Board of Elections Sets November 19th As Election Certification Date
Geauga County Board of Elections (BOE) - Special Meeting 11/5/2024
Meeting Info: Special Meeting on November 5, 2024 at 6:15 am in BOE Conference Room at 470 Center St, Bldg 6A, Chardon, OH, 44024. Attendance options were both in-person and virtual, via Microsoft Teams. An agenda was provided in advance and copies were distributed to all attendees.
Attendance: Present were:
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Board Chair - Dennis Pavella
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Board Member - Joan Windnagel
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Board Member - Richard Piraino
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Director - Michelle Lane
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Deputy Director - Nora McGinnis
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Office Administrator - Scott Daisher
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Board Member - Janet Carson
County Representatives: Frank Antenucci, ADP (Automatic Data Processing) Chief Deputy Administrator
Others: 2 guests in person; this LWV observer and another person attended virtually
Call to Order: 6:21 am
Open the Polls: The Board voted to officially open the polls at 6:30 am.
Minutes: Minutes for October 22, 2024, were approved without comment or edit.
Payment of Bills: Bills totaling $30,710.59 were approved, and included:
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$20,667.66 for Election Day Ballot printing to YSL Direct
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$5,902.50 for Absentee Ballot Envelopes (forms 11 & 12F) to Graphic Village
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$1,741.00 for Provisional Ballot Envelopes to Graphic Village
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$528.26 for 4500 sheets of 17” ballot stock (extra stock for contingencies) to ES&S (Election Systems & Software)
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$310.09 for batteries, toner & office supplies to Nora McGinnis (Amazon order)
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$213.73 for Mileage reimbursement to 2 staff members for equipment delivery
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$153.63 for Mileage reimbursement to 3 staff members for nursing home voting
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$82.25 for office water to Sunrise Springs
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$14.00 for USB cables for new computers for MNJ Technologies
Determination of which Ballots may be remade and review of over votes, blank ballots, and determine voter intent, if necessary.
Board members reviewed approximately 85 absentee ballots that required additional evaluation before processing. The ballots were grouped in batches of 6-9. Reasons for review included ballots with incomplete or stray markings that interfered with machine scanning. These ballots were designated to be “remade” or replicated. Other ballots were scrutinized to determine the voter’s intent due to inadequate marking. Some ballots had “over votes” where more than the allowed number of candidates for an office was marked. Over votes cannot be counted.
There were ballot questions for virtually every office category, including President, Senate, Supreme Court, Congress, and County Commissioner.
Every ballot was checked by each Board member, and the decision on each batch was unanimously approved.
Winter Conference
Mrs. McGinnis reported that every Board member seemed to have signed up for their preferred classes. Mr. Pavella noted he has received an email acknowledgement of his course registrations.
Observers
Mrs. Lane provided Board members with the list of election observers. Mrs. Windnagel noted the large number of Republican observers scheduled at the Mayfield Church (6) and the Metzenbaum Center. Only one observer from each political party is authorized to be at a poll location. After checking with her party observer coordinator, Mrs. Windnagel learned that the Mayfield and Metzenbaum observers would be working in single shifts.
Later in the meeting, Mrs. Windnagel reported that a Republican observer was asked to leave a poll location because he wasn’t credentialed. He left the location without incident. Mrs. Carson and Mrs. Windnagel both noted that the software used to assign observers to poll locations was difficult to work with.
Employee Processing Provisional Ballot Envelopes
The Board unanimously approved a motion to allow employee processing of provisional ballots to begin.
Set Dates for Official Canvass, Public Test, Certification and Audit
The Board approved the following post-election dates:
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Official canvass – May begin November 11; complete November 19
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Certification – November 19, begins at 9:00 am
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Public Test – November 12 (the BOE will use a test ballot deck to verify that all the voting equipment is scanning and tallying correctly)
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Audit – November 26, begins at 9:00 am (5% of the total number of votes will be audited)
Observer Note: Election results are unofficial until they are certified. During the canvass, election officials reconcile the number of mail, early, and election day ballots cast with the number of voters. The purpose of the canvass is to make sure that every valid vote is included in the final result.
Cancellations and Closings
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The BOE regular meeting scheduled for November 21, 2024 was canceled.
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Closing the BOE on Friday, November 29, 2024 was unanimously approved.
ADP (Automatic Data Processing) Report
Frank Antenucci, ADP, Chief Deputy Administrator, joined the meeting at 8:28 am.
Mr. Antenucci reported that everything is in place for election day. The auto-attendant (virtual receptionist) was working, and they were ready with the Triad website.
Tech teams were in place as follows: 8 at the main office building and 7 at the annex, each team working in 5-hour shifts. Mrs. Lane reported that all the poll pads are up and running.
New Building Update
The alarm system is in, but no work is currently being done. ADP finally received a quote from the elevator company for cables needed for the elevator security cameras. The quote was $31,000.00, which Mr. Antenucci found to be surprisingly high. Mr. Pavella noted that the elevator company has vigorously resisted the camera installation. Mrs. Windnagel and others thought the elevator company, knowing the limited competition for this type of specialized installation, “has us over a barrel.” Mr. Piraino asked if this elevator company must install the cables or if they could find a different vendor; no one was certain about the answer to this question. No decision was made.
The structural problem with handicapped access in the women’s restroom has been resolved.
Mr. Antenucci departed the meeting at 8:50 am.
Polling Locations
The BOE purchased new voting booth stations for this election. Mrs. Windnagel had watched one being set up and said they were a big improvement over the old booths, taking less than 5 minutes to assemble.
Mr. Pavella reported that, as of that day, they had almost 14,000 in person early voters at the BOE and had received about 13,000 absentee ballots as well. He said the numbers for both types of voting have been trending up for years.
Observer Note: Overall, voter turnout in Geauga County was just shy of 80%, among the highest in Ohio and almost 10 percentage points higher than the state average of about 70%. More information about voter turnout and election results are available from this Ohio Secretary of State website.
The Board discussed the small size of the BOE lobby as a polling location. The voting station in the middle of the lobby space interfered with use of the voting machine. Mrs. Carson suggested moving the rarely used ExpressVote machine out to the external lobby to make more room.
Mrs. Lane reported that the number of in-person early voters has been extremely heavy, with wait times up to 3 hours some days. At times, the voting line extended all the way out to the street. Heavy traffic in the parking lot had also been a problem. Office tenants had complained to the BOE about high traffic and limited parking. Mrs. Carson noted there were many voters with children, some of whom were not carefully supervised. The lack of supervision was especially problematic in the parking lot.
The Board discussed space concerns for in-person voting in the new building, saying the layout wasn’t configured to accommodate large crowds. The lack of the parking at the new building is also a concern.
Mr. Pavella noted that the Board of Commissioners had rejected the BOE’s request for extra storage space at a separate location. This arrangement would have freed basement space for in-house voting.
Board members noted that Commissioner Lennon was predicting that almost all Geauga voters would vote absentee in the future. Board members said they didn’t think this would be true for Ohio.
More polling location updates
Mrs. Lane reported that the requested electronic sign is in place at West Woods to direct voters to the alternate voting location at West Geauga Library. The Bainbridge Library also posted signs on their doors directing voters to West Geauga Library after several people had come there thinking it was their polling place.
Poll opening went smoothly overall. A problem with a non-functioning poll pad was resolved quickly. There was also an issue in Claridon Town Hall with some ballots being rejected by the DS200 voting machine. It was determined that the timing marks on rejected ballots were too faint for the voting machine to read.
It was decided to print 500 new ballots and deliver them to the poll location as soon as possible. The new ballots would start with a new number sequence to avoid any confusion with the old ballots. The ballots rejected by the DS200 would be placed in an “emergency bin” and would be remade and counted that night. The faulty, unmarked ballots would be returned to the BOE and stored for 22 months per protocol.
The meeting was paused at approximately 10:15 am with plans to reconvene at 7:00 pm.
Evening Session
Observer Note: This observer was not able to re-enter the evening Board meeting virtually. The following was reported to this observer by Director Michelle Lane via email:
The Board reconvened at 7:00 pm.
Close the Polls and Other Business
The Board voted to close the polls at 7:30 pm. The group then waited for the voting results to come in from each polling location. The Board reviewed the write-in votes and signed the unofficial results.
Adjourned at 10:50 pm.
Next Meeting: Special Meeting on November 19 at 9:00 am to certify election results. The November 21 Regular Meeting is canceled.
Observer: Rooney Moy
Editor: Anne Ondrey
Reviewers: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: 11/11/24
The League of Women Voters of Geauga is a 501(c)(3) nonpartisan political organization that encourages informed and active participation in government, works to increase understanding of major public policy issues, and influences public policy through education and advocacy. They do not support or oppose individual candidates or parties. Learn more about the LWVG at www.lwvgeauga.org.