CAROLINE COUNTY Phone: (410) 479-8145 0 Fax: (410) 479-5736 BOARD OF ELECTIONS Email: electionecaroinemdore 403 S. Seventh Street, Suite 247, Denton, MD 21629 wwwaoiemderctomog Caroline County Board of Elections Meeting 403 S. 7th Street, Suite 111, Denton, MD 21629 June 20, 2025 :30 am The meeting will be held in-person and live streamed: httpsl/CarolinecountymanewswaRiL.om/events/40458 AGENDA 1. Call Meeting to Order 2. Declaration of Quorum Present 3. Welcome Members & Guests 4. Approval of Minutes a. April 11, 2025 Meeting 5. Request Changes to the Agenda 6. Election Director's Report 7. Board Members' Report/Disclosure of Campaign Contributions 8. Board Attorney's Report 9. Old Business a. Open Meetings Act Complaint b. Annual MAEO/SBE Biennial Conference 10. New Business a. State Ethics Training for Board Members b. 2026 Election Calendar C. 2026 Primary Election Newsletter 11. Public Comments 12. Schedule Next Meeting 13. Closed Session a. Part of the meeting will be closed under the provision of the Open Meetings Act, General Provisions Art. 53-305(b)(1) to perform evaluation of an employee. 14. Adjournment Public Participation: Members of the public may address the Board. Pursuant to $3.2B of the Board's S bylaws, public participation at a meeting must be pre-scheduled and pre-approved by the President. To request approval to speak at a board meeting, contact Allison Murphy at 410-479- 8145 or by email lsmmurhyemantandsew no ater than 4:00 pm the day before the meeting. Caroline County Board of Elections Monthly Board Meeting Friday, April 11, 2025 9:30 a.m. In Attendance: Allison Murphy, Election Director Margaret Thompson, Member Tammy Willis, Election Program Specialist Suzanne Campos, Member Debra Brohawn, Election Program Assistant Dana Callahan, Member James Bilbrough II, President Walter Palmer, Attorney Declaration of Quorum Present Mr. Bilbrough called the meeting to order at 9:30 a.m. and stated that there was a quorum present. Ratification of Meeting Minutes from March 14, 2025 Mrs. Thompson made a motion to ratify the meeting minutes as written; Mrs. Callahan seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Additons/Corrections to the Agenda Mr. Bilbrough noted a correction. Reports a. Election Director's Report Mrs. Murphy added that she and Mrs. Brohawn attended a meeting at SBE's central warehouse to look at the ballot drop box re-design. It changes the placement of the lock for the ballot insert to the inside the box instead of the outside. b. Board Attorney's Report Mr. Walter Palmer discussed the Open Meetings Act complaint. C. Board Member's Report No report. d. Board Member Campaign Contribution Repor/Paraphernala Disclosures No report. Old Business a. Board Member Vacancy Mr. Bardsley from the Democratic Central Committee sent an email to Mrs. Murphy stating that they have a candidate that seems well qualified. New Business/Correspondence a. President Trump's Preserving and Protecting the Integrity of American Elections Executive Order State Board of Elections is monitoring. b. Complaint for Declaratory and Injunctive Relief The Attorney General with 19 other states have filed this complaint, which SBE will continue to monitor. DRAFT C. Open Meetings Act Complaint Mr. Palmer reçeived this complaint, immediately, forwarding to Mrs. Murphy. Mrs. Murphy worked with the Caroline County Public Information Officer and IT Department to gain accessibility to upload meeting agendas and minutes to the County's online Agenda Center. There is now a link to the Agenda Center on the Caroline County Board of Elections website. ttps://www.carolinemd.org/Bgendacenter Mrs. Murphy and Mr. Palmer drafted a response to the complaint. Mrs. Callahan made a motion to affirm the action taken by staff and Counsel to comply with the Open Meetings Act addressed in the response letter. Ms. Campos seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Confirmation of Next Meeting The next meeting will be June 13, 2025, at 9:30 a.m. Meetings will now be held in Room 111 at the Health & Public Services Building, 403 S. 7th Street, Denton, Maryland and will be live streamed. The live stream link will be available on the County website at tp/awwarolnendor/66l/lweetinss Adjournment Mrs. Thompson made a motion to adjourn the meeting; Mrs. Callahan seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Mr. Bilbrough adjourned the meeting at 11:02 a.m. Respectfully submitted. Signed: Approved: Mrs. Debra Brohawn, Mr. James Bilbrough, Election Program Assistant Board President Dated: Dated: DRAFT Election Director's Report June 20, 2025 Meetings Attended May 14, 2025 - Mrs. Murphy and Ms. Willis virtually attended the MAEO Election Judge Manual Committee meeting. May 15, 2025 - Staff virtually attended the SBE/LBE Collaboration meeting. May 20, 2025 - Staff virtually attended the MAEO meeting. May 28, 2025 - Mrs. Murphy virtually attended the MAEO In-Person Voting Committee meeting. May 28, 2025 - Mrs. Murphy and Ms. Willis virtually attended the MAEO Election Judge Manual Committee meeting. May 29, 2025 - Staff virtually attended SBE's monthly board meeting. June 4, 2025 - Mrs. Murphy and Ms. Willis virtually attended the MAEO Election Judge Manual Committee meeting. June 5, 2025 - Ms. Willis virtually attended the MAEO Mail-in Ballot Committee Meeting. June 5, 2025 - Ms. Willis virtually attended the MAEO Voter Registration Committee Meeting. June 10, 2025 - Mrs. Murphy virtually attended the MAEO In-Person Voting Committee meeting. June 10, 2025 - Mrs. Murphy and Ms. Willis virtually attended the MAEO Election Judge Manual Committee meeting. Voter Registration Voter registration totals reports from May and June 2025 are included for review. Election. Judges Election judges who worked in 2024 were a sent a Recruitment Google Form to capture their interest in working the 2026 elections. The 2026 Primary Election Newsletter was emailed to election judges on June 3, 2026. We are in the process of reviewing and updating the Election Judge Manual for the 2026 Elections. Candidate Filing As of 6/9/2025, two candidates have filed candidacy for local contests in Caroline County. Donnie Baker for Sheriff Margie S. Hannawald for Clerk of Circuit Court Stephanie B. Ramsey for Clerk of Circuit Court Peggy A. Gallagher for Clerk of Circuit Court Linda Dunn for Register of Wills The list of statewide candidates can be viewed here: https:llelections.maryland.sovelections/2026/Pimary_candidates/index.htmt E 0 I V W N R 9 6 W n 4 8 0 o 7 s - 1 * 3 u 4 2 3 4 e 3 s N s 4 5 3 E 2 WES MOORE RUNAKO KUMBULA ALLSOPP, EsQ., Governor CHAIR LYNN MARSHALL, EsQ. ARUNA MILLER JACOB ALTSHULER, EsQ. Lt. Governor STATE OF MARYLAND OPEN MEETINGS COMPLIANCE BOARD 19 Official Opinions of the Compliance Board 117 (2025) May 12, 2025 Caroline County Board of Elections The Complainant alleges that the Caroline County Board of Elections ("Board of Elections" or "Board") violated the Open Meetings Act (the "Act") by not posting meeting agendas and minutes on the Board's official website. For the following reasons, we find no violations oft the Act. Discussion A. Agendas The Complainant first alleges that the Board ofl Elections violated the Act by posting agendas on its Facebook page, rather than on the Board's official website. "[B]efore meeting in an open session, 91 the Act requires "a public body [to] make available to the public an agenda: (i) containing known items of business or topics to be discussed at the portion of the meeting that is open; and (ii) indicating whether the public body expects to close any portion of the meeting. S 3-302.1(a)(1)." As to the method of making the agenda available, a public body has considerable flexibility: The body may distribute the agenda via the news media, by posting it online or "at a convenient public location at or near the place ofthe session," "by publication in the Maryland Register (ifthe public body is a unit of State government), or "by any other reasonable method." SS 3- 302(c), 3-302.1(d). The Board of Elections did not squarely address the Complainant": S allegation that posting agendas on Facebook, rather than the Board's own website, violated the Act. The Board merely asserted that it has taken "corrective action" and now posts agendas on the I Statutory references are to the General Provisions Article of the Maryland Annotated Code. Open Meetings Compliance Board, clo Office ofthe Attomey General 200 Saint Paul Place a Baltimore. Maryland, 21202-2021 Main Office (410) 576-6560 * Main Office Toll Free (888) 743-0023 s Maryland Relay 711 19 Official Opinions of the Compliance Board 117 (2025) May 12. 2025 Page 118 websites of the Board and the Caroline County government. When asked to clarify how the Board made agendas available in 2024. before this "corrective action," a Board employee said that the Board posted agendas on Facebook and in the vestibule of the building in which the Board meets. Based on this record, we decline to find a violation of the Act. Regardless of whether posting on Facebook was reasonable, the Board also posted near its meeting site. an option expressly permitted by the Act. See $8 3-302(c)(3). 3-302.1(d). We do. however, commend the Board for updating its practice, as posting agendas on the websites of the Board and County Government will likely make it easier for the public to find out what business the Board will discuss at its meetings. B. Minutes The Complainant also alleges that the Board of Elections has violated the Act by not posting minutes online. The Act requires, "as soon as practicable after a public body meets. 1 that the body "have minutes of its session prepared," $ 3-306(b)(1). and. "[to the extent practicable," posted online, $ 3-306(e)(2). Whether posting online is practicable "is fact-dependent" and "[w]e are seldom in a position to second-guess what was practicable' for a public body's staff at a given point of time." 12 OMCB Opinions 83, 83 (2018). When we have found violations of S 3-306(e)(2) in the past. the body acknowledged a delay in posting minutes online, see, e.g.. 18 OMCB Opinions 101. 102 (2024), or we inferred that posting a particular set of minutes was practicable because the body had posted other documents online during the relevant period, see, e.g.. 15 OMCB Opinions 123. 130 (2021). The Board acknowledges that, until recently. the body did not post minutes online. But the Board asserts that it was not practicable to do so: The body did not at that time have direct access to its website or the County Government's online "Agenda Center." which has links to agendas and minutes for various County bodies. Although the Board has since acquired access to the Agenda Center, we find that. before acquiring this access. it was not practicable for the Board to post minutes online. To be sure. the Board had access to Facebook, where it posted agendas, and the body presumably could have, but did not. post minutes on Facebook. But we do not think putting minutes on the Board's Facebook page would have qualified as posting them "online, as not every Facebook posting is necessarily available to the public at large. Although Facebook members would have been able to view minutes posted to the Board's Facebook page, we cannot say' the same for other members ofthe public. Indeed, our staff recently visited the Board's Facebook page and, after scrolling through only three posts (dating back only to April 19, 2025), was prompted to log in or create a Facebook account 19 Official Opinions of the Compliunce Board 117 (2025) May 12. 2025 Page 119 to view more. We think that posting minutes "online. for purposes of the Act. means posting them on an internet site that is accessible to the public at large. not simply to a social media site that is accessible only to members. Based on the record before us. we conclude that it was not practicable for the Board of Elections to post minutes online in 2024. Thus. we find no violation with respect to this allegation. Conclusion We find no violations ofthe Act. Open Meetings Compliance Board" Runako Kumbula Allsopp, Esq. Lynn Marshall, Esq. Compliance Board member Jacob Altshuler did not participate in the preparation or issuance of this Opinion. Annual MAEO/SBE Biennial Conference No Handouts - Discussion Only 6/10/25, 1:49 PM Fwd: State Ethics Training For Board Members hsonmwply@nayenagoer State of Maryland Mail Forwarded message From: Shermaine Walker -SBE- ghermainetwalker@maryland.gov> Date: Mon, Jun 2, 2025 at 4:43 PM Subject: State Ethics Training For Board Members To: Cc: Jared DeMarinis -SBE-