Board of Elections & Registration - Regular Meeting

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

Father God, thank you for today. As we go forth in this meeting, we ask you for your guidance and your wisdom. May our discussions and our business at hand be filled with understanding and respect. In Jesus' name we pray.

Amen. Our pledge of allegiance to the flag of the United States of America.

Thank you for him. This time we'll have roll call, please, starting with Vice Chair.

District 5, present.

Joe Stell, District 3.

Vernon Higgins, District 2.

Julia McCullough, District 4. And we have a quorum. Please note, Robin Maynor 9 is not in attendance today. Our first order of business is the adoption of the agenda. May I have a motion to adopt tonight's agenda?

So moved.

A second?

Second.

Let's vote. All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? The agenda is adopted. Thank you. We'll now move to public comments. These are for agenda items only. Comments will be limited to three minutes each. And when you approach the podium, please state your name and your address. Any public comments? Okay, public comments are now closed. We will move on to new business. The first item is pre-certification of the June 16th general primary runoff. Acting Superintendent Carter, has your office reviewed the numbered list of voters that participated in this election, and did you compare those to the voters that have received credit for voting?

Yes, ma'am, we have.

I will now entertain a motion to pre-certify the June 16th general primary runoff.

I make a motion that we pre-certify the June 16th runoff vote.

Do we have a second?

Second.

Let's vote. All those in favor? Aye. Any opposed? Okay, thank you. That passes. Mr. Carter, does your office have any provisional ballots that need to be approved by the board?

No, ma'am, we do not.

Are we waiting on any UOCAVA ballots at this time?

Yes, ma'am, we have two. However, one person we cannot get in contact with, and the other is saying that they will not be sending their ballot.

Okay. Does the board have any additional comments for Mr. Carter or his office? None? Any further questions? Supervisor, anything at this time? None? No. Okay. Moving on to item two, recall petition applications against Woodbine City Council Member Phyllis Drummond, Woodbine Mayor Kizzy Knight, and Woodbine City Council Member Richard Bayer. Acting Supervisor Carter, has your office determined the number of signatures necessary for the application to be valid?

Yes, ma'am, we have. We've determined that that number is 73 based on the Code 21-45 subparagraph C, which states either 100 or 10% of the registered voters of the last time that that person was on the ballot, whichever is the lesser number.

Thank you. Have any applications submitted to your office had the required number of signatures?

Yes, ma'am.

And how did your office verify those signatures?

We verified the signatures as per Code 21-45, subsection F2. We confirmed the signers were, one, qualified to vote in Camden County, and two, they were residents in the municipality of Woodbine.

Thank you. Does the board have any additional questions for the supervisor's office?

None.

None. None. Okay, at this time I'll entertain a motion to approve or reject the recall petition application for Woodbine City Council Member Phyllis Drummond. Rock, go ahead.

We do not have enough signatures for Council Member Drummond. She did not meet the threshold of 73.

Okay. Board, will we have a motion for that? To accept or reject? Neither?

Madam Chair, I believe it's a mute point if the application didn't meet the requirements for the amount of signatures.

Okay, thank you. Next, I will entertain a motion to approve or reject the recall petition application for Woodbine Mayor Kizzy Knight.

Madam Chair, we do not receive the threshold of signatures for Mayor Knight either.

Okay, and we will continue with the same line on that, so there's no reason for a motion, correct?

I don't believe there is. According to code, it has to have a certain amount of signatures. Voting on it would probably be non-germane.

That's correct. It doesn't meet the threshold for this point to be presented to the board. It would be rejected outright by the office. Okay, thank you.

At this time, we entertain a motion to approve or reject the recall petition for Woodbine City Council Member Richard Baird.

Madam Chair. Councilman Baird did have the threshold of signatures. The threshold was 73. There were 118 vetted signatures.

Okay, do we have a motion, board?

A move that we approve.

Second.

All those in favor?

Aye. Aye. Madam Chair, point of discussion on that, if we could have that after the second, please.

Okay.

I just wanted to reiterate that this board's responsibilities to approve or not approve this application moving forward is to meet the legal sufficiency, which is, if anybody's there listening that isn't sure of that, it's just to meet the legal sufficiency for superintendent, the board, is that the application is fulfilled or filled out completely and the amount of signatures are met per code. That is all the board is required to do to move the application forward.

Thank you for that clarification. Okay, we've had a first and a second. Are we able to vote at this time? Yes. Okay. All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? Okay, that motion passes.

Madam Chair, I have a question for Acting Supervisor Rock. How many signatures will be required in the petition process?

The number of signatures required would be 30% of the registered voters. At that time, there were 733, so therefore the number of signatures required would be 220.

Okay, thank you. You're welcome.

Any other questions? Okay, at this time I'll entertain a motion to direct acting election supervisor Carter to issue recall petitions for city council member Richard Baird on behalf of the board. Do we have a motion?

So moved.

A second?

Second.

All those in favor?

Aye.

Opposed? That motion passes. County Attorney, do you have any comments at this time regarding that?

I don't at this point. We're moving through the process appropriately. We had until today to have the votes counted. Judge Harrison had granted that order. If we get to the next step, we'll move forward from there. Councilman Baird has filed an objection. To my knowledge, it has not been served upon this board or the county at this time. And so if that is set for hearing, I will notify the board.

You'll notify Mr. Carter's office and us as well? Yes. Okay, so all of us in that communication. Thank you very much. Well, at this time, it's 3.10, and I'll entertain a motion to put the meeting into recess until 5 o'clock. May I have a motion?

So moved. Second?

Second. All those in favor? Aye. The meeting is now in recess. Thank you.

Thank you.