Minutes, Board Meeting

November 13, 2008

Page 2

BOARD OF ELECTIONS FOR NEW CASTLE COUNTY

Carvel State Office Building

820 N. French Street

Wilmington, Delaware 19801

MINUTES OF BOARD MEETING OF NOVEMBER 13, 2008

Members Present: Mr. Austin Mr. Brady

Mrs. Dudlek Mr. Krzyzanowski

Mr. Kuhrt Mr. Lanouette

Ms. Parks Mr. Steele

Mr. Sterling

Staff Present: Mr. Albence, Administrative Director

Mr. Sholl, Deputy Administrative Director

Mrs. Manlove, State Election Commissioner

Mrs. Rodgers, Election Office Manager

1. Mr. Steele called the meeting to order at 7:00 p.m.

2.  Mr. Sterling moved and Mrs. Dudlek seconded a motion to approve the minutes of the October 7, 2008 meeting as presented. 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. More updates on General Election expenses will be shared at the December meeting.

4.  Mr. Sholl informed the Board of upcoming elections, which include:

·  January 17 Trustees of New Castle Common

·  February 21 Trustees of New Castle Common (run-off [if needed])

·  TBD 6th District Special Election

5.  Mr. Sholl discussed recent activity on the Department’s website. Site traffic increased significantly in the days and weeks immediately preceding the General Election. He also reported a steady increase in the volume of phone calls to the office over the same period.

6.  Mr. Albence reported that the Voter Registration Unit is current on all work at this time. He also informed the board that the total number of registered voters in New Castle County is 380,877, as of November 1, 2008.

7.  Mr. Albence recapped the recent General Election held on November 4. From an operational standpoint, the elections went quite smoothly overall. A few items of note:

·  Machine issues were minimal, and poll worker issues were also very manageable.

·  A very large volume of phone traffic was handled smoothly as a result of adjusting the system resources available to handle incoming calls.

·  Additional focus will be needed to ensure optimal absentee procedures (e.g., additional outreach to hospitals on absentee timelines, etc.) Other absentee-related updates include:

o  Mr. Sholl and Mr. Albence informed the Board that the Kent County absentee issue did NOT occur in New Castle County.

o  Mr. Sholl stated that the Department recommends audit of absentee results in 2% of Election Districts (seven [7] EDs) after ballots are unsealed on 2/1/09—including two (2) 4th Senate EDs and one (1) 27th Rep. ED. The Board did not oppose the conduct of this audit.

8.  Mr. Sholl reported that the Department will be moving forward with the US Census Bureau Block Boundary Study project in early December. 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.

9.  Mr. Albence and Mr. Sholl informed the Board that office still maintains two unfilled full-time positions at this time.

10.  Mr. Sholl reported that he and Mr. Albence will attend the 2009 Joint Election Officials Liaison Committee (JEOLC) meeting in Washington, DC on January 8-9. A number of important topics will be discussed, including possible federal legislation that could significantly impact the administration of elections on the state and local level. Some areas potentially impacted by legislative action are listed in the Board’s presentation packet.

11.  Mr. Albence informed the Board of recent community outreach initiatives by the Department:

·  Mr. Sholl and Mr. Albence were interviewed by the News Journal for multiple election-related articles.

·  Mr. Albence was interviewed by WILM Radio, WPVI TV-6 and WTXF TV-29 on election-related topics just prior to or on Election Day.

12.  Old Business: None

13.  New Business:

·  Mr. Sterling moved and Mr. Austin seconded a motion to certify the Canvass of General Election results for the City of Wilmington. The motion passed unanimously.

·  Mr. Kuhrt moved and Mr. Sterling seconded a motion to approve the Board’s meeting schedule for 2009. The motion passed unanimously.

·  Next meeting is Tuesday, December 2, 2008

14.  Board Removals:

·  Ms. Parks moved and Mrs. Dudlek seconded the motion to remove 305 names from the voter registration rolls due to a move out of state and to make 6 corrections to birth years noted in voter registration records. The motion passed unanimously.

[NOTE: No removals from the voter registration rolls from the address verification process or based on personal requests.]

15.  Commissioner Manlove provided the following update from the Office of the State Election Commissioner:

·  The Commissioner spoke of her intention to pursue legislation to raise the threshold for parties to obtain ballot status.

·  The Commissioner reported that the electronic signature pilot project is progressing and should be active prior to January 1, 2009.

·  The Commissioner reported that the total of registered voters statewide has topped 600,000 for the first time in history.

·  The Commissioner reported an enhancement (graphical representation of election results) added to the Commissioner’s Office website.

·  The Commissioner updated the Board on the background and status of the recount situation in Kent County.

16.  Mr. Sterling moved the meeting be adjourned. Mr. Lanouette seconded the motion. Motion passed unanimously.

Respectfully submitted,

Noel Kuhrt

Secretary

Next Meeting: Tuesday, December 2, 2008