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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-15-2006 Canvassing/Audit Board Minutes MINUTES OF THE CITY OF OCOEE CANVASSING BOARD MEETING HELD MARCH 15,2006 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Vandergrift called the Canvassing Board to order at 12:06 p.m. in the Commission Chambers Conference Room. The roll was called and a quorum declared present. ROLL CALL: Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioner Johnson, and former City Clerk Jean Grafton. Also present were City Clerk Eikenberry, Recording Clerk Aycock, City Attorney Rosenthal, Supervisor of Elections Representatives Dan Beavers and Jack Callender, Commissioner/Candidates Scott Anderson, John Grogan, Joel Keller, Janet Shira, Jim Sills, Bill Simon (husband to candidate Shelly Simon), and several other citizens. ABSENT: None. Mayor Vandergrift thanked all candidates running for office. He introduced the two gentlemen from the Supervisor of Elections Office, Mr. Dan Beavers and Mr. Jack Callender, who would be running the absentee ballot tabulations. Mr. Beavers explained the process of running a zero tape first to be sure the machine is working, then running through the actual absentee ballots, and finally running another zero tape. He said this process guarantees the machine is working properly. City Attorney Rosenthal stated that the City Commission had previously determined that they would follow the procedures established by the Orange County Supervisor of Elections (hereafter referred to as SOE) with respect to the Canvassing Boards' activities. City Clerk Eikenberry read the rules for the Canvassing Board. She said the step of opening envelopes could be performed manually in the conference room, or automatically using the machine in the Customer Service Department, in the presence of the Canvassing Board members. City Clerk Eikenberry announced that two (2) rejected absentee ballots were due to the signature on the envelope not matching the signature that SOE had on file. She state the Canvassing Board is at liberty to decide whether to accept these two ballots or not. City Attorney Rosenthal read the name of the first citizen with a rejected ballot due to a mismatched signature, Wynona Woodson. He passed her absentee ballot on to the Mayor for review. Mayor Vandergrift stated that Wynona Woodson is gravely ill and he is satisfied with the signature because he understands why it is so sloppy. The Canvassing Board reviewed the signature and unanimously decided to accept her vote. City Attorney Rosenthal said the next rejected ballot due to mismatched signature belonged to Doris Marie Slmick. Comments were made regarding Ms. Slmick being ill as well. A citizen in attendance inquired if the citizens were gravely ill if they would be Ocoee Canvassing Board March 15,2006 considered to be in sound mind. City Attorney Rosenthal stated that was not for the Canvassing Board to decide, their only decision was whether they believed the signature was fraudulent or legitimate. Mayor Vandergrift said that the signatures of Ms. Slmick were different in that one used a middle initial used and one used a middle name. Commissioner Johnson stated his rejection to the ballot. Jean Grafton stated the signatures did not look the same, but inquired if they should be consistent because Mrs. Woodson's signature did not look the same either; however, they happened to know how ill she was. Mayor Vandergrift said that Ms. Slmick's signature type is different, not just the handwriting. A vote was taken and all voted to reject the ballot of Doris Marie Slmick. City Attorney Rosenthal stated that one ballot was rejected due to lack of a signature by Betsy Singer. Jean Grafton said that no signature is no vote. The Canvassing Board voted unanimously to reject the ballot of Betsy Singer. City Attorney Rosenthal stated that one ballot was rejected by Beth Eikenberry. City Clerk, Beth Eikenberry, stated the reason for the rejected according to SOE is that they did not have identification for her on file. She said that because she was a first time absentee ballot user in Orange County, that they had a problem finding her I.D. on file. Beth Eikenberry said she believed they had it so did not send a copy of it with her ballot. City Attorney Rosenthal reminded everyone that the purpose of the Canvassing Board is to decide if the ballot is fraudulent or legitimate and that Beth Eikenberry is present and states her ballot is legitimate. The Canvassing Board voted and it was unanimous to accept the ballot of Beth Eikenberry. Citizen, Rosemary Wilsen, inquired how the ballot could be accepted by the Canvassing Board when SOE rejected it because of lack of identification being on file, which the rules state it needs to be. Mayor Vandergrift stated it was a common sense approach because Beth Eikenberry is present to ensure her vote is legitimate. City Attorney Rosenthal expressed the purpose of the Canvassing Board is to review and look at the absentees and make a decision. He said the SOE office does the initial sort and states their evaluation of the ballot, which the canvassing board has the power to officially determine whether to accept or deny. In other words, the SOE just passes on the information they have and leaves it to the Canvassing Board to determine. City Clerk Eikenberry announced that 142 absentee ballots were accepted, and four were rejected. City Attorney Rosenthal stated that two of the rejected ballots have now 2 Ocoee Canvassing Board March 15,2006 been accepted by the Canvassing Board, making a total of 144 absentee ballots to be counted. Without objection, the Canvassing Board accepted the review by the Supervisor of Elections Office and accepts the stack of 144 absentee ballots. Jean Grafton inquired if they would separate ballots by district. Dan Beavers, SOE, explained the tabulator would categorize the ballots by precinct. City Clerk Eikenberry asked if the envelopes could be kept separated by precinct in case a recount is required. Mayor Vandergrift appointed Jean Grafton to observe the opening of the ballots from the automatic machine. Employee Cathy Sills, wife of Commission Candidate Jim Sills, stated she would show Jean Grafton how to operate the opening machine in her department, and then leave the area. Citizen Rosemary Wilsen asked if Commission Candidates were allowed to attend the opening and was informed that anyone was welcome to overlook the process. Jean Grafton stated the ballots needed to be counted before leaving the room to be sure the numbers are correct. City Attorney Rosenthal said they counted a total of 144 ballots and they did not need to be sorted by precincts because the tabulator would sort that. The meeting was recessed for about ten minutes while the ballots were being automatically opened. Dean Beavers, SOE, opened the side panels of the tabulator for all to view as being empty and ran a tape of all zeros to determine the machine was functioning accurately. Meanwhile, the Canvassing Board opened all absentee ballot envelopes and separated the secrecy envelopes with the ballots inside from the outer envelopes, placing them in a box. Any ballots missing the secrecy envelope were removed by the SOE worker and put to the bottom of the box, out of view to others. Once all envelopes were emptied, the empty envelopes were checked to be sure no ballots were left. The Canvassing Board then removed the secrecy envelopes from the box and pulled out the ballots, which they laid face down in the box. Dean Beavers, SOE, ran the ballots through the tabulator and explained that sometimes ballots are rejected from the machine due to the wrong type of marker being used on the paper, which the machine is unable to read. He said in the case of rejected ballots, the Canvassing Board would need to duplicate the ballot with the correct pen, at which time they could discuss the user intent. City Clerk Eikenberry read the rules for duplicating ballots. 3 Ocoee Canvassing Board March 15,2006 Dean Beaters, SOE, stated that the rejected ballots would need to be marked 01, 02, 03, etc. and the coinciding duplicated ballot would be marked D1, D2, D3, etc. City Attorney Rosenthal marked the rejected and duplicate ballots as necessary with Jean Grafton observing for accuracy. City Attorney Rosenthal announced that twenty-seven (27) duplicate ballots were created and ran back through the machine. Dean Beavers, SOE, ran another zero tabulation to prove the machine was working properly. City Attorney Rosenthal stated the Mayor would open the sealed envelopes with the totaling tapes from each polling location, and would verify the numbers match those in the Clerk's envelopes. City Clerk Eikenberry stated that two different tapes would exist for each polling location, one for the paper ballots and one for the electronic touch- screen(Ivotronic)ballots. Mayor Vandergrift announced the following numbers: District 1 —276 paper ballots were cast; no electronic Ivotronic ballots were cast. John Grogan 107 votes Gary Hood 169 votes District 2—672 paper ballots were cast; no Ivotronic ballots were cast. Scott Anderson 320 Darrell Lowery 68 Janet Shira 146 Jim Sills 138 District 4—218 paper ballots were cast; 67 Ivotronic ballots were cast. Joel Keller 119 paper votes, 34 Ivotronic votes= 153 total votes Shelly Simon 99 paper votes, 33 Ivotronic votes= 132 total votes Dean Beavers, SOE, stated the Ivotronics touch-screen voting is available at all polling locations for handicapped voters; however, it is at the polling agents' discretion whether to let all voters choose between the two or not. He said that in the future the touch-screen polling booth will probably be the only type available. City Clerk Eikenberry stated the early voting took place prior to Election Day at the Supervisor of Elections office and explained to the Mayor how to read those results from the tape. She further added that only thirteen (13) total early votes were received for the whole City. Mayor Vandergrift announced the following early voting results: District 1 — 1 Early Vote 4 Ocoee Canvassing Board March 15,2006 • Gary Hood 1 vote District 2—2 Early Votes Darrell Lowery 2 votes District 4— 10 Early Votes Joel Keller 6 votes Shelly Simon 4 votes Citizen Cathy Sills inquired if the early votes were included in the polling place tabulations, or were they in addition to. City Clerk Eikenberry said they were additional. City Attorney Rosenthal said the results from the absentee ballots were ready and City Clerk Eikenberry calculated the totals. Mayor Vandergrift announced the following results for the absentee ballots: District 1 — 14 Absentee Ballots John Grogan 6 votes Gary Hood 8 votes District 2—97 Absentee Ballots Scott Anderson 41 votes Darrell Lowery 12 votes Janet Shira 30 votes Jim Sills 14 votes District 4—33 Absentee Ballots Joel Keller 23 votes Shelly Simon 10 votes Mayor Vandergrift stated there were no over-votes and no under-votes and explained that over-votes are ballots with more than one candidate marked and under-votes are blank ballots. At this time the Clerk calculated the totals. Mayor Vandergrift read the results of the tabulator as follows: District 1 —291 Total Ballots John Grogan 113 at 39% of Votes 5 Ocoee Canvassing Board March 15,2006 Cre Gary Hood 178 at 61% of Votes District 2—771 Total Ballots Scott Anderson 361 Votes at 47%of Total Votes Darrell Lowery 82 Votes at 11% of Total Votes Janet Shira 176 Votes at 23% of Total Votes Jim Sills 152 Votes at 20% of Total Votes Mayor Vandergrift stated a Runoff Election would be necessary in District 2 to be held Tuesday,April 11, 2006,between Scott Anderson and Janet Shira. District 4—328 Total Ballots Joel Keller 182 Votes at 55%of Total Votes Shelly Simon 146 Votes at 45% of Total Votes City Clerk Eikenberry stated that a recount would not be necessary. City Attorney Rosenthal stated that there were no provisional ballots; therefore, no meeting was necessary on Monday. Dean Beavers, SOE, said the tabulator ran a zero tape again, both tapes matched; therefore, the tabulator worked both before and after, and understandably during. Mayor VanderRrift, seconded by Jean Grafton, moved to certify the election results as announced as Gary Hood being elected as Commissioner of District 1, a Run-Off between Scott Anderson and Janet Shira for District 2, and Joel Keller being elected as Commissioner of District 4. Motion carried unanimously. Mayor Vandergrift announced that Commissioner Gary Hood and Commissioner Joel Keller would be sworn in at the City Commission Meeting March 21, 2006, and a Run- Off Election between Scott Anderson and Janet Shira would be held on April 11, 2006. Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 1:50 p.m. APPROVED Attest: City of Ocoee Beth Eikenberry, City Clerk S. 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O 0 ;t' ;, a� � 2p0o L > ,5, = C � Li- C N O U U , a. < 2ONQO � i• L of O a) ,- = ,, �- Ato 0 `. coU • " O� — 0 —O ` ,� ' " ^C 0 Rs CC.) 1:3 ono .c ot cn r ua o o vC j _ � ._lC/Do o U N o5oa) ) ' v a 1)v • a) CD 0 cp O C� i u cd """ O O Cl) 1.�/) U) H ° ON � A ° L7 A � Q � ti Ativi I-. 000 Im t OaavES•SUpFR` vv ► �— Olt BILL COWLES • OUR MISSION IS TO: Supervisor of Elections c VT m Ensure the integrity of the electoral process. r rn Enhance public confidence. Orange County, Florida 0 . Encourage citizen participation. y� I - 1 �1 �'OOJ 39N'�O To: Beth Eikenberry, Ocoee City Clerk From: Pat Fletcher, Voter Service Manager Date: March 15, 2006 Re: Voted Absentee Ballots The following return ballots have been removed from the absentee vault on March 15, 2006. The City of Ocoee has no 4 questionable ballots. Rejected Batch # 9460 Total 4 Card#7 Batch # Total 1755 5 1756 1 0 1757 1crs 1758 3 mc 1759 3 = c:-/',.:'. rrh f._;a r-- 1766 1 u- C1"'r. Card#8 cc2 Batch # Total 7.:m r 1761 10 ="°r—(:' 1762 13 1763 9 rit 1764 5 1765 7 1767 8 1768 34 1769 8 1770 2 Card#9 Batch # Total 1771 6 1772 4 . 1773 6 1774 3 1775 5 L 1776 3 1777 5 Total Ballots Received 14,E Received Bar 119 West Kaley Street, Orlando • Reply to: Post Office Box 562001, Orlando, Florida 32856 Phone (407) 836-2070 • Fax(407) 254-6596 • TDD (407) 422-4833 • Internet: www.ocfelections.com Canvassing Board Results March 15,2006 at 12:00 p.m. City of Ocoee General Election March 14, 2006 23 0 182 4% 10 0 146 3% 1233 13 144 0 1390 12% The City ofOcoee Canvassing Board met at noon on March 15,2006. The members of the Board are Commissioner Rusty Johnson, Mayor S. Scott Vandergrift, and Jean Grafton, retired Ocoee City Clerk. Also present were City Attorney Rosenthal, City Clerk Eikenberry, Recording Secretary Aycock, System Engineer Dane Beavers of the Orange County Supervisor of Elections, Elections Clerk Jack Callendar, and 13 interested persons. Absentee ballots were reviewed (146) and two were rejected. There were no provisional ballots. Total absentee ballots (144) were combined with totals from early voting (13) and votes counted at the precincts on March 14,2006 (1233). Ocoee Code of Ordinances Section C-46 (C) states,In the event no candidate for a city elective office receives a majority of the votes cast for that office, then a runoff election between the two candidates who received the most votes for such office shall be held..." The election was certified as follows: District 1, Gary Hood elected with 61 % of the votes. District 4, Joel F. Keller elected with 55% of the votes. District 2, Run-off Election will be held on April 11, 2006, between Scott Anderson (47%) and Janet Shira (23%). .