Attendance: Committee Chair Art Shad; Committee Members ...



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DUVAL COUNTY ELECTION ADVISORY PANEL

MEETING MINUTES

June 27, 2018

3:00 p.m.

Don Davis Room

1st Floor, City Hall

117 West Duval Street

Attendance: Ingrid Montgomery (Chair), Daniel Henry, Leon Carrero, Robert Phillips, Jon McGowan, Charles McWhite, Justin Portlock

Excused: Hunter Anderson

Absent: Toni Alfred

Also: Jeff Clements – City Council Research

Chairwoman Montgomery called the meeting to order at 3:00 p.m. with a quorum present and the members introduced themselves for the record.

Approval of Minutes

The minutes of the May 16, 2018 meeting were approved as distributed.

Supervisor of Elections update

Robert Phillips of the Supervisor of Elections Office reported that qualifying for state and local offices ended last Friday, June . There will be 36 different ballot styles across the city (different combinations of federal, state and local offices), and every voter will be able to vote at least for non-partisan judgeships. Mr. Phillips distributed mock-ups of the 36 ballot styles for the group’s review. The City Council District 12 seat was filled when only one candidate filed for the special election to replace Council Member Doyle Carter. The Tax Collector race will be a unitary (nonpartisan) election and because only 2 Democrats qualified for Florida House District 14, that election will be open to voters of both parties. The November election will include 13 Constitutional amendments and the City straw ballot on the sale of JEA. In response to a question from the Chair, Mr. Phillips said that assistance will be available at the polls for voters who have difficulty reading the ballot; the precinct manager will select a Democrat and a Republican to read the ballot to voter and assist them in marking their ballot. Sample ballots will be mailed on August 3rd to everyone except those who have requested vote-by-mail ballots. Early voting begins on August 13th. State law does not require sample ballots to be mailed to all registered voters, but does require that they be published in a general circulation newspaper. Mr. Phillips said that to his knowledge all 67 Florida counties mail sample ballots for the statewide elections. The sample ballots will be posted on the SOE website as soon as they are ready, which will be prior to when they are mailed.

City Council District 12 member Doyle Carter’s resignation letter becomes effective either on the date that he would assume the office of Tax Collector if he wins or when his successor is elected and certified to take office. His successor in office from the special election will have to run again in the City elections in the spring of 2019.

Regarding voter turnout for the August election, Mr. Phillips said the expectation is for a relatively low turnout (probably 25%). Voters tend to be uninterested in the primary election versus the general election in November. If the Mayor and Sheriff are running unopposed in March and May 2019, the turnout for the election is expected to be extremely low (possibly 10% based on previous similar elections).

Mr. Phillips discussed an SOE news release warning voters not to be confused or misled by a document they may receive in the mail that looks as though it comes from the Supervisor’s office but does not. It is sent by a third party registration organization that generates mailings to voters using outdated public records and may cause properly registered voters to believe that they are not registered or that they need to take some remedial action that is not necessary. Jon McGowan requested the SOE to add the Election Advisory Panel to the distribution list for SOE media releases. Daniel Henry asked about the progress of the signature update effort discussed at a meeting earlier in the year and whether all voters had been contacted; former EAP member John Libby had told the panel in the spring that voters whose signatures may be problematic were being notified by mail and invited to update their signatures, particularly if they intend to vote by mail. Mr. Phillips will inquire at the office about the progress of the effort and how many voters have come in to update their signatures in response to the letters. Mr. Henry asked Mr. Phillips to see if the EAP’s questions on this subject from earlier in the year had been answered.

Ordinance 2018-383 amending the Election Advisory Panel’s authorization in Ordinance Code Chapter 59 was introduced on June 12th and got second reading on June 26th. It will be heard by the Rules Committee on July 17th and, if voted out by the committee, would be on the City Council agenda on July 24th for final action. Jon McGowan said that he understood the Mayor’s Office and the Council leadership are in support of the bill and he has heard no opposition. Chairwoman Montgomery invited EAP members to attend the Rules Committee meeting on the 17th to show their support for the changes and possibly answer questions or speak in favor of the bill if offered the opportunity. The panel was interested in how Council Member Dennis came to be the sponsor of the bill when the request had been made to the Council President.

Old Business

None

New Business

Chairwoman Montgomery announced that Hunter Anderson had indicated his intention to resign from the Election Advisory Panel because of continuing business commitments that prevent him from attending the meetings regularly.

Election of Officers: the panelists discussed their willingness to offer themselves as candidates for office.

Motion (Carrero): nominate Jon McGowan for Chair

Motion (Montgomery): nominate Daniel Henry for Chair

The panel voted 6-0 (Robert Phillips abstaining) for Daniel Henry for Chair. By acclamation, Jon McGowan was elected as Vice Chair and Justin Portlock was chosen as Secretary.

Commissioner Comment

Leon Carrero said that he had reached out to the Spanish Club at the University of North Florida and identified 8 students who will take poll worker training and offer their services as bi-lingual poll workers in the upcoming elections. He also reported that the First Coast Hispanic Chamber of Commerce and Northeast Florida Hispanic Leadership Alliance will hold a “meet the candidates” event and voter registration drive on July 17th and invited EAP members to attend. He also reported that the Clay County Supervisor of Elections is seeking 50 bilingual English/Spanish poll workers.

Public Comment

None

Next meeting

The next meeting will be on September 12th.

There being no further business, the meeting was adjourned at 3:55 p.m.

Jeff Clements, Council Research Division

(904) 630-1405 jeffc@

Posted 9.13.18 9:30 a.m.

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