- heard the bell, we wait, but I believe we'll go ahead and call the December meeting of an oral county
- election board to order. First item on the agenda would be the approval of the minutes. I will make
- a motion to approve the minutes from November 2025. I second and I would like to propose an amendment.
- All right. In the October 23rd 2025 minutes that were approved at the at the November meeting,
- It indicates that Ms. Farris indicated that the equipment needed for vote centers would not be here
- in time for the primary elections. Further investigation has shown that they could be here easily within
- sight of a month if we decided to go to vote centers. And I would like that added to the minutes, please,
- to reflect that since it was, I believe, incorrect information in the earlier minutes.
- So I reached out to Lawrence Leach to clarify ahead of this meeting, and I have not heard back from
- him. It did not make sense to me that he would say one thing to the election supervisor and another
- thing to you. And it's not to say that he didn't tell you what he said, but I would like for him to
- put in writing exactly what he has said and then amend based on what he actually said.
- or what he's actually, what he's written? Okay, but I would like for the minutes to reflect at least
- what I said at the last minute meeting, and they do not. Also, it does not reflect the fact that Ms.
- Ferris indicated they would be available within one to two months. I was told that they would be available
- in two to three weeks, and I would like that included in the minutes. So I move that we,
- Add information to the minutes indicated both what Ms. Ferris and what I indicated at the last meeting.
- This is pertinent information given previous discussions. I don't know exactly where to go with this.
- I'm not really sure that it's critical
- information at this point, because there is still no change on our part on whether or not to go to vote
- centers. So I don't have an issue with it being put into the minutes that this is what you were told
- versus what Mrs. Ferris was told. I don't have an issue with that. My motion will be in a second, sir.
- I'm not going to second it. I'm not going to second it. So then it will die without a second.
- So with that. Can I clarify what I think is being voted on? So Clerk Brown made a motion to approve
- the minutes. There was a second to prove the amendments, but then I believe entangled in that was a
- motion to amend.
- The vote on the motion to amend, I believe, based on conversation, fails. But then there's still the
- underlying issue of, are the minutes approved? As is, without an amendment. That's where I was going
- next, was for a vote on that, yes. I would throw in my second. Okay, then I will second. Those in favor,
- aye. Aye. Opposed? Aye.
- Okay. So the minutes are accepted. Election central update that would be. Vote central. Hey, I wanted
- to give a update or less maintenance. Our team at voter registration has been working very hard on making
- sure that these are all being processed. We will be receiving the third delivery of the voter
- list maintenance today.
- It will be a palette that will entail 30 boxes of postcards and two envelopes of postcards as well.
- So from today, moving forward, we're going to be very busy with getting those processed. They do take
- about generally two minutes per individual to make sure that they're put in the system, they have been
- scanned in, and their information is up to date.
- Once we get those completed, I will come back with a final update of the number of people who have been
- moved to inactive, canceled, or stayed active and should have an updated number of registered voters
- in Monroe County. Thank you. Is there any public comment on this? I see none, so we'll move on to new
- business, the first being the election board's leading schedule.
- So the reason that other, potentially other days rather than Thursday for the meeting would be mostly
- to help Kylie with having more than just the Friday after a meeting to do the work that she needed to
- do. Since we've talked about that, we see that there are issues with meetings on Wednesday. And I don't
- know about,
- We've talked about Tuesday as well. I do have a set list for both for all three Tuesday, Wednesday and
- Thursday in the packets that you guys received. The Tuesday one was just drafted couple minutes before
- the meeting in order for you guys to see what those days would fall on. Is this a discussion or are
- you making a motion?
- I'm not making a motion yet. We're right. Currently, I'm just discussing about what we're doing. So
- I am just realizing today about the proposal to move the meetings up. I wanted to bring up the fact
- that we move the time when another boards meeting was moved to third from Wednesdays to Thursdays, and
- our voters are used to the first Thursday of every month and.
- We then we move the time. So just in terms of called conferences or clerk meetings or legislative items
- at the State House, those tend to be at the beginning of the week because the legislators go toward
- the end of the week. And so I would propose that we leave the schedule on Thursdays. That's just my
- perspective.
- have a huge issue with it in any way as I mentioned if it's to make make it easier for Kylie to get
- her stuff done so I would assume then that we need to a motion to which one of these calendars to take
- is that correct I would recommend doing a motion to determine which calendar you would like attached
- to the red resolution and I drafted a resolution setting the meeting schedule um this way
- this resolution could be provided to the commissioner's office, and then the election board meetings
- would be included in the annual notice for meetings. Right now, the resolution does have the Thursday
- schedule at 1.30. So if you are okay with the resolution that was provided before the meeting, you could
- consider a motion to adopt that as is. I will make a motion to adopt the resolution that was prepared
- prior to the meeting. I'll second.
- Okay, it was those of when he. Is there any public comment on it? I guess I should ask. Would you please
- would you come to the mic, please? I just need to reiterate it again. What it is that you guys are approving
- isn't 130 on Thursdays. That's the current motion. Yes, OK, I just wanted it. That's all I needed. Sorry,
- I just that's fine.
- Okay, those in favor of the first Thursday of the month, continuing, aye. Opposed? Okay, so we will
- meet on the first Thursday of the month, continuing. All right, we have an election budget conversation.
- I assume Ms. Kiley, that's yours as well.
- Okay, so in your guys's packet at the very back, I attached a few handwritten documents that I have
- been working on past couple of days got tied up during the commissioners meeting this morning so I didn't
- have time to translate it over to PDFs or anything for you guys.
- but I will get those transitioned over after this meeting. Those are going to be just numbers of how
- many poll workers I intend to have at each of the polling locations determined on what we decide today
- moving forward for election day and for early voting. Just trying to show and have an understanding
- of where budget lays in
- the issues of not having enough to get through the full year, but having enough to get through the primary
- and how we want to proceed with that. May I ask how these numbers of workers correspond to the number
- of workers in 2024?
- They're slightly lower since it is a midterm, but for the general, it's going to be the same as the
- presidential due to the expected high turnout that we are being informed to be prepared for. So do these
- numbers are they for both primary and general combined? Yes.
- And in there, I do have it also separated by primary. Once again, I will get it in a better format so
- it's easier to read. Just wanted to make sure that you guys had the numbers so that you can review them
- until I do have that completed. Thank you. So in layman's terms, we do not have, in my professional opinion,
- the money to run the kind of primary early voting hours or general election early voting hours that
- we are normally accustomed to. And so I am proposing the statute, the Indiana statute says that we only
- have to have voting during the actual hours that the clerk's office is open, which is eight a.m. to four p.m.
- And so
- our money would stretch further to reduce those hours. It is not something that I want to do. It is
- not something that, I mean, it gives me heartburn to even have to suggest it, but the fact of the matter
- is, is that we do not, with the council having removed money from the election budget, we do not have
- the money to run or the staffing or the overtime to run.
- the kind of primary out early voting hours that we are accustomed to. I'm sure I know the answer to
- this already, but you said your hours were 8 to 4. Yes, traditionally, our early voting hours have been
- 8 AM to 6 PM. Are you so I'm proposing the 8 AM to 4 PM, which still complies with the statute saying
- that early voting hours at least have to be.
- the hours that the clerk's office is open in the hours that the clerk's office operates are Monday through
- Friday with the except yes eight to four with the exception of county holidays so that the Saturdays
- are additional days are mandated the last two Saturdays are mandated okay which those would be seven
- hours and would be the nine to four as they always have been and I'm again I know the answer to this
- you couldn't have
- and you maybe don't want to have, rather than an eight to four have a 10 to six. I'm sure that's probably
- not acceptable on specific days. So people would have that until six o'clock when they customarily,
- and I know what that means, are off of work in time to have some time after work. Because eight to four
- is few people work
- jobs that give them eight to four you're correct you're correct i am saying i would not have the staffing
- to people people's hours their regularly scheduled hours are 8 a.m to 4 p.m and so and the statute says
- you have to have early voting during the hours that the clerk's office is open this not only impacts
- early voting in terms of the voters we will not be able to do evening poll worker training weekend poll
- worker training many of the
- accustomed to doing because the money was there. The money is no longer there. Didn't the county council
- tell you on more than one occasion that you could come back and ask for additional appropriations? What
- my liaisons and I spoke about is the fact that we are lucky to have jobs this year, that next year's
- budget is going to be worse. The next year's budget is going to be worse than that. And so there
- I did not hear anything from my liaisons that guaranteed me that the money would be there when we go
- back. But it's on public record in the council meetings, at least two different times that they said,
- you can come back for additional appropriations based upon how much you actually spent in the primary,
- right? They have not said that directly to me. I am saying they removed the money that we had,
- They did invite me to come back. I am saying that I have no reason to put no guarantees that the money
- is there or will be there. Everything got cut. But we have to do in the general what we do in the primary
- correct, which is why I'm proposing that that's why I'm saying that. If we try to run one that we're
- accustomed to, there's no guarantee that the money would be there to do the same thing in November.
- But I think that they would be compelled to because under statute, they have to meet the same hours.
- Furthermore, one of the things that I have heard you say multiple times is that voters don't like change.
- And in this situation, people expect to be able to vote until 6 p.m. in this county. And I think it would
- that we're not going to be able to do that. I understand what the law requires but I also understand
- what voters in this county are accustomed to having available to them. Okay and I understand what you're
- saying I am saying. That. In the same you know the money is not there in the same way that you would
- never. You could never ask a law enforcement agency stop
- Their overtime was not touched. Their resources were not touched in that way. My staff leaves at four.
- I have no one to supervise poll workers and staff that we hire if the office closes at four. So if the
- money is not there, we have to stop at four. It impacts travel board. It impacts poll worker training.
- We do not have the money to run a regular
- primary in the way that we are accustomed to. Kylie, has this proposed schedule been taken to the council?
- It has been given to both liaisons that we have for the clerk's office and a county commissioner. So
- are we maybe a little bit ahead of where we need to be until we hear back from them? We have heard.
- making a decision. We have heard back from them. I went to a PAC meeting about the hiring freeze and
- how it was going to affect us. And what we were told during that PAC meeting is the years to come are
- going to change. So it's best to cut services now than it is to lose employees in the future. If I may,
- Mr. Chair,
- I don't know that the information has been provided to full council. I have not seen an email to full
- council with this. I think it's been provided to two council members, so I don't know if providing it
- to full council would be a conversation starter. And in regards to the hiring freeze at the PAC meeting,
- The policy that the county council passed allows for an exemption in the hiring freeze. It establishes
- a process. Nothing prevents the clerk's office from asking the council to make an exemption. They didn't
- make a blanket exemption, but if you submit a request prior to the primary saying we need this many
- poll workers, council might have a discussion more in depth about that. So again, I go back to
- Should we not take this and take what Kylie's put together with state statute as you've talked about,
- send it to the entire council and say, this is what we're going to do with the money that we have. If
- you want more than this, we need the dollars to be able to do that. I think it's worth the conversation
- with the council. So yes.
- that's what I would recommend. I think having a conversation with them. Does that work for you folks?
- I mean, the conversation is certainly worth having. I feel like if it would resonate, if it were going
- to resonate, we would not have lost the money in the first place. Because
- everybody knows elections have to happen. Everybody knows what Monroe County is used to. And so, yes,
- I spoke with my liaisons. I have no reason to believe that they would keep it a secret from their colleagues.
- Do you have any thoughts on it? Well, I was in touch with my chair about this, and she felt that shortening
- daily hours would disproportionately affect voters who rely on the flexibility of voting options.
- such as working families, students, seniors, and those with transportation barriers. And so the position
- of my chair and I also hold is that we should not cut those hours, that we should maintain what we've
- been offering so that we encourage as many people as possible to vote. And we want, I know that you
- also favor elections that are open and available to people.
- and so I my position I would like to maintain the longer hours. I don't think anybody doesn't want to
- maintain longer hours. The issue is we have to pay the people that work those longer hours and the council
- has not chosen to give the money to work those longer hours. I've been into early voting at different
- times where
- there are more people working than there are in there to vote. And so I'm wondering about staffing levels,
- whether or not it would be appropriate to for the first two weeks to perhaps reduce some of the staffing
- there to help save some money. That's what I already do. The first two weeks were at a lower number.
- And then the second two weeks of the full 28 days, we increase the number up to the full staffing.
- Are there the times I've been down there, there's rarely a line of people waiting at all. So I'm wondering
- if it's feasible, especially given what the clerk has heard about future years to perhaps reduce that
- by just a little bit more. I did that with the numbers that I presented you guys today. We would normally
- have more than what I have accounted for for this year.
- We generally have about 12 to 14 clerks, and I have cut it down to, I believe, 10 for the general and
- eight for the
- Primary. So what do we need to do? I will say that having an election board that will be present at
- the County Council meeting if we go before them to bring up the issues will probably be the best solution
- so that they see that it's across the board, not just one individual coming to them saying we don't
- have the money to do this.
- Knowing that the election board all wants it to stay the way that it's always been, but we don't have
- the money for it to be the way that it's always been. But also the staff in my office are constantly
- working during early voting. At least two of us are there until 6pm every single night of early voting
- and with the overtime hours being cut that's leaving us in the situation of
- trying to figure out how we're going to balance schedules when we're very busy during that time, both
- in the office and during early voting, but as well as training going on that month at the same time.
- Do we surmise that the general public yet understands what you are being forced to do because of dollars?
- We have a very select few people who do understand and then we have had a couple of individuals reach
- out to us to ask how they can help us. So in the media sitting a couple of rows beyond, you could probably
- help us with that. Yeah. This also relies on having 29 polling locations. Is that correct? There is
- two setups there. There's one for having 29 polling locations and one for 22.
- Myself and staff have worked the past couple of weeks on figuring out where the best numbers will be
- to set 22 locations without disenfranchising anybody in the outer parts of the county, but also making
- sure that we're not overcrowded on anywhere that is inside of the city.
- And then there are a couple of locations that we are gonna have to look to replace, which are both on
- those lists as well. One of which was Metalwood, they are having some construction that I have been
- informed about that could potentially cause issues next year. So I've looked at replacing them and all
- of those are on your guys's list of polling locations for next year.
- There have been a number of elections where there have been zero sheriffs, both hired and trained. Can
- I ask what the purpose of the sheriffs is for the general election? The purpose of the sheriff is to
- keep general order in the area. It's not like police order, but just make sure that
- think lines are running smoothly. And so we don't at our smaller locations. I don't recall ever having
- one where we have zero sheriffs. The smaller ones we don't use. Sheriffs larger like our schools and
- our churches we do just to kind of keep the lines moving and keep people who might be confused in going
- on the path that they need to go on to vote efficiently.
- And on the numbers that I gave you guys, I did do no sheriff's at all during the primary election and
- have sheriff's at some, I believe almost all of the locations in the general again because of the feedback
- that we're getting about potential higher turnout in the midterm than what we're expecting. So is it
- just one sheriff per location generally?
- Generally one, if it's a really large location like St. John's, that's our largest location in the county.
- I think they have close to five to 6,000 people that vote there. We have two at that location. So at
- 22 locations, why would we need 41 sheriffs? It's again putting two sheriffs at the bigger locations
- and one at the smaller locations. So you're only putting
- one sheriff at three locations. The others all have to. If you've got 41 sheriffs in 22 locations. Don't
- have that list with me. I'll have to. Yeah, I know I don't have that sheet with me.
- can't schedule that for which you cannot pay. So the only option would seem to be visiting with the
- county council with this and saying, this is what we can do with what you've given to us versus what
- we've done in the past. You tell us what you want us to do and then we will make do with what you give us.
- with the polling locations. I'm kinda needing an idea of which way we're gonna lean on that because
- of having to reach out to these locations to make sure that they are going to move forward with continuing
- to be a polling location with us next year. There is one location on there, which is the Boys and Girls
- Club. They are completely new, so I just need them to fill out the survey of what we will need to bring
- to that location since they have already said that they would be committed
- to being with us. So that kind of moved into the next thing on the agenda was the locations. I know
- we'd like to have lots of polling locations. I'd like to have one in each precinct, but we don't have
- the money for that. How much do you, I'm sorry. No, you go, you're working, go ahead.
- what do we save by doing 22 versus 29? Is that on here that I haven't actually went through yet?
- So I see it. I see it. Yeah. Okay. That total out to the right is the total. Correct. For the whole
- year. So we're talking $16,000 by going to 22. Okay. Because the same number of voters are eligible
- to vote next year as was
- the presidential, which is everyone. My preference would be the 29 polling locations because they are
- the current voters are used to going there. When we were talking about reducing the number of polling
- locations, that was because we were considering vote centers, which is not an option of which I am aware
- at this time.
- So again, I think that's where we are. Do we need to pick 22 or 29 today?
- I don't think you have to approve a list today. I think you can provide guidance to Ms. Ferris on who
- you'd like her to reach out to, whether it's 29 or 22, to see, have a conversation with them to see
- if they're available, what the situation is, and then later you can approve, based on what Ms. Ferris
- figures out, later you can approve the list. So you don't have to approve it today. So without looking
- at it, if you have 22,
- versus 29, 29, the same 22 were there, correct? Correct. We're talking about adding seven more. Well,
- then I would think the best thing to do is reach out to your 22. And then we need to find out as quickly
- as possible through the county council, how much money are we going to get? And then we can decide if
- we need to go to 29 or get to go to 29, I think would be the term. Does that make sense to you? Does
- that work?
- I'll say I agree just because once we reach out to locations about being polling locations, they get
- very excited and don't want to unreach out exactly. Yeah. Yeah, does that work? It's what we have.
- You know. I'd like to go to Hawaii next week, but I don't have the money to do it, so you know how that
- goes. It's kind of the same thing. Spacey was going to stay this cold. OK, so. Do we need a motion?
- to do this? I think you could do a motion to provide Ms. Ferris that guidance. It wouldn't be a motion
- to approve. So the resolution that I provided was actually approving, and I think we're not there yet.
- So do we need to pass your motion?
- I would propose no, do not pass the resolution passing the resolution is saying these are the polling
- sites, and I don't think we're there yet. I think what I'm hearing is a proposal for a motion to provide
- Miss Ferris guidance to reach out to the 20 the list of 22 and then you would have a further conversation
- thereafter. That work. You want OK, OK. But I'll move that we do as we were just as Molly just said.
- need to see the whole thing over again. It's on the record. Is there a second? Second. Those in favor,
- aye. Aye. Opposed? Okay, motion carries. So Kylie, reach out to the 22 and then keep us informed. I
- would like to know if we're going to actually meet at a county council meeting and say, hey, you know,
- this is what your decisions are going to lead us to be doing.
- I think to do that, procedurally, the clerk's office would have to submit a request to the county council
- office, and then the council's meeting on the 9th, so obviously it wouldn't be on the 9th, but their
- next council meeting is on the 16th of December. None of us will be here. None of us will be here. It's
- election conference. I mean, you could do it the early January meeting of 2026.
- I had to think for a minute what year it was give you enough time to do what you need to do. We do that
- meeting the 26 it would give me enough time to get stuff turned around so that we're ready for the February
- meeting for approval of the locations and then they'll have to be submitted to the county commissioners
- for their approval. So why don't we that makes sense to me we will. We will.
- visit that meeting and you said what date was that you said again? 12. The council meeting date. Yes,
- the December one is. December 16th. I'm looking up currently the January meeting date since the election
- board is unavailable for the 16th.
- January 13th is the first council meeting of 2026 with an agenda deadline request of January 5th. So
- you'd have to get your request in by the 5th of January. Oh, January. I'm sorry. I was not clear. OK.
- Well, that seems to me that that pretty much is our option. All right. Thank you, both of you.
- So do we need to go to the polling location discussion, or is that a kind of a new point until we find
- out what we're doing? Agreed. That was you approving. OK. That was you guys approving me contacting
- the 22. OK. Training schedule, then, would be next. So training schedule is, again, another conversation
- to start for now and then move forward. It's probably going to tie into the
- council meeting because of weekends and nights we would not be able to hold those training sessions
- which are the ones that always fill up the first because it's convenient for all of our poll workers
- so that'll just be tied into the conversation with the county council probably travel board as well
- correct Kylie yeah so it'll essentially be all election
- that you're going to put together for the- to present to the county council could you actually. Detail
- out over time just for training as opposed to some of the other over time. In case they want to.
- because I think it will hurt recruiting and training if we can't provide the training that has been
- done in the past. I also will say that the training we're looking at having to do a reduction on number.
- I'm not the training the recruiting. We're looking at having to do a reduction of days for the recruiters
- to do their jobs for the election day process because the money is not there for that as well.
- Is there any discussion on any of any public comment on what we've dealt with so far? I think the next
- one kind of changes. Okay, then CFA for filings. I saw a list of that we're missing.
- next is the CFA for filings. We have a few we've been doing some cleanup in our office to make sure
- that we're ready to go for January and to get ready for the next election. We have found that we have
- a few individuals who have not filed a CFA for and then we also have the last we have three on this
- list as well who
- need to close their committees because they either did not succeed in the last election or they did
- not actually end up being in the election. So they just need to close out their campaign finances that
- a way that they can move forward. I just need clarification from you guys that it's okay to contact
- these individuals to let them know that these are the documents were missing and then
- that a way they can get them submitted to us. Since some of these were found later on, I would suggest
- that we just not worry about the finding process for them and just ask them to get us an updated copy
- of their campaign finances. No reason not to just have you do that. I don't know if that has to be passed.
- Yeah, I'll need to just do that. Yeah, I'll just need a motion for you guys to for me to reach out to them.
- what you need to do to clean these up. I'll make a motion for the election supervisor to reach out to
- the named parties regarding their CFA force. A second. Those in favor aye. Mr. Cassidy actually withdrew
- from the race, correct?
- No, so it was passed the deadline for him to withdraw, so he was removed. Okay. Yeah. Thank you. Sorry.
- That was all. Okay. So, okay. No, that wasn't it. Yeah. Where we are. Aye. Opposed? Okay. Reach out
- to those people. Perfect. Okay. Blue Dag update.
- Blue dog update. The contract was approved this morning at the commissioners meeting, so we will be
- moving forward with them. We're just waiting on some conversation between county legal and city legal
- to make sure that we're getting all of the partnership information down and will be good. Molly is still
- working on that with them. So once that is signed, then we'll be good to go and start working on the
- surveys at the polling locations once we have the set locations. Thank you.
- and the vote center update is what do we have anything for that. The vote center update is from the
- conversation that was brought up during the October meeting and coming back to it for the December meeting
- because we had postponed it. So
- With regard to the vote centers, both you and Mr. Grass, the Republican chair, said that you didn't
- take the Republican Party was being treated fairly. That was part of your rationale for voting against
- the vote centers. And one of them was that you were unhappy about an appointment to
- City board you said that it was the county the City Council wasn't City Council was the mayor that that
- was delayed in that, but also you were unhappy about delayed appointment to the health board. And. I
- know personally that I was out trying to recruit people at the time, but also the state.
- The Republican dominated state legislature passed legislation that indicated that in counties the size
- of Monroe that we had to have one of the appointees be provided well that the mayor was to provide three
- nominees for an appointment for the commissioners to choose from. It took a long time and more than one
- Request to get the even just one nominee. And so again, it was the mayor a single individual who delayed
- that appointment It was it was not Monroe County government it was not the Monroe County Democratic
- Party and so I feel that saying something like these delays in these two appointments is it's actually
- pretty petty and
- and it's not relevant to providing safe and secure elections here in Monroe County. And I would ask
- too that had these positions been filled in a way that you were complaining about, would you then be
- in favor of vote centers? I personally am not in favor of the concept of vote centers period, but I'm
- responding and voting based upon the direction I get from my chair and the leadership in the party.
- So I'm not necessarily personally in favor of early voting, but I understand where that is. I'm a precinct
- day of the election person, but I don't make those decisions. But I think it was made very plain in
- a meeting in Kylie's office that the direction that our chair is giving us is that we are currently
- not interested in vote center.
- So, there's no point in having if you want to have a hearing, you're welcome to have people in, I'm
- not attending. Our people are not attending. So we're just kind of. I hate to waste time so that's where
- we are with. So have you read the.
- analysis of municipal election time and the use of vote centers in indiana that was produced by the
- secretary today so the answer is no i haven't read it yet okay well the letter from the secretary of
- state that is part of the preface is dated october the 31st and in the part that deals with the use
- of vote centers beginning on page one
- that says, numerous studies on vote centers and election costs have shown consistent findings of savings
- in the cost to administer vote center elections over precinct based models. And precinct based voting
- on election day has been found to both increasingly be expensive, both in terms of cost and the labor
- that's involved. They were not able to analyze the
- equipment that was needed but in Monroe County because of the way that we do our voting it would require
- fewer scanners perhaps even though it would require more printers so that there would be an offset with
- that. They compared counties within Indiana that had switched both the general between 2016 and 2024
- they had to omit 2020 because of COVID in their analysis and then they also compared
- the midterm elections between twenty eighteen and twenty twenty two. And on page thirty two they say
- the counties that switched from precinct based polling locations in twenty sixteen. In the twenty sixteen
- presidential
- election to vote centers in 2024, quote, utilized approximately 19% fewer poll workers in 2024 than
- in counties that remain precinct based. And I think this speaks to the costs that we're talking about
- and perhaps we would get better cooperation from the county council if we were to go to vote centers
- on what the costs are. And then for
- counties that switched between 2018 and 2022, the midterm elections. They said, quote, when considering
- precinct based counties as a control group, counties that transition from a precinct based model to
- a vote center model utilized approximately 22% fewer poll workers in 2022 than the counties that remain
- precinct based. It goes on to talk about the cost differential and it's about $12,000 per
- county per year. And they said that these findings are basically because reduced staffing which would
- make sense. It also they also talked about the cost per vote. They said in twenty twenty four vote center
- counties spent approximately four dollars and eighty cents per voter compared to six dollars and eighty
- four cents per vote for precinct based counties. So that those vote center counties spent over two dollars
- less per vote than
- what the precinct-based counties are costing. So they said that the summary says after examining multiple
- factors influencing the cost of an election administration, the findings align closely with existing
- research. Vote center counties generally demonstrate greater efficiency than precinct-based counties,
- particularly in staffing.
- By operating fewer locations, vote center counties are able to conduct elections with fewer poll workers,
- especially on election day. While the analysis of equipment-related savings was inconclusive, discussions
- with county election officials indicate that most counties deploy comparable amounts of equipment usage
- regardless of voting model. Therefore, the most notable cost savings are associated with reduced poll
- worker pay, as vote center counties require fewer personnel to operate effectively.
- And when examining turnout, there is little evidence to suggest that vote centers made a major contribution
- to any increase in turnout during the time period study. So I still question your reluctance to go to
- vote centers. They provide convenience, they provide cost savings, and they help with recruiting because
- we don't need as many people
- in those different operations. So again, I am in favor of vote centers, and I don't see why there is
- a reluctance to move to them. Thank you. I'll pass it on to my chair. Would you please ask him also
- if there had not been those other two minor conveniences? This is not the place to get into the- Well,
- you talked about him doing something at a private meeting, not in a public meeting. Excuse me?
- You talked about him meeting with Kylie Farris in the election office. That's not a public meeting.
- He was requested to come to that meeting, which he did. Fine. It's not a public meeting what he said
- there. Again, thank you. Showers project.
- Good afternoon board members. Richard Crider, Monroe County Building and Fleet Department here to give
- you an update on the renovations at Showers North for Election Central. Everything's going on as scheduled.
- If you're ever in the area here soon, I encourage you to step inside and just have a peek in the window.
- I think you're going to be blown away at the size of this place. I brought some some slides. Thank you, TSD.
- If you notice in this image right here, this is the main entrance of showers. You used to be able to
- turn left right there and go ahead and down the hallway, and it's been walled off now. That's the first
- wall to go up. Next slide, please. All right, that's from the west side. And it just doesn't really do
- Justice this the size of this place, but I kind of wanted you to see that next slide, please All right,
- this is uh What am I looking at here? This is kind of if you're standing in the future voters reg office
- next slide Just another angle
- I believe right there, you're going to be, that's the maintenance area. That's Bob's area. Bob, if you're
- online here, it's 11 feet from floor to the joists up above. It's spacious. Next slide. I just wanted
- to kind of see what it looked like above all that ceiling tile that's been pulled away.
- Those are the old floor joists and big support beam, thick lumber. Next slide. All right, that's again,
- that's another view of if you were standing inside of early voting and looking over to what will be
- voters registration in the future. I think that's the last slide I have.
- Do you have any questions? I did have the opportunity for other business to go over to the north side
- of showers yesterday. And I could see through the window the incredible amount of work that is being
- done. And so kudos for everything that you're doing to expedite the project. It will be really nice
- to have everything in one building. That will be a good thing.
- Yeah, I agree. Schedule okay still? Schedule's fine. Okay. Because Kylie kind of has a bit of a problem
- in her office now with flooding and... Yes, that's unfortunate. We had a hot water heater break at the
- Johnson Hardware Building and it's just kind of thrown some wrenches and things. Yes. It's starting
- to look a little normal in there again. So we don't need an update for...
- It's looking normal. I will say that there's going to be some work that needs to be done just to get
- everything back in place. Me and Kreider had a decently long conversation yesterday to kind of get some
- ideas of where we're going to go from here. And it's going to be a lot of hours of trying to get stuff
- done while also working on this voterless maintenance shipment that's being delivered today. And then
- coming into the new year, ready to go.
- for January 7th for candidate filing. So the sorry, you're fine. So as fast as we're moving a showers,
- Johnson is moving like molasses right now. But when you get into something like that, you have insurance
- companies and all types of things that you have to work with. So. That's that. At that. As long as she
- can do what she needs to do down there,
- staff that's works for us. Will this actually increase the size of the election office square footage?
- I think it'll be a little bit lower than what we had combining early voting and voter registration but
- it's getting close to right around the same size. It'll be definitely a lot better to have everything
- in one place though because we'll also have training just right upstairs.
- Yeah, I think there's a deep little decrease in office size, but there's increases in certain other
- areas, you know, so I think it all balances out. Very thoughtful design. Thank you. Thank you.
- Thank you, Richard. Thanks. Having nothing else, I think I will open to public comment.
- So should I be signing this since this is the new little sign-up sheet? Yes. Yes, please. OK. I'm going
- to do that after I'm finished with this. So my name is Cheryl Langdon. And I prepared a three-minute
- comment. Every month since Charlie Kirk's murder, I have put aside a prepared statement because of the
- constant disruption of our constitutional right to domestic tranquility being violated by the Democratic Party.
- In the preamble of our Constitution, those two words have been the cornerstone for our Republic's stability.
- The words, domestic tranquility, have been the key to our unity and sovereignty. And today, I'm putting
- the common aside to remind everyone listening here that the Democratic Party continues to commit treason
- against our nation, very similar to the time of civil disobedience during the Civil War.
- No other time in our history has a party openly committed such treasons that we have been able to witness
- it with our own two eyes and experience it until now. Joe Biden acted as a tyrannical king, and he is
- the first president in American history to willingly leave our nation's borders unsecured by openly
- allowing an invasion of anti-American foreign terrorists onto American soil with the help of his party.
- overthrowing Americans' constitutional rights to domestic tranquility. He and the Democratic Party allowed
- an invasion of foreign enemies to invade by air, land, sea, and by technological communications weaponizing
- the internet against the American people. It was a full assault. A witness testified during the House
- Committee oversight accountability hearing, and I quote,
- President Biden is the first president to ever unsecure a border on purpose." The Democrats deliberately
- committed treason against our nation's sovereignty, and every person hearing my words here today who
- voted for Kamala Harris at the last November's election
- are also complicit in this treasonous crime against our nation's sovereignty and our republic's election
- processes. Even Bernie Sanders admitted in an interview that Biden did everything he could to avoid
- securing our nation's borders. I support redistricting as an option to counter the damage created by
- the treasonous Democratic Party. I furthermore call for tribunals with a complete investigation into
- every person in and outside Biden's administration to be held accountable
- and I call for a ban of the Democratic Party from any participation in our future elections. The disillusion
- of a major political party has not occurred since Andrew Jackson's faction breaking away from the Democrat
- Repub Party that today is formed as the Democrat Party. Also, the disruption of the Great Depression
- and New Deal under FDR creating a political shift transforming the Democratic Party into the party of big
- government. It's time to tell the Democrats to lead the political stage in the United States. It's our
- constitutional right to ensure our domestic tranquility. Thank you.
- Hi, I'm Ralph Shaw from the League of Women Voters. And after seeing those rather impressive pictures
- of how much space the new voting center services will have, I just wondered, will there be noise suppression
- in some way? The old voting operations was noisy, let's say. So can you say anything about how the space
- will be used
- finished. Thanks. I'm not completely sure on how it will be, but I do know that they are going to be
- reinstalling the ceilings. So I think that'll help quite a bit with the noise since Napa was such a
- large space that had the tall ceilings, everything just bounced off of the walls and it got very loud
- in there. But
- We did allocate for a larger office space for the voter registration clerk that will be there. So if
- there is an individual who needs to step in to have a ballot read to them or just an instance that they
- need it to be a little bit more quiet, they can easily step in there, close the door behind them. Also
- that space will be used for any voters that need help with say their registration isn't showing up in
- the poll books, then they'll go in there as well.
- And for the one-on-one with people checking in people on the e-poll books, that will also be noise will
- be less echoey. So there actually will be a wall there that will help with subsiding the noise. So it'll
- kind of be in a smaller area there, and then it will open up to the actual voting booth areas. And then
- the scanners will be down to the far end. Thank you. You're welcome.
- Ceiling tiles will be much better than a metal roof with a bouncing back. Yes. I'm totally with you.
- That's a good thing. Anyone else? Then I would entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. Second.