Minutes, Board Meeting
August 5, 2008
Page 4
BOARD OF ELECTIONS FOR NEW CASTLE COUNTY
Carvel State Office Building
820 N. French Street
Wilmington, Delaware 19801
MINUTES OF BOARD MEETING OF AUGUST 5, 2008
Members Present: Mr. Austin Mr. Brady
Mr. Kuhrt Mr. Krzyzanowski
Mr. Lanouette Mr. Steele
Mr. Sterling
Staff Present: Mr. Albence, Administrative Director
Mr. Sholl, Deputy Administrative Director
Mrs. Manlove, Commissioner of Elections
Mrs. Rodgers, Election Office Manager
1. Mr. Steele called the meeting to order at 7 p.m..
2. Mr. Sterling moved and Mr. Lanouette seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the 7/8/08 meeting. The motion passed unanimously.
3. Mr. Sholl reviewed the Financial Report and informed the board that Departmental expenditures for FY 2009 are on track at this point. He also pointed out that funds for technology and school elections will be transferred from the Office of the State Election Commissioner in the near future.
4. Mr. Albence informed the Board of upcoming elections, which include:
· September 9 – Primary Election
· November 4 – General Election
5. Mr. Sholl discussed recent activity on the Department’s website. Site traffic continues to increase steadily, and is expected to rise gradually as the election season progresses.
6. Mr. Sholl mentioned that the Department has completed e-mailing of absentee ballots to military personnel and overseas citizens. The process has been generally problem free.
7. Mr. Albence provided the overview of recent Departmental facilities upgrades/maintenance which include:
· The new Call Center units have been installed, and are now connected to the building’s electric service. The remaining work to be accomplished is connecting the units to the building’s telephone and data lines, and to complete installation of phone sets and desktop computers. This work will be completed over the next week or so.
· New desktop computer units have been deployed to a number of primary full-time staff. The machines replaced have been retained as surplus inventory for use by additional staff recruited to staff the office on election days.
· Internet service has been restored to the Warehouse. The solution to the service issues is the use of a wireless aircard with Verizon Wireless (cell) service.
8. Mr. Albence reported that new staff members (casual/seasonal) were provided a comprehensive orientation following their hiring. In conjunction with this session, all staff with public contact participated in a workshop on “Enhancing Service”. This session focused on providing exemplary customer service and working proactively to avoid service breakdowns.
9. Mr. Albence and Mr. Sholl informed the Board that the Department will continue to use the current version of the software currently operating the absentee system, as the updated version has not yet been certified by the EAC.
10. Mr. Sholl reported that the Department has completed initial work on a project with the US Census Bureau Block Boundary Study project. This effort will ensure that the Bureau has on file the most updated voting district data in advance of the updates that will be needed following the 2010 Census. Mr. Sholl further reported that the Department is now awaiting feedback on the data submitted.
11. Mr. Albence and Mr. Sholl updated the Board on a number of upcoming Departmental activities connected with preparation for the upcoming election season:
o Absentee ballots have been prepared and are being mailed and made available for voting in office. A printing (hardware) issue has delayed mailing of most ballots.
o Election Officer assignments should be mailed this week. The manuals and checklists used in the polling places are being revised.
o Ballots and cartridges are currently being prepared and now placed in voting machines.
12. Mr. Albence and Mr. Sholl updated the Board on the recent polling place card mailing. The Department handles a fairly heavy volume of calls immediately after the cards were received by voters. Generally, most situations were resolved quickly and efficiently. They also reported that the recently completed Call Management System (CMS) training has proved to be very helpful in monitoring the office’s processing of the heightened call volume.
13. Mr. Albence reported that the improvements and repairs to door lamp wires and upper shocks on some voting machines have been completed.
14. Mr. Sholl informed the Board that the Department will not be able to fill the currently vacant position, due to the hiring freeze currently in effect. He also reported that a full-time Voter Registration Representative (merit employee) has resigned and will leave the Department effective 8/16. Mr. Albence reported that the Department has hired eight casual/seasonal staff members, and that the Department is still seeking four additional casual/seasonal staff members as well.
15. Mr. Albence informed the Board of current community outreach initiatives by the Department:
· The Department, in conjunction with project partners, continues to participate in the MotiVote campaign, a non-partisan effort focused on voter education and registration, sponsored jointly by the Department, the League of Women Voters of Delaware, the Metropolitan Wilmington Urban League, Latin American Community Center, Voices Without Borders, and the local Young Democrats and Young Republicans organizations. The next MotiVote will be a non-partisan forum for candidates for Governor and Lt. Governor, to be held on 8/21. Messrs. Albence and Sholl continue their service on the MotiVote leadership team.
· Mr. Albence continues his regular appearances on Comcast Newsmakers, approximately every six weeks. The next segment will be taped on 8/18 and will highlight the upcoming Primary Election on 9/9.
· Mr. Albence continues his regular appearances on the Windows on Wilmington program, a public interest program produced by WITN/Channel 22 (the City of Wilmington’s in-house television station). The next segment will be taped in early October and will highlight voter information for the General Election on 11/4.
16. Old Business: None
17. New Business:
· Machine Certification: (for the Primary Election) on Tuesday and Wednesday, August 26 & 27, 2008.
· Next meeting is Thursday, 9/11/08 (Certification of the Primary Election)
18. Board Removals:
- Mr. Brady moved and Mr. Sterling seconded the motion to remove 110 names from the voter registration rolls due to a move out of state. The motion passed unanimously.
- Mr. Kuhrt moved and Mr. Sterling seconded the motion to remove 8 names from the voter registration rolls as a result of the address verification process. The motion passed unanimously.
- Mr. Sterling moved and Mr. Lanouette seconded the motion to make 3 corrections to birth years noted in voter registration records. The motion passed unanimously.
19. Commissioner Manlove provided the following update from the Office of the State Election Commissioner:
· Write-in legislation was passed by the General Assembly and signed into law by the Governor requiring that individuals who wish to be write-in candidates must declare this status.
· The Commissioner reported that the electronic signature pilot project will be launched this month in the Kent County DMV. When implemented, the new process will dramatically change elections office operations statewide.
· The Election Assistance Commission (EAC) had not certified the updated absentee system, so the state will be using the current version currently in place.
· A number of issues have occurred with the (current) absentee voting system, necessitating the need to have ballots printed commercially (off-site).
· Phone System Upgrade: The Commissioner’s Office has installed a phone system that mirrors the NCC system. This will permit redundancy/disaster recovery by either office (i.e., calls may be diverted from NCC to the Commissioner’s office and vice versa, if necessary).
· Polling place cards were mailed to voters statewide on 7/31. Most households received them by Saturday, 8/2. The Commissioner’s office experienced some problems with the Postal Service, but the project was very successful overall.
· The office will be hiring a Grants Manager (Limited Term position) to manage the office’s HAVA funds and compliance with federal requirements pertaining to the use of these funds.
20. Mr. Sterling moved the meeting be adjourned. Mr. Kuhrt seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.
Respectfully submitted,
Noel Kuhrt
Secretary
Next Meeting: Thursday, September 11, 2008