THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS OF CHATHAM COUNTY  MINUTES June1 10,2 2024  In-Person. Meeting / 1117 Eisenhower Drive, Suite FI Multipurposeroom  BOARDI MEMBERS:  Thomas J. Mahoney Chairman Marianne Heimes- - Vice Chair James) Hall Trish Brown Glynda. Jones Billy Wooten, Director Shanta Scarboro, Deputy Director thel Pledge of Allegiance.  STAFF: CALLTOORDER: CHAIR ADDRESS: MINUTES:  Tom Mahoney called the meeting to order at 3:301 P.M.) He gave an Invocation and! led  Mr. Mahoney welcomed everyone tot the meeting.  May 2024  Motion by Ms. Heimes, seconded by Mrs. Brown, that the Minutes of thel May meeting be approved. The Minutes were unanimously approved. Ms. Heimes said: she was under the impression that discussing sending al lettert to the Secretary of State was to be added to this month's agenda. Mr. Mahoney said that a motion had notl been madei ini thel last meeting and asked the Board ifthey would be interested in making thati motion now. Mr. Halli made a motion to adda a discussion ofal letter tot the Secretary of State regarding the timing ofr runoffs to the. June agenda. Ms. Heimes seconded the motion. Ms. Jones asked several clarifying questions about the expected outcome and solutions the letter would propose. After some discussion, Mr. Mahoney suggested tabling the topic until staffo could provide ai report on their needs. Ms. Jones asked that staff speak with other counties as well, pointing out that moving the runofft may suit our county, buti not others. Mr. Hall and Ms. Heimes agreed they could allow the motion to bei tabled for morei information. Ms. Heimes continued the motion toi tablei the topic until ther next meeting, seconded by Mrs. Brown. The vote was unanimous. Motion by Ms.. Jones, seconded by Ms. Heimes, that the Minutes oft thel May certification meeting be approved. There was no discussion, and thel Minutes Mr. Wooten presented the financial report. We are 88% spent at 92% of thei fiscal year. Wel hope to end this fiscal years slightly under budget, and we willy work with our budget analyst to address any unforeseen expenses. Ms. Jones asked about an errori int the travel line Mrs. Scarboro responded that we are aware of the error, andi iti is likely from working with the budget analyst toi transfer funds. Ms.. Jones askedi ifwel have payment contracts with the polling locations and expressed interesti in how other counties pay their locations. Mr. Wooten answered that we do not! have written contracts; thel locations have requested specific amounts to offset the cost of our presence int their facilities, including staffti time, electricity, and security. Moret than halfof our polling locations have not requested payment. Ms. Jones: said that we have worked with some locations for 30; years and askedi if wel have always paid them the same: rate. Mr. Wooten said that rates have  May General! Election Certification 2024 were unanimously approved.  FINANCIAL REPORT:  changed over time.  June 2024 Minutes  Pagel    SUPERVISORSREPORT: Mr. Wooten informed the Board that Early voting fort the. June runoff started on1 the 10th  and by 11 AM only two people had voted. Early Voting is only open this week and only at the Voter Registration Annex. We willl be using 141 locations for Election Day and have combined onei into another because there are only 5 voters. They were informed by letter last week. Mr. Wooten reminded the Board and the public that this runoffis Democratic only and only for District 8 voters. Those who voted a Republican balloti in Wev willl have one check-in location att the elections office fori this election. The May 21 election was the first to use direct deposit for our poll workers instead of paper checks. This was successful with very fewi issues and overall the poll workers werel happy they didi notl have to pick up checks ur wurry abuul them in the mail. The certification meeting fort the runoff willl be on. June 24, the time will be determined lateri in the meeting. The elections office willl be closed with the rest of Chatham County Mr. Wooten informed the Board that the General Assembly had decided to adda watermark to our ballot paper beginning. July 1. Most counties, including us, have already bought our paper for thel November election. We now have $50,000 of paper we are not allowed to use. The State has appealed to the General Assembly to reconsider or to provide State funding for the purchase of watermarked paper, but the General Assembly is not moved. The State has told the counties we can use the original paper for municipal elections; Mr. Wooten questions why the municipalities would not deserve paper that the General Assembly has deemed "secure". The change is confusing and unfair to taxpayers. Neither the State nor the General Assembly is answering further questions from the counties. Mrs. Brown asked ifit would put us over budget and Mr. Wooten said we do not expecti itt to. Chatham County is awarei that we are required by law to makei this change, so they willl help us rework our budget to account for the added Mr. Mahoney said he is pleased with staff's diligence in this) process. Mr. Wooten told the Board that we will add a second precinct to thel Pooler area next year. Thei need to split 7-16 was more pressing as it! has grown to over 8,000 voters. Voter Registration divided thep precinct using Quacco Road. 7-16 willl be east of Quacco, and 7-17 willl be west. We plan to use. Pooler Rec Center for both locations by using a divider down the center of the gym. We can: fit 151 to 20 voting machines on each side. Wel havea potential long-term location thati may be available next year. The old Presbyterian church nearby is being converted to an events center and could serve as the polling location for 7-17. Once the renovation is complete we will approach the new owner. Mr. Mahoney called for ai motion to accept the new houndary creating precinct 7-17.Mr. Hail made the motion, secanded hy Ms. Heimes. Mr. Hall asked about the timeline of the renovations and Mrs. Brown said that she was at the publici meeting for ther rezoning and did not heart that the site would be used as a voting location. Mr. Wooten replied that hel has not approached thei new owner yet and does not knowt the timeline for the renovation. Mr. Mahoney called for the vote; the vote was unanimous to accept the new Mr. Mahoney suggested the certification meeting take place at noon on. June 24. Mr. Hall said he would not be available that day and wanted tol be sure there would still be a quorum. The rest oft thel Board confirmed they would be available. Ms. Heimes motioned to set the time for the meeting at noon on. June 24, seconded by Mrs. Brown. The vote was unanimous and there was no further discussion. The public comment session began at 4:06. meeting was adjourned at 4:11 PM.  May are note eligible to vote in the runoff.  on. July 4 and willl have limited staffon the 5th.  expense. New Pooler. Precinct 7-17  NEW BUSINESS:  precinct 7-17. RundfCertfication Meeting  PUBLICCOMMENT: ADJOURNMENT:  Mrs. Brown motioned to adjourn the meeting. The vote was unanimous, and the  June 2024 Minutes  Page2    Wooten Billy  Date zklt  l  Supervisor, Secretary to the Board asLuene Noine Thomas. J. Mahoney, III Chair  Da Notary Signature 1/s/24 Date Notarized  vécllaiv  EXPIRES 22,2027 t UBLIC MAMO COUNT  June 2024 Certifiçation Minutes  Page 2