Forsyth County Board of Voter Registrations & Elections  Regular Monthly Meeting November 1, 2022 at 9 a.m. Forsyth County Administration Building 110 E. Main Street, Suite 220 Cumming, Georgia 30040  MINUTES  Present at the meeting: Barbara Luth, Chairman Joel Natt, Vice Chairman Carla Radzikinas, Secretary Dan Thalimer, Assistant Secretary Anita Tucker, Member Mandi Smith, Director Carol Balcome, Assistant to the Director Karen Pachuta, Attorney, Jarrard & Davis  I.  Call Meeting to Order  Chairman Luth called the meeting to order at 9 a.m.  II.  Pledge of Allegiance III. Adoption of Agenda  Secretary Radzikinas with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made am motion to adopt the agenda as prepared by staff. Motion carried  unanimously. IV. Adoption of Minutes  A. Monthly meeting of October 11, 2022  Secretary Radzikinas with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made ar motion to adopt the minutes as prepared by staff. Motion carried  unanimously.  B. Special Called meeting of October 11, 2022    Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a motion to adopt the minutes as prepared by staff. Motion carried  unanimously.  V. Old Business  A. Disaster recovery discussion  Chairman Luth stated this is an ongoing discussion and this item will be included in the Director's Report beginning in January. B. Parks and Recreation Architectural Design Liaison update Secretary Radzikinas said there were no updates.  C. Discussion of the November 8, 2022 General Election/Special  Election 1.  Processing of absentee ballots  Director Smith reported Advance Voting was underway and all absentee ballot requests had been fulfilled since the October 28 deadline. She also stated there have been over 45,000 that have voted in person, over 6000 absentee ballots have been issued and Vice Chairman Natt asked Director Smith how many teams she planned for the opening of absentee ballots. Director Smith stated 10-12 teams depending on how many can work. She also said she requested each political party have 10 people; eight people to work Vice Chairman Natt said with approximately 50 people to assist with opening ballots we should not start opening before 2 p.m. Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Member Tucker made a motion to request the director not start the process of opening ballots before 2 p.m. Motion carried unanimously.  over 3500 absentee ballots have been returned.  with two alternates.  D. Discussion of November 8, 2022 General Election risk limiting audit Chairman Luth said she had watched the Secretary of State's video on Firefly that explained the process for the audit and suggested the Board  review the video and presentation.    Member Tucker asked Director Smith if staff was ready for the audit. Director Smith stated staff had been keeping up with the Chain of Custody forms and we have a system when everything comes in each night. Vice Chairman Natt provided the board with his draft proposal for handling ar risk limiting audit. He said the Board should consider a blind audit with two teams counting without knowing the results of the other team. Chairman Luth said on the State's video there is a way you could check the count to the number of ballots if you added all the candidates together. She also said there was a recommendation not to check the total to a Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a motion to instruct Director Smith to have two teams hand count each set of ballots that are identified blindly. Motion carried unanimously. Vice Chairman Natt asked Attorney Pachuta when we certify the election on November 15 at that moment of certification do we transfer ownership of the ballots to the Clerk of Court. He then asked if the Clerk had to transfer the ownership of the ballots back to us to use for the audit since the custodian of the physical ballots is the Clerk of Court. Attorney Pachuta said she would take a look at the code. She also said we can add language to the Clerk of Court's chain of custody document regarding the Chairman Luth said after looking at the State's video there are a couple of audit laws they recommend us reviewing; 21-2-498 and State Election Chairman Luth asked Director Smith if the audit will be held in the training room. Director Smith stated that was the plan but it depends on what contest we will be auditing and how many people we may need whether Chairman Luth would like the person in charge of the audit be in the room at all times during the audit. Vice Chairman Natt said a member of the E. Discussion of the Forsyth County Board of Voter Registrations &  candidate count.  risk limiting audit.  Board Rule 183-1-15.04.  we may choose to move the audit to the warehouse.  board should be in the room instead of the director.  Elections enabling legislation  Attorney Pachuta asked the board what they are proposing for the change in the start date of the term of the board members. The board discussed different dates and concluded the best start date of a board member's term should be July 1. The request for this change to start will be with the  two appointments in 2023.    The board then discussed the change in compensation. Vice Chairman Natt suggested language be added to the legislation that sites the statute in the Georgia Election Code that speaks to compensation; 21-2-213.1. Attorney Pachuta said she will make the changes to the draft legislation Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to add the revised legislation to the November 15, 2022 certification meeting agenda for board review. Motion carried  for the board to review at their next meeting.  unanimously.  VI. New Business  A. Planning discussion for possible December runoff election  1.  Advance Voting times and locations* There was one public comment by Jerry Marinich. times for the possible December 6 runoff election. to keep all four locations open for the runoff.  The board began their discussion on Advance Voting locations and Vice Chairman Natt said the turnout has been good and would like Member Tucker stated she liked the suggestion by Jerry Marinich to have the four Advance Voting locations open from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Director Smith told the board they would have to reconsider a decision they made at their September 6, 2022 meeting to have the locations and times match the November 8, 2022 General Election Director Smith said from a staff perspective it will be a struggle to get poll workers to work until 7 p.m. because it will be dark and the Member Tucker suggested the poll workers have shifts so those who do not want to work until dark can take an earlier shift. Secretary Radzikinas would like the times to stay 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m. to keep it less complicated. She said people can vote by absentee  for the one week of Advance Voting.  Advance Voting locations and times.  poll workers may not be leaving until 8-8:30 p.m.  ballot if they cannot make it to the polls.    Member Tucker with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a motion to amend the previously established Advance Voting hours and locations for the December 6, 2022 runoff, if needed. This motion sets the Advance Voting hours and locations for Monday-Friday, November 28-December 2, 2022 at the Elections Office, Midway Park, Sharon Springs Park and the Hampton Park Library from 9 a.m.-7 p.m. Motion carried 4-1 with  Secretary Radzikinas opposed. Drop box location(s)*  2.  Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to have a single drop box located at the Elections Office.  Motion carried unanimously. Certification meeting date and time  3.  Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to set the certification meeting for the possible December 6 runoff election on Monday, December 12, 2022 at 9 a.m. Motion  carried unanimously.  VII. Director's Report  Director Smith presented the Director's Report.  Voter Registrations & Elections Department  Director's Report November 1, 2022  Board Members Staff  Current filled staft/positions: 11 full-time (0 unfilled) and 6 part-time (2 unfilled). Legislation pending/approved bills)/Change to Election Code/State Election No State Election Board (SEB) meetings were held in the month of October.  Board (SEB) Election Information  2022 Election Dates (from the SOS long calendar)  May 24: General Primary & NonPartisan General Election* June 21: General Primary Runoff & NonPartisan General Runoff**  November 8: General Election* December 6: General Election Runoff**  *Special Election, ifneeded **Runoff, ifneeded Polling Places and Precincts    Staff continues to be in contact with all Advance Voting and Election Day polling places  as part of our preparations for the upcoming election. Ethics Reporting/Candidate. Qualifying  Campaign Contribution Disclosure Reports (CCDR) were due on October 25, 2022 for those candidates and public officials for whom 2022 is their election year and who had not previously submitted an Affidavit Not to Exceed $2,500 in Contributions and/or  Expenditures.  Open Records Request(s)(ORR) # received b/w 10/02-10/30 2022 Year to Date 2021 Cumulative Budget /F Finance  13 81 48  We have not yet received our postage reimbursement check from the SOS. This is the reimbursement for funds expended when mailing precinct cards to all voters affected by the Redistricting changes. The Director has been in communication with the Secretary of State's Office and the next step is to contact our delegation for assistance.  Voter Registrations & Elections Activity Statistics  Voter registration totals Active total Inactive total Cumulative total Pending voters Pending age Pending verification Pending 40-day clock Pending 26-month clock Total Cancelled voters Moved out of state Moved out of county Voter requested cancellation Felon = cancelled Felon = challenged status Deceased Rejected Total Notes:  As of November 1, 2022 161,967 14,347 176,314 170 5 20 169 364 24 572 1 0 0 103 0 700  As of November 1, 2022    Voter Registration  Voter Registration Deadline was October 11, 2022: Staff is up to date processing voter registration applications that were received by the deadline. October 28 was the last day to receive an absentee application in our office and The BRE has been provided a copy of the Absentee Voting Turnout Statistics  have an absentee ballot issued.  Report with stats through Sunday, October 30, 2022. Absentee Provisional Ballots = not cured Stats: 27 absentee provisional ballots received 32 absentee provisional ballots issued  Election Equipment/S Supplies  Logic and Accuracy Testing (L&A) on the voting equipment to be used in the November 8, 2022 General Election & Special Election is complete except for any additional equipment that may need to be tested prior to Election Day as well as the processes that will be completed on the poll pad units the weekend before Election Day.  IS&T/Software/Hardware Building Update Training/Outreach  Poll worker training continues today and this weekend. Election Day Poll Worker Statistics 400 poll workers  Some are only available for % day Does not include students or county employees  Calendar of Upcoming Events  October 17-Nov 4 Advance Voting for the General Election  November 1 November 8 November 11 November 14 November 15 November 15 November 17 November 22 Nov 28-Dec 2 December 6 December 13  Board Meeting (held in Commissioner's Meeting Room) General Election Election Day Veteran's Day; county holiday; offices closed VOCAVAprovisional deadline 12:30pm Election Certification Meeting SOS will select contest to audit Audit completion deadline  Audit Start  November 24 &25 Thanksgiving; county holiday; offices closed  Advance Voting for the General Election Runoff General Election Runoff Election Day Board meeting (second Tuesday of the month)  December 23 &26 Christmas; county holiday; offices closed  Respectfully Submitted, Mandi Smith  Director, Voter Registrations and Elections    Vice Chairman Natt asked for an extra poll pad to be sent to each polling location sO the poll workers can quickly scan driver's licenses to determine if the voter is in the correct location. Director Smith said we would have to have an extra poll worker for that function and with proper staff they can perform Vice Chairman Natt asked if the voters transferred in error by Fulton County ini the Grassland Precinct had been transferred back to Forsyth County. Director Smith said we have transferred back all the voters for which we were Vice Chairman Natt asked Director Smith how many observers can fit in one location. Director Smith said it depends on the size of the polling location. Vice Chairman Natt asked Attorney Pachuta if we could establish guidelines for observers. Attorney Pachuta advised to be careful when establishing  that task without the extra poll pad.  aware this occurred.  guidelines.  VIII. Recess Regular Meeting  Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Member Tucker made a motion to recess the regular meeting at 10:19 a.m. to enter into Executive Session.  Motion carried unanimously. IX. Executive Session (if needed)  Chairman Luth called the meeting back to order at 10:35 a.m. and stated no Vice Chairman Natt would like a Public Notice issued for the risk limiting audit  decisions were made during Executive Session. with a start time of no earlier than 9 a.m.  X. Adjournment  Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to adjourn the regular meeting at 10:37 a.m. Motion carried unanimously.  *Public comments allowed for this agenda item.  The above and foregoing minutes are hereby certified as being correct and ordered  recorded. Today's Date:  December 13, 2022    Balain Lb Barbara Luth, Chairman Joel E. Natt, Vice Chairman - Daek Badbuar Carla Radzikinas, Secretary BPI  Daniel Thalimer, Assistant Secretary lablackn Anita Tucker, Member