” which includes a phone number list to call for any questions. She stressed that workers shouldn’t hesitate to call if questions arise. Masks, gloves, sanitizers, etc., will be provided. There will be pens at the check-in table which can be disposed of by the tabulators. They will then be re-sanitized. Voting booths should be sanitized periodically. 8. Resolution for Recognition of Peter Taylor: Mr. Shaw noted that Peter Taylor served as a BCA member for 34 years, 22 of which he served as Chair of both the BCA and Board of Abatement. Mr. Shaw then read a resolution asking the City Council to recognize Mr. Taylor’s service by dedicating a meeting room to him with a plaque in the new City Hall, or with a bench with a plaque in the City Hall area, or with a plaque somewhere within the streetscape near City Hall. Ms. Vera said she would personally go to the City Council to support this. She said she would love to see a meeting room in his honor. Mr. Emery said she should probably recuse herself from this discussion as a member of the City Council, but she did note that the Council has a policy regarding “naming” that would have to be considered. Ms. Vera then moved that given the extraordinary service of Peter Taylor to the Board of Civil Authority and Board of Abatement regarding elections, tax appeals, and abatement appeals for more than 30 years, the Board of Civil Authority requests the City Council to recognize his retirement by some appropriate recognition of his service by a form such as dedicating a meeting room in his name with a plaque, dedicating a bench in his name with a plaque, or dedicating a portion of the streetscape in his name with a plaque. Mr. Maurice Mahoney seconded the motion which then passed 12-0 with the 3 City Councilors abstaining. 9. Reporting of election tabulating machines” BOARD OF CIVIL AUTHORITY 24 FEBRUARY 2021 PAGE 5 Ms. Kinville noted that tabulators for all 4 districts were tested and seals were applied and tabulators were locked. The seal numbers are as follows: District 7-1 Seal # 1175814 District 7-2 Seal #1175857 District 7-3 Seal #1175811 District 7-4 Seal #1175862 10. Other Business: Ms. Kinville noted that one thing that has emerged through the pandemic is the “zoom meeting.” She suggested members think about future functioning of the BCA and whether to continue with all remote meetings, a mix of in-person and remote, or all in-person meetings. As there was no further business to come before the Board, Maurice Mahoney moved to adjourn. Ms. Emery second. The meeting was adjourned by common consent at 7:50 p.m. ______________________________ Clerk