HCBOE Board Meeting Minutes - April 5th, 2022 - Regular MeetingHARNETT COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS
REGULAR MEETING
APRIL 5, 2022
5:30 P.M.
Present were; Board Chairwoman Allison Fenderson, Secretary Lin Coker, Members: Betsy
McCormick, James Currin and Lewis Bell
Also Present were; Director Claire Jones and Election Technician Jessica Higginbotham
Also present: See sign in sheet
Ms. Fenderson called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm with a moment of silence and Pledge of
Allegiance.
Public Comment
Rebekah Brock
Brian Hinsley
Alan Longman
Tony Spears
Minutes:
The Board reviewed the minutes from March 1, 2022. Mr. Coker moved to approve the minutes.
After some discussion, Mr. Currin seconded. Approved without dissent.
Business:
The Board reviewed the list of Multi -partisan assistance team (MAT) members, attached hereto,
submitted by Mrs. Jones. Mrs. McCormick moved to approve the list. Mr. Currin seconded.
Approved without dissent.
Mrs. Jones submitted to the Board the Ballot Duplication plan, attached hereto. Mrs. Jones
briefly reviewed the plan and confirmed the process is the same as it was in 2020. Mr. Coker
moved to approve the plan. Mr. Currin seconded. Approved without dissent.
Mrs. Jones informed the Board that the hiring panel has selected Shannon Cole for the Deputy
Director position. She comes from Cumberland County Board of Elections with 14 years of
experience. The hiring panel will meet soon to address the Election Specialist opening.
Mr. Currin updated the Board on his effort to reach out to the Harnett County Schools
concerning getting registration information to high school students. There was some discussion
regarding registration at public and private schools. Mrs. McCormick stated that she thought the
original motion was to cover the central office, but was ok with Mr. Currin reaching out to the
individual schools as a citizen.
Mrs. Jones updated the Board on the following items:
• Calendar
o Absentee voting by mail began March 28
■ 47 sent out, 1 returned
o Absentee meeting begins April 12
Mrs. McCormick stated that she received the election notice in her water bill.
Mr. Bell discussed adding up to four years of Board meeting minutes to the Board of Elections
website; it is currently termed for two years. Mrs. Fenderson suggested going back to 2016 to
cover the presidential election. After some discussion, Mr. Bell moved to include all Board
minutes from 2016 forward to the website. Mr. Currin seconded. Approved without dissent.
Mr. Rodney Johnson spoke up and requested to submit a complaint against the Board of
Elections staff, stating that Paul Cox (State Board of Elections Staff Attorney) stated he could.
Ms. Fenderson accepted the complaint/police report and asked Mrs. Jones to forward copies to
all Board members. They will discuss at the April 12 meeting.
With no further business to discuss, Mr. Currin moved to adjourn. Mrs. McCormick seconded.
The meeting adjourned at 6:23 pm.
The next meeting of the Board will be an absentee meeting on April 12, 2022 at 5:00 pm.
Approved by:
Z':�Oos_ k,
Allison Fenderson, Chairwoman
LJ
in Coker, Secretary
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Betsy McCormick, Member
mes Currin, Member
Lewis Bell, Member
2022 Multi -Partisan Assistance Team (MAT)
Primary
Shelia Douglas (D) - 910-366-0546
Robin Miller (R) - 760-408-7761
Backe
Etta McNeill (D) - 919-820-5868
Sara Titchener (R) - 910-890-1606
BALLOT DUPLICATION POLICY
Purpose
To establish uniform standards for duplicating military and overseas ballots in preparation for
special Board of Elections meetings to review absentee -by -mail ballots in accordance with N.C.
Gen. Stat. 163-234(2).
Policy and Procedures
The Harnett County Board of Elections authorizes, under established standards and conditions,
staff to perform ballot duplication for military and overseas ballots, transmitted by fax or email, as
a preparatory step prior to absentee board meetings. The following standards and conditions must
be met:
1. Ballot duplication must be conducted by a team of Board of Elections employees under
the supervision of the Director of Elections.
2. The Director of Elections shall train all members of the duplication team prior to the
start of ballot duplication.
3. The Director of Elections must assign each member of the ballot duplication team with
one of the following responsibilities:
a. Ballot Duplicator — This person is responsible for replicating voter selections from
a machine -rejected ballot onto a blank machine-readable ballot of the same style as
instructed by the Ballot Caller.
b. Ballot Caller — This person is responsible for calling out voter selections listed on
the machine -rejected ballot to the Ballot Duplicator and Ballot Reviewer.
c. Ballot Review — This person is responsible for reviewing the Ballot Caller's
readings from the machine -rejected ballot and those recorded on the machine-
readable ballot by the Ballot Duplicator to ensure accuracy.
4. Prior to the start of ballot duplication, members of the duplication team shall complete
a participation log noting the date, time, their name, and party affiliation.
5. During the ballot duplication process, duplication teams are not permitted to exit each
other's immediate presence unless authorized by the Director of Elections until the
ballot duplication process has been completed.
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Ballot Duplication Policy
6. All duplicated ballots must contain the following in the blank box at the top of each
ballot:
a. The notation `Duplicate'.
b. Ballot number assigned to the voter.
c. Precinct of the voter.
7. Upon completion of ballot duplication, the duplication team must ensure that the
duplicated machine-readable ballots are attached to the corresponding machine -
rejected ballots for the Board to verify at its next scheduled meeting.
8. Members of the duplication team will be required to enter the time of completion and
their signatures to the ballot duplication log.
9. The following shall be bound together, by duplication team, and provided to the
Director of Elections or his/her designee:
a. The completed ballot duplication log.
b. The duplicated machine-readable ballots attached to the corresponding
machine -rejected ballots.
10. The Director of Elections shall place the content provided by the duplication team in
the secured ballot room, per established rules, until the next Board of Elections
meeting.
11. The Board shall review the duplicated ballots at its next scheduled Board meeting prior
to approval and authorization of optical scanning as a preparatory step.
12. After the duplicated ballots have been verified by the Board, the original ballots shall
be placed in an envelope labeled "Original Ballots Duplicated and Read into Tabulator
_MM_/_DD_/_YYYY---," and the envelope shall be sealed and signed by each member
of the Board. The duplicate ballot envelope will be secured with other absentee ballot
materials and retained for the same period as other Election Day materials.
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Harnett County Board of Elections
308 W. Duncan Street Lillington, NC 27546
SIGN -IN SHEET
Meeting Date: 141
Meeting Type: Ll - S -
Print Name j Position/Title (if Address Phone Number
applicable)
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