Tolland County Rovac Meeting
TOLLAND COUNTY ROVAC MEETING
MINUTES
APRIL 13, 2011
Present: Bobbie Printy, Ellington; Ken Houck, Tolland;Catherine Palazzi, Andover; Marjorie Roach, Coventry; Cheryl Udin, Bolton;Monita Hebert, Bolton; Nancy Vogel, Willington; Jo-Ann Hornyak, Somers; Joan Sizer, Somers; Jack Richmond, Hebron; Pam Sewell, Coventry; Inge Pope, Coventry; Cindy Madden, Vernon, Judi Beaudreau, Vernon; Ingrid Aarrestad, Stafford; Mike Wyman, Tolland; Wanda DeLand, Ellington
The meeting was called to order at 1:10 p.m.
The pledge of Allegiance was recited.
Members present introduced themselves.
Motion made by Nancy Willington to accept the minutes and seconded by Marge Madden.
COMMITTEE REPORTS
LEGISLATIVE – Judi B. reported on the status of the following bills:
SOS – Integrity Bill – presently in House. Includes a disaster plan, moderator training every two years, number of ballots to order, and a bill requiring moderators and workers to be certified.
Registrar Bill – going to Senate
Primary Bill and Audit Bill – not come out yet.
Cross Endorsed Candidates Bill – not come out yet.
BY LAWS - Ken Houck, Tolland reported that currently on the Board of Directors for ROVAC there are eight at large members elected with no specific duties. One of the recommended changes will be to eliminate the Board of Directors and just have the 5 Officer positions and the 8 County Chairs on the ROVAC Board
HANDBOOK - JoAnn Hornyak, Somers reported there were no changes.
WAYS & MEANS – Kathy Pallazi, Andover will be collecting $10.00 from each member to be put toward the county basket. Judi said this year that registrars can vote for their favorite gift basket with a trophy going to the winning county. Discussion on what Tolland’s theme should be and decided to do a UCONN basket with hopefully a team autographed basketball.
CONFERENCE - Judi reported e-mail with agendas and conference information/registration has been sent. Please send any questions you would like asked at the conference to Judi , put the question on the subject line of the e-mail.
CANVASS – Tolland sent CVR’s to anyone who had not voted since January, 2007. They were able to move 425 people to Inactive status.
Monita Hebert, Bolton,had a question on people who come to vote who are not on voters list but have been on at least once in the last four years, should they be restored? Statute says only those that are inactive, not Off can be restored. If it was a clerical error, they can be restored.
Joan Sizer, Somers commented that there isn’t a place to process deaths on CVR’s. Do not take them off through canvass, process them though Inquiries. If registrars are not receiving the list of deaths from the town clerks, notify the clerks they must provide one by state statute.
Judi commented that every registrar should be doing a statewide search of deaths and DMV when they are checking their lists.
Marge Roach, Coventry asked if the CVR is returned that they have moved out of town, should the CVR be attached to the voter’s card. No, the CVR’s should be alphabetized in a file.
1800 DOB - Judi reported that three towns in our county still have 1800 DOB’s. Those towns were given the list. All other towns are clear.
LHS CONTRACTS - LHS maintenance contracts run from January to December, however most towns have fiscal contracts that run from July 1 – June 30. The dates are not written in stone and LHS can be negotiated with. If your town refuses to pay for the maintenance contract, refer them to Peggy Reeves with the SOTS.
ISSUES RAISED BY REGISTRARS FOR DISCUSSION
Registrar Town Budget –Judi commented that registrars must have internet in their offices to receive e-mails from the SOTS. E-mail addresses will hopefully change to ct.gov or Gmail to each individual registrar. Will also be able to access their state mail from home with the new e-mail addresses. Also, towns should be paying for moderator training. New dates for training have not been determined yet.
Poll worker tax information - Nancy Vogel, Willington reported that an election worker of theirs is collecting unemployment. The worker has to be paid as a vendor, not a town employee to collect unemployment. All of your poll workers should fill out a W-4 regardless of how much they earn so towns don’t have to pay unemployment.
Absentee Ballots – Nancy Vogel, Willington have had voters come to the polling place on Election Day with their absentee ballots because the town clerk had gone home. Judi stated if that happens again, the voter should bring the absentee ballot to the post office, have the post office stamp it and the town clerk has to pick it up from there. However, all town clerks are required to be in their office on Election Day, especially because of emergency ballots.
SOTS Annual Calendar – Joan Sizer, Somers commented that the calendar is very difficult to follow and suggested highlighting all Registrar dates and activities. A question was asked as to when is the last day a person can register to vote before a referendum. Residents can register up until the day before a referendum during normal town hall business hours, which means registrars need to be in the office during those hours.
Registrars in Local Politics – Many registrars are in their respective town committees. Being an active members on the committees is fine as long as your duties are not a conflict of interest with your duties as registrar.
Job Description for Registrars – Mike Wyman asked registrars to produce a list of their responsibilities. It was noted that such list exists in the Registrar’s Handbook. It was also noted that towns are responsible for paying for everything under registrar’s duties. There are state statutes that cover all aspects of financial coverage.
Motion to end the meeting made by Ingrid Aarrestad, Stafford. Seconded by Inge Pope, Coventry.vv
Meeting adjourned at 3:10 p.m.
Respectfully submitted,
Wanda DeLand
Secretary
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