VMICC Nominations and Elections Committee minutes

 

VMICC Nominations and Elections Committee met at 5:40 pm in the Vashon Chamber of Commerce office on Vashon Highway SW Oct. 11 with Dave Vogel, Melvin Mackey, Roger Fulton, Jay Becker, and Dan Schueler present, and decided:

1. To improve wording of the Nov. 7 ballot for board members,

2. To leave the values statement poll off the actual ballot leaving just the names of nominees and instructions for voting. The board might want to take up the values survey later, was a conclusion.

3. Roger Fulton would create voter sign-in sheets with these columns: name printed, name signed, address, and telephone number

4. Fulton volunteered to make recommended improvements to the ballot and get 2,000 printed one side as soon as possible so absentee ballots could be sent out with return envelopes by Becker upon request by voters. 

5. To enlist two poll watch volunteers for each of the six polling places, one for the morning shift, 6:30 am to 1:30 pm and 1 pm to 8:30 pm, each volunteer to bring their own chair, pencils and pens, and folding card tables for people to use to place ballots for marking.

Schueler announced he would provide clip boards for each polling place for sign-in sheets.

Becker announced Vickie Mercer is donating special one-foot square tables to hold ballot boxes, the boxes to come from Jim English who stored them from the 2004 aborted election.

6. Mackey volunteered to develop an instruction sheet for poll watchers to use to help voters use the choice voting ballot properly.

6. Vogel agreed to enlist poll watchers for the Grange Hall and Ober Park building polling places, Mackey for Tahlequah and Burton, and Fulton for Dockton and McMurray. It was agreed that if volunteers can't be found for all 12 shifts the chairman's visits during election day would suffice for supervision.

7. Becker explained he will assemble ballots, ballot boxes and tables, for distribution to volunteers at 6:30 a.m. or earlier Nov. 7 and take charge of the boxes and unused paper at 8 pm or shortly thereafter.

(On Oct. 12 the chamber of commerce office was reserved for this. It has also been reserved for ballot counting Nov 8 from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m.) During the 

8. Becker reported a story explaining who has been nominated was sent to the Beachcomber but never got in. A call to that newspaper led to the revelation that the publisher is getting email addressed to the editor and deciding what to do with it. Until new revelations he will address news to arts@beachomber.com.

9. An hour-long discussion about how to design the "choice voting" ballot for easiest and safest counting led to Mackey, Fulton, and Schueler agreeing to consult further with one another. A proven vote tabulation program from a university is to be used Nov. 8. Schueler and Becker agreed to bring laptop computers to keyboard votes into the program.

8 pm, the committee adjourned.

--Jay Becker