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HomeMy WebLinkAbout03101999� Minutes of the City of Sebastian Canvassing Board 3/9/99 General Electio� Manual Recount Wednesday, March 10, 1999 - Noon County Commission Chambers and Supervisor of Elections Office Indian River County Administration Building 1840 25th Street Vero Beach, FL Present: City of Sebastian Canvassing Board Members: Chairperson and City Clerk, Kathryn O'Halloran; Vice Mayor Martha Wininger; and Deputy City Clerk, Sally Maio. City Attorney, Rich Stringer was also present. Other Officials Present: Indian River County: Supervisor of Elections, Kay Clem; County Attorney, Charles Vitunac; Chief Deputy Supervisor of Elections, Diana Wright; and other Supervisor of Elections Staff members and Vero Beach Police Officers Counting Team Observers: Ken Vickers and Ray Kemp, both City of Sebastian electors. In accordance with Florida Statutes, and a request by City Council candidate, Louise Cartwright, a manual recount of the Mazch 9, 1999 election results was conducted (see letter attached). A Vero Beach police officer , Supervisor of Elections and Canvassing Board members escorted the ballots to the County Commission Chambers. Supervisor of Elections, Kay Clem, explained the requirement for counting team observers and introduced Ken Vickers and Ray Kemp, as the counting team observers selected by the Canvassing Board. She distributed manual count procedures and noted the candidate positions on the ballot for Sebastian were 115, 117, 119, 121, 123, 125, 127 and 129. The Canvassing Boazd agrced to count all four precincts and to follow "Guidelines on Ballots with Chads Not Completely Removed" dated March 10, 1999 (see attached). Following the count for position 115 in precinct 12, the Canvassing Board agreed to count positions 115 as a control since that number had not changed through 3 ballot counts on March 9, 1999, and positions 119, 123 and 125 since those three were the positions within one half of one percent of one another. A second counting team was set up at 1:55 p.m. and consisted of observers, Nate McCollum and Joyce Daughtery, and Supervisor of Elections staff members, Marge Trumble and Peggy Baillazgeon. At 4:20 p.m. Doris Lee took Ms. Daughtery's place as an observer. These observers were all Sebastian electorate. Precinct 12 count was completed and the ballots for precinct 12 were carried to the Supervisor of Elections office by a Vero Beach Police Officer and counted by machine. All numbers for the manual count and machine count matched. Manual Recount Minutes March 10, 1999 Page Two There was a manual count of all ballots that resulted as follows: Precinct 12 - 396 Precinct 14 - 764 Precinct 15 - 635 Precinct 16 - 728 T'hese numbers matched the machine ballot counts. The Canvassing Boazd elected to end the count for the day at 5:00 p.m. and all ballots were carried to the Supervisor of Elections Office by the Vero Beach police officer and locked for the night with seal number 0781998. ����k��.� City of Sebastian Canvassing Board j / C GC-� �.`-� Kathryn O'Halloran, City Clerk Chairp rson - G' Martha Wininger " Vice Mayor � — 1 — Sally A. io Deputy City Clerk � louise R. Card�right ♦�♦ 785 Bayharbor Terrace � Sebastian FL 32958 Home Phone 589-5907 � Email LCart9901@aol.com March 10, 1999 By Fax Ms. Kay O'Halloran City Clerk City of Sebastian Sebastian FL 32958 Dear Kay: This is a formal request of the Canvassing Board of the City of Sebastian for a manual recount of the election ballots of the March 9, t999 citywide election. I am requesting this due to fact that there were only two votes between myself and Mr. Majcher. I sincerely appreciate the work and cooperation of the Canvassing Board. Thank you. Sincerely, �°� � � Louise R. Cartwrieht K2ly (�lem Supervisor of Elections Indian River Counry, Florida March 10, 1999 GUIDELINES ON BALLOTS WITH CHADS NOT COMPLETELY REMOVED The instructions in the voting machines are as follows: `TO VOTE, HOLDTF� PUNCH STRAIGHT UP AND PUNCH DOWN THROUGH THE CARD NEXT TO TI� PREFERRED CANDIDATE'S NAME OR ISSLTE POSITION." The guidelines assume that these directions have been understood and followed. Therefore, a chad that is hanging or partially punched may be counted as a vote, since it is possible to punch through the card and still not totally dislodge the chad. But a chad that is fully attached, bearing only an indentation, should not be counted as a vote. An indentation may result from a voter placing the stylus in the position, but not punching through Thus, an indentation is not evidence of intent to.cast a valid vote. 1840 25th Street, Suite N-109 • Vero Beach, FL 32960-3396 •(561) 567-8187 • FAX (561) 770-5367 Kay C1e�n Supervisor of Elections Indian River County, Florida Procedures for Hand Count of Ballots There will be a team consisting of two peopie to accomplish the hand count of the ballots. All bailots wiil be counted by precinct. 1. Select the first precinct to be counted manually. 2. Count the number of ballots in this precinct. 3. Separate the ballots from this precinct into stacks. One stack will contain the ballots that have NO votes for any candidate in the office. Another stack will contain the ballots that have OVER votes. These are the ballots where a voter has punched more than allowed. Another stack will contain the ballots that have a valid punch for the candidate involved in the recount. 4. Count and record the number of ballots in each stack. 5. Repeat Steps 2 and 3 for each candidate in the office. 6. After all precincts are tallied, add the results of all precincts for each candidate. Compare the manual tally results to the tabulator results. If the tabulator count does not match the hand tally, all cards will be counted through the tabulator again. Results will be compared. 7. If the totals from the tabulator and the hand tally do not agree, a second hand tally will be conducted. If any of the two counts are the same, that count is accepted. 8. The canvassing board will make a decision on the voter's intent in the case of a questionable ballot. 1840 25th Street, Suite N-109 • Vero Beach, FL 32960-339G •(561) 5G7-8187 • FAX (5G1) 770-53G7