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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-12-2003 Canvassing Board Minutes MINUTES OF THE CITY OF OCOEE CANVASSING BOARD MEETING HELD MARCH 12, 2003 CALL TO ORDER Mayor Vandergrift called the Canvassing Board to order at 12:00 p.m. in the Commission Chambers Conference Room. The roll was called and a quorum declared present. PRESENT: Mayor Vandergrift, Commissioner Johnson, City Attorney Rosenthal, City City Clerk Grafton, Deputy City Clerk Green, and Deputy City Clerk Whitford, City Manager Gleason (arrived at 12:08 p.m.). Also present were Martha Lopez-Anderson, Victoria and Edna Laney, and Commissioner/Candidates, Anderson, Parker, and Wilsen. ABSENT: Commissioner Howell was not present. Mayor Vandergrift announced a quorum was present. He stated that he had a discussion regarding his support of two of the candidates with the City Attorney to determine if he should sit on the canvassing board. City Attorney Rosenthal explained the City Charter provisions regarding the Canvassing Board and stated in his opinion any participation in the election campaigns by any member of the canvassing board would not be a basis to create a conflict to participate as a member of the canvassing board. Similarly there is no basis for abstaining unless in the case of the Mayor it would be the Mayoral results that were being canvassed. City Clerk Grafton presented Mayor Vandergrift with the sealed City Commission envelopes containing the tabulator tape print outs from District # 2 and District #4. She stated they were presented to her by the Election Clerks. City Attorney Rosenthal stated this was consistent with the City Charter that one set of envelopes be delivered to the Mayor and one set to the City Clerk. Mayor Vandergrift read the results of the tapes from Districts # 2 and # 4. City Clerk Grafton stated her tapes were in agreement with those figures. City Clerk Grafton stated she had just picked up the absentee ballots from the Supervisor of Elections (SOE). The report shows 5 ballots that were rejected by the SOE. Ms. Grafton stated the rest of the ballots were properly signed and witnessed. The total of absentee ballots received by the SOE was 121 and the total accepted was 116. City Attorney Rosenthal recommended the Canvassing Board accept those absentee ballots that have been reviewed by the SOE and determined by the SOE to comply with Florida law. Mavor VanderlZrift stated without obiection the board would acceot those ballots as recommended bv the SOE. Ocoee Canvassing Board March 12, 2003 The Canvassing Board reviewed each of the 5 rejected absentee ballots. Without objection 4 ofthe ballots were rejected and 1 ballot was accepted. City Clerk Grafton confirmed the number of absentee ballots received matches the number of ballots shown on the SOE report which is 116 plus the one ballot accepted by the canvassing board for a total of 117 absentee ballots. Mayor Vandergrift stated for the record that the City Attorney and the City Clerk verified the results as the other members observed and the Canvassing Board would be counting 117 ballots. The entire Canvassing Board and some of the guests relocated to the Water Department area to use the automatic envelope opener to open the outer envelopes of the absentee ballots. Deputy City Clerk Green remained in the conference room with the tabulator tapes. The audio recording was stopped at 12:22 p.m. The Canvassing Board returned to conference room and the audio recording of the meeting resumed at 12:37 p.m. The absentee ballots were sorted and counted by district. There were 18 absentee ballots for District #4 and 99 absentee ballots for District #2 for a total of 117 ballots. Mayor Vandergrift stated for the record the absentee ballot totals given by the SOE for each district on election night were incorrect. The absentee ballots were removed from their secrecy envelopes and sorted by candidate and counted. City Clerk Grafton asked Deputy City Clerk Green to read the totals of the ballots cast for each district. City Attorney Rosenthal stated the results of District #2 race being the election of Scott Anderson and the results of the District #4 race being the election of Nancy Parker. District # 2 Tabulator Count Absentee Ballot Count Total Scott Anderson 508 28 536 Rosemarv Wilsen 274 70 344 Rej ects 1 unmarked Totals 782 99 881 2 Ocoee Canvassing Board March 12, 2003 District # 4 Tabulator Count Absentee Ballot Count Total Rick Bowen 340 4 344 Nancy Parker 386 14 400 Reiects 0 0 0 Totals 726 18 744 Commissioner Johnson. seconded bv Mavor Vander2:rift. moved to acceot the official tabulation and certifv the results of the election. Motion carried 3-0. City Clerk Grafton stated she was often asked about the percentage of voter turn out and asked Deputy City Clerk Green to give the percentage of the registered voters that voted in each district. Deputy City Clerk Green stated the percentage for District #2 it was 26% and for District # 4 the percentage was 21 %. Mayor Vandergrift congratulated both Commissioners Anderson and Parker. Adjournment. The meeting adjourned at 1: 12 p.m. APPROVED Attest: ~.ity o~ocoee.. . f J. ' , " --- U~! -=>~~ " 1- S. Scott Vandergrift, Mayor 3