Minutes
State Board of Elections Meeting
State Capitol, Pierre
May 13, 2005
The
meeting was called to order by chair Chris Nelson at 8:30a.m.on May 13,
2005 with the following members responding:
Present
Chris
Nelson Gail Brock
Linda Lea Viken (teleconference)
Paula
Jones Christopher Madsen
Karen
Layher Richard Casey
Kea Warne,
Secretary of State's staff; Jennifer Jacobson, HAVA Coordinator; Sue
Roust, Minnehaha County Auditor; Patty McGee, Sully County Auditor; Rich
Petersen, Brown & Saenger; Geralyn Sherman, McCook County Auditor;
Shelly Pfaff, SDCCD; Sherri Sundem Wald, Office of Attorney General;
Connie Konrad, Hyde County Auditor; Bill Lynch, ASBSD and Jason Schulte,
SDDP.
Moved by
Brock and seconded to approve the minutes of the December 14, 2004
meeting. Passed.
Secretary
Nelson discussed the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) voting machine
acquisition. The state has decided to purchase Election Systems and
Software’s (ES&S) Automark electronic ballot marking machine to meet the
HAVA requirement of one electronic voting machine per polling place by
the first Federal election in 2006. Nelson informed the board of the
certification process that is required for the ES&S optical scan
counting machines and certification process of the Automark.
Moved by
Viken and seconded to send representatives from the Office of Secretary
of State to Omaha to review the certification process of the machines
and then to report back to the board for approval of the certifications.
A rules
hearing was declared open.
Moved by
Viken and seconded to approve the changes to ARSD 5:02:03:01 as amended
which include the requirement of the voter’s date of birth on the voter
registration form. Madsen suggested additional information for the
voter to read as follows: Any private person or entity registering
voters is required to provide you with their contact information. Viken
suggested moving the instructions on the bottom of the registration form
to the top of the form, so that voters would be more likely to see
them. Roust suggested printing those instructions in a paragraph form
at the top instead of having them centered. Passed
Moved by
Layher and seconded to approve the changes to ARSD 5:02:03:12 which will
allow agencies to use the 8 � x 11 size voter registration form along
with the agency voter registration instructions. Passed.
Moved by
Casey and seconded to approve the changes to ARSD 5:02:03:13 as amended
to include the additional information for voters to be in the same
wording as in ARSD 5:02:03:01. Passed.
Moved by
Madsen and seconded to approve the changes to ARSD 5:02:03:16 to inform
voters on the confirmation mailing notice if they indicate a residence
address outside their voter registration county, their voter
registration will be canceled and they will need to register in the new
county or state. Passed.
Moved by
Brock and seconded to add ARSD 5:02:03:23 to create parameters for voter
registration verification with social security administration records.
One amendment for Code W under the County Auditor Action column was
changed to read withdraw registration and investigate. Passed.
Moved by
Viken and seconded to approve the changes to ARSD 5:02:05:22 as amended
to add a line to list the type of ballot provided to the voter. Viken
suggested to add the words “in this precinct” in the voter affirmation
portion. Passed.
Moved by
Madsen and seconded to approve changes to ARSD 5:02:08:21 by adding the
month of November and changing the word Primary to read General on the
petition to increase or decrease number of county commissioners.
Passed.
Moved by
Brock and seconded to add ARSD 5:02:09:02.03 as amended to create
criteria for approving electronic ballot marking systems. In section
(1) change it to 250 marked ballots, section (14) to read a voter who
uses a mobility device, section (18) to read “Marks ballots that can be
accurately counted as provided in ARSD 5:02:09:02.01 for each automatic
tabulating system which will be counting ballots.” Passed.
Moved by
Madsen and seconded to add ARSD 5:02:10:01.01 as amended to create
guidelines for acceptance of facsimile absentee ballot applications from
UOCAVA voters. Passed.
Moved by
Madsen and seconded to adjourn the rules hearing at 9:45.
Nelson
discussed possible changes for in-person absentee ballot voting for
county auditors to use in 2006. The process would be required to
maintain the integrity of the ballot, speed up absentee in-person voting
process at the county auditor’s office, reduce paper work for in-person
absentee voting and speed up Election Day processing of voted absentee
ballots. This process would be optional for counties upon determination
if this would be beneficial to their office and optional for them to set
the dates and hours they will use it. Discussion on the option of
having a 2-3 person absentee ballot board balanced by party at the
auditor’s office in larger counties or possibly using the M100’s for
smaller counties.
Nelson
discussed the option of not printing the names of the presidential
electors on the ballot. Nelson researched surrounding states and only
North Dakota prints the elector names on the ballot. Layher requested
that Nelson review the statutes and look into this option further.
Declaratory ruling was submitted and it was determined that the board
does not have authority to declare a ruling on the subject matter.
There is a statute in place for contesting an election through the court
process.
Moved by
Madsen and seconded to adjourn at 10:15.
____________________________
_______________________
Chris
Nelson, Secretary of State Kea Warne,
Recorder