December 11, 2008

 

MEETING OF THE MONTGOMERY COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS

751 Twinbrook Parkway, Rockville, Maryland

 

In Attendance:

 

                                    Board Members:

 

                                    Samuel Statland, President

                                    Nancy Dacek, Secretary           

                                    Nahid Khozeimeh

                                    Jerrold Garson

                                    Rosalyn Pelles

                                    Lucia Nazarian

 

 

Staff:

Margaret Jurgensen, Director

Sara Harris, Deputy Election Director

Leslie Hatch, Election Judge Coordinator

Bobbie Payne, Program SpecialistOffice Manager

Ethmahn Pena, Office Services Coordinator

Betty Ann Lucey, Registration Manager

Gilberto Zelaya, Outreach Coordinator

Ellie Jespersen, Office Services CoordinatorRegistration

Kevin Karpinski, Legal Council

Marjorie Roher, Administrative Specialist

Renee Adams, Election Aide

 

Guests:

Amanda Mihill, Montgomery County Council

Amanda Mayhill, Office of Management and Budget

 

                         

Convene Meeting and Declare Quorum Present

 

            Mr. Statland called the meeting to order at 2:32 p.m. and declared a quorum present.

 

Additions/Changes to the Agenda

 

            Ms. Jurgensen stated that the Board of Canvassers neededneeds to receive Absentee Ballots, and there would be an addition of an Executive Session.

 

Ms. JurgensenShe presented Length of Service Awards to Ms. Payne, Mrs. Jespersen, Mr. Pena, and Mr. Karpinski, Mr. Statland, and Mrs. Harris.. The Board thanked them for their length of service. Ms. Jurgensen discussed the letter of appreciation from County Executive Leggett regarding the success of the food drive with the students.

 

*** Mrs. Jespersen, Ms. Payne, and Mr. Pena left meeting at 2:34 p.m. ***

                         

 

Election Director Status Reports

 

State Board of Elections

 

Ms. Jurgensen stated that she will send the election audit data to the State Board of Elections (SBE) before election certification on Monday, December 15. She reported that this data is the reconciliation of the GEMS numbers to the MDVoters numbers, which is required before we are able to open the books to process voter registrations.registration processing. Ms. Jurgensen stated that in a the perfect world, these numbers would balance out but issues such as human error on the part of election judges, the voter or technology challenges create problems. She discussed errors that can occur with the Board. Ms. Jurgensen reported that she attended an a SBE conference on how to improve voting in America and briefed the Board on what was discussed at the meeting. Mr. Statland thanked Mr. Garson on his efforts to improve the signature line on the ballots.

 

Election Judge Update

 

            Ms. Hatch reported that there was a good election judge turn-out. She stated that information still needs to be backed up in the system. Mrs. Dacek discussed election judge deployment and noted that she believes that election judges should have split shifts. Mr. Zelaya discussed his handout distributed in folders about future voters and Spanish speaking judges turn out on Election Day. Ms. Jurgensen stated that checks for payment to judges were mailed from a bank in Boston went out with Tuesday (12/9) mail from Boston, and should be in mailboxes starting today. She noted that they were paid within six weeks as promised. Ms. Jurgensen reported that there were 4692 judges utilized on Election Day, 250 judges were deployed for the afternoon rush which did not materialize and 466 were trained and used as stand-by. Ms. Jurgensen reported that approximately 7,500 were recruited, but unfortunately many notified us of their interest about 21 days before the election which was too late. She noted that the election judge recruitment needs to be completed about 30 days prior to a general election because the Board does not have the resources to qualify, schedule, and place individuals in a precinct in the last 21 days. Ms. Jurgensen explained that logistics require that we send the Chief Judges the facility report with list of  team members 14 days prior to the elections. She reported that Lessons Learned 2008 will be on Monday with staff to discuss various issues and noted that she expects to provide a report to the Board by April 2009.

 

*** Mr. Karpinski entered meeting at 2:47 p.m.***

 

Budget

 

Ms. Jurgensen reported that numerous temporary employees were dismissed and noted that the following major tasks still need completion:

 

•           Survey of the performance of the judges and the Peer to Peer review.

•           Audit of the election judges performance and completion of mandated forms.

•           Confirmation mailing of the thousands of returned sample ballots.

•           Voting units maintenance when released by the State Board.

 

Ms. Roher reported that the FY10 Budget has been prepared per the Board’s your direction and will be delivered to OMB tomorrow morning.

 

Facility Issues

 

Ms. Roher stated that the Twinbrook facility had a water pipe burst on Monday as a result of a weekend power outage. She noted that she is investigating why her weekend calls were not addressed in a timely manner. Ms. Roher reported that the lease is nownot signed for the Gaithersburg facility and the final floor plan has been prepared. She explained that she is working with the landlord regarding the placement of electrical outlets and other items as necessary and anticipates a late May or early June move in.

 

Voter Registration

 

 Ms. Jurgensen reported that voter registration will open Monday. She stated that staffwe will begin processing changes/applications ect on Monday. Ms. Jurgensen reviewed with the Board Ms. Dorsey’s handout regardingabout duplicate voters. Mrs. Lucey briefed the Board on registration (turnout) during the election.

 

Board Attorney Report

 

            Mr. Karpinski briefed the Board on the two2 cases pending, the 17 year olds and Citizens for Responsible Government. He stated that he will send status reports to the Board.

 

New Business

 

Report on General Election

 

            Ms. Jurgensen reported that 3000 voting units were deployed. She stated that there was a reserve of voting units plus she accepted a delivery of 50 spare units from Premier which was delivered to the Board on November 3, 2008, in case more werewas needed. Ms. Jurgensen explained that our spare units were prepared and only needed the precinct specific information.

 

            Ms. Jurgensen reported that during Election Day, we sent out 17 voting units and 7 of the units were not accepted by the Chief Judges at two precincts (WoottonWooten High School and NOAA) because they did not want them. She noted that 16 voting units (County Wide) were not used (zero votes) at 16 separate precinct assigned and will examine further once SBE releases the units. Ms. Jurgensen stated that chief judges

 

reported they had plenty of voting units but the lines were at the EPBs. She noted that they want more EPBs and printers. She reviewed and discussed the call report with the Board. The call report is incorporated in the minutes as Attachment 1.

 

            Electronic Poll Books and Printer

 

            Ms. Jurgensen reported that all electronic poll books were deployed except 10, and noted that all printers were deployed except 2. Ms. Jurgensen stated that one printer was returned to us by a roamer around 4 p.m. as “broken” but when Mr. Quarshie tested it, it worked perfectly., and so we had 3 printers. Ms. Jurgensen explained the issues with the deployment of EPBs and printers.

 

General Election Media

 

Ms. Roher discussed TV coverage, press releases, and additional advertising through Ride-On, newspapers, PSAs, and radio. She reported that Montgomery County Board of Elections undertook its most extensive media campaign in recent history in an attempt to ensure that every voter in Montgomery County received the most accurate and up-to-date information regarding the Presidential General Election. Ms. Roher explained that press releases were issued to all media outlets on a regular basis beginning August 29, 2008,-releases specific to absentee voting were distributed on August 31, September 29, October 24, and October 27-and were placed on our website. She noted that these press releases were picked up by the Washington Post and the Gazette newspapers and weekly notices of election related information were printed as a result. Ms. Roher stated that PSAs were produced and television time purchased to advertise registration and absentee voting deadlines and provide useful information for voters in preparation for Election Day. She reported that posters were created and placed in every Ride-On bus during the month of October. Ms. Roher stated that in addition to these efforts, she was interviewed numerous times throughout the month of October and the first few days of November and election stories were run on television channels 4, 5, 7, 8, and 9 as well as WTOP, WMAL, and WHUR radio.

 

Appreciation Reception for Election Judges

 

Ms. Jurgensen inquired as to whether, in light of the current fiscal situation, the Board wanted to hold an appreciation reception for the election judges.  The Board adamantly stated that a reception was appropriate and asked staffagreed to find a venue free of charge.

 

 

Board of Canvassers

 

            The Board reviewed the late arrival absentee ballots and determined they be rejected.

 

 

 

Report on the Executive Session

 

At 4:46 p.m. the Board met in Executive Session pursuant to State Government Article, Sections10-508(a)(1)(i), and 10-508(a)(13), to discuss a personnel issue.

 

The Montgomery County Board of Elections met in closed session on this date. The following members of the Board and staff were in attendance: Samuel L. Statland, Nancy Dacek, Nahid Khozeimeh, Jerrold Garson, Lucia Nazarian, Rosalyn Pelles, Kevin Karpinski.

 

The Board members met in closed session without staff present.

 

***Ms.Jurgensen, Mrs. Harris, Ms. Roher, and Ms. Adams were asked to return to meeting***

 

 

Mr. Statland announced that he is retiring from the Board andand already has sent his letter of resignation to the Governor effective December 31, 2008. . He thanked everyone for their outstanding efforts and statedsays that he has enjoyed working with the Board of Elections.

 

There were no other items discussed in Executive Session.

 

A motion was made by Mr. Garson to adjourn the Executive Session and reconvene in regular session.  The motion was seconded by Mrs. Khozeimeh. Sullivan and carried unanimously, with the Board reconvening in regular session at 5:04 p.m.

 

 

Future Meetings

           

            The Board decided to continue to meet on the third Monday of each month, with the exception of January and February due to holidays.  Ms. Roher stated that she would forward a list of9, 2009 meeting dates to the Board within the week.

 

 

 

Adjournment

 

            With no further business, a motion was made by Mrs. Nazarian. to adjourn the meeting. The motion was seconded by Mr. Garson and carried unanimously. The meeting was adjourned at 5: 05p.m.

                                                                                   

                                                                                                Respectfully submitted,

 

 

 

                                                                                                Marjorie M. Roher

                                                                                                Administrative Specialist

 

APPROVED BY THE BOARD:

 

Approved 1/26/09

 

Jerrold S. Garson

Board President