Date of Meeting: 8/16/2022

Format: In-person

Meeting Summary:

Absentee Ballots and Provisional Ballots were reviewed prior to official certification which will take place on August 18, 2022.

Absentee Ballots: 12 were uncountable: one had an ID issue that was not resolved; 10 were received late or were received after the deadline and had no postmark; one stub was missing. 1,169 countable absentee ballots were received. Board voted to accept the absentee ballot report.

Provisional Ballots: seven were uncountable: five voters were not registered anywhere in Ohio; one voter had an incorrect social security number. Two ballots were brought to the board for review: (1) a voter put 2022 as the birth year on the provisional ballot form; all other information on the form was correct; per the previous direction from the Secretary of State's office, the board voted to accept this ballot (2) a voter voted in person in the office and later cast a provisional ballot at the polls on election day. Voting twice is a crime and the case was referred to the prosecutor's office for follow-up. There were 61 countable provisional ballots, including the one accepted after review. Board voted to accept the provisional ballot report.

Certification of Issues on the 11/8/22 General Election Ballot: Three issues were brought to the board's attention to decide if they were eligible to be placed on the ballot:

(1) The board asked if the Kent City marijuana issue was constitutional. A representative from the prosecutor's office who was present advised that the board does not decide the constitutionality of a ballot issue. That decision is up to the courts if the issue passes and is challenged in the courts. The Kent marijuana issue will be on the ballot.

(2) The petitions for a Sunday local option for Maggie's Campus Market in Kent were incomplete (information about the details of the issue was not written on the petitions by the circulators as required). The board did not approve placing this issue on the ballot.

(3) The local option petition from New Milford Café in Rootstown did not contain the required signatures to put an issue concerning sales during the week on the ballot but did contain sufficient signatures for to put an issue concerning Sunday sales on the ballot. The weekly option was a moot point as the owner already holds a license for sales during the week. As the two options (sales during the week and Sunday sales) are separate ballot items, the board voted to place the Sunday option issue on the ballot.

Logic and Accuracy testing prior to official certification was conducted and all were found to be in order.

The board voted to give permission to the staff to conduct the official certification.

The board was informed that two candidates were referred to the State Election Board for filing late finance reports and three candidates/issue committees were referred for not filing reports.

Which members of the board/council were present: Denise Smith, Chair; Randi Clites, Doria Daniels, Amanda Suffacool; also Faith Lyon, Director and Terrie Nielsen, Deputy Director were present

Was there a public notice of the meeting that included the time and place of meeting: Yes

Was an agenda of the meeting or handouts available to visitors: Yes

Are minutes from previous meetings posted/available: No

Name of Observer: Jane Preston Rose