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HomeMy WebLinkAbout1991 Election Commission MinutesCity of Lansing - Election Commission Minutes of Meeting 9th Floor Conference Room August 20, 1991 PRESENT: James D. Blair, Marion Hahn, Melvin McWilliams, Marilynn Slade, Robert Alim-Young ABSENT: None Meeting was called to order by Chairperson James D. Blair at 2:14 P.M. The two members of the Election Commission who were present, James Blair and Marion Hahn, agreed to designate Melvin McWilliams to act as the third member of the Election Commission for the duration of this meeting. Chairperson Blair brought several problems that occurred during the August 6, 1991, City Primary Election to the attention of the Election Commission. The major problem that occurred was that there were no results on the master computer tape of election results that was delivered to the Ingham County Clerk's Office. Since the August election did not have any County races, the fact that the results tape was blank did not cause a massive problem as no cumulative totals had to be produced using this tape. If this problem had occurred during an election that had County, State and/or Federal races, the election would have had to be re -run at Data Processing until a master computer tape could be produced. This would result in much higher costs due to overtime, etc. to complete the tallies. The City Clerk's Office learned the day following the election that Data Processing personnel were aware that the tape was blank but failed to notify any member of the Election Commission of this fact and presented the blank tape to the Commission for delivery to the Board of Canvassers. Other problems took place during the computer tests of the election program. During the public computer test on 8/2/91, no final results were produced and no record of the public test was placed upon a computer tape (also requested by the Ingham County Clerk's Office for use of the Board of Canvassers). During the night of the election, the Data Processing Department also experienced problems in running the pre-test which must be completed before ballots can be tabulated. There was a problem with the reader and the stand-by second reader had not been set up to be used in case of a problem with the first card reader. A serviceman from Unisys had to make repairs which delayed the completion of the pre-test. Election Commission Meeting Minutes of 8/20/91 Meeting Page 2 Chairperson Blair also informed Commission members that there had been a problem at the June 10, 1991, LCC Board of Trustees election in that four precinct's ballots were run through the card reader backwards producing incorrect totals for those precincts. This error was caught by the City Clerk so that the cards were re -run in time to produce accurate election totals. Mel McWilliams stated that he felt that the managers and supervisors of the Data Processing Department need to understand that they are operating under the auspices of the Election Commission and that they need to keep this Commission informed of problems that occur during the tallying of election results. Chairperson Blair stated that he wants to go on the record that he has real concerns about the way the June 10th and August 6th elections were handled and that he wants to see procedures set up before the next election so that these types of problems do not reoccur. Chairperson Blair informed the Commission that, under the rules of the City Charter, it is their responsibility to complete any redrawing of Ward lines to support redistricting 60 days after receipt of the final official 1990 census data from the Michigan Department of Management and Budget. To date, we have not received this data from the State of Michigan. Mel McWilliams suggested that a call be placed to the Department of Management and Budget to inquire about our non -receipt of this information since many other jurisdictions seem to have received their data. Chairperson Blair stated that State law has frozen precincts from 1988 until after the Presidential election of 1992 and that they cannot be changed except under two conditions: -if two precincts are combined due to small size -if a precinct is split into two precincts due to being larger than allowable Chairperson Blair informed the Commission that software is being purchased to aid in completing redistricting required as a result of the 1990 federal census. Election Commission Meeting Minutes of 8/20/91 Meeting Page 3 Chairperson Blair asked the Commission members if they felt that a public hearing should be called on redistricting so that the general public can have the opportunity to express their concerns. Chairperson Blair felt this might be especially important since it is possible that Ward 2 lines might have to be redrawn which could potentially result in Councilmember Schmidt no longer residing in her ward. Commission members agreed and felt that the most appropriate time for a public hearing would be after the proposed ward lines have been drawn by the Commission so that there would be something for the public to react to. Mel McWilliams stated that Chairperson Blair should contact Al Knot regarding the legal requirements for the setting of a public hearing on redistricting. Chairperson Blair also asked Commission members if they felt a citizen's ad hoc committee would be desirable to assemble a recommendation to the Commission on redistricting. Commission members did not feel that this was necessary. Chairperson Blair advised Commission members of potential problems in the City Clerk's Office regarding time and funding to support ' election activities for the balance of the FY 91-92 year. He stated that massive amounts. of time would be required to canvass petitions if sufficient signatures are obtained on the Recall Engler petition drive. No funding is available to support the overtime and temporary help that might be necessary to complete this canvas. He also reminded the Commission that no funding has been provided to support the Presidential preference primary scheduled for March 17, 1992. The meeting was adjourned by Chairperson Blair at 3:27 P.M. Respectfully submitted, D. Blair erson, Election Commission K:\wpdata\mariIynn\minutes.eIe City of Lansing - Election Commission Minutes of Meeting 9th Floor Conference Room May 20, 1991 PRESENT: James D. Blair, Marion Hahn, Marilynn Slade ABSENT: Alvan Knot Meeting was called to order by Chairperson James D. Blair at 9:16 A.M. A discussion was held on the method used for certification of candidates for the August 6, 1991, City of Lansing primary election. Motion was made by Marion Hahn to accept the certification of candidates for the August 6, 1991, City primary as submitted by City Clerk James D. Blair. Carried unanimously. Meeting adjourned at 9:35 A.M. Respectfully submitted, I G /I t/"��< D. Blair, Chairperson, Elections Commission City of Lansing - Election Commission Minutes of Meeting 9th Floor Conference Room September 13, 1991 PRESENT: James D. Blair, Marion Hahn, Alvan Knot, Marilynn Slade, Robert Alim-Young, Craig Ruff and Jeff Williams (Public Sector Consultants), Harold Leeman of 529 N. Francis, Lloyd Teets of 116 E. Elm St., Alfreda Schmidt, Ron Onufer ABSENT: None Meeting was called to order by Chairperson Blair at 2:05 P.M. A motion was made by Marion Hahn to accept the printed minutes for the May 20 and August 20, 1991 Commission meetings. Motion was carried with Alvan Knot absent from the vote. Alvan Knot arrived at the meeting at 2:07 P.M. Under Public Comments, Harold Leeman of 529 N. Francis St. stated that he would like to see precincts 1, 19 and 4 moved from the First Ward to the Fourth Ward, and the southern boundary of the First Ward moved into the Second Ward so that the Second Ward could encompass the Baker Street area precincts. He felt that this would provide more diversity of population in the Second Ward. Chairperson Blair asked City Attorney Alvan Knot for results of his research on laws pertaining to redistricting. City Attorney Knot stated that redistricting plans would be proper if minorities are represented and their are no large deviations in populations. He introduced Craig Ruff of Public Sector Consultants for further input. Mr. Ruff stated that he was not aware of any ruling that establishes the appropriate percentage of deviation allowable. The last time this was done for State legislative districts, a deviation of more than 16% was allowed. On the other hand, Congressional districts want deviation to be as close to zero as possible. Chairperson Blair introduced Robert Alim-Young, Election Coordinator in the City Clerk's Office, and asked him to present seven redistricting plans that he had prepared. Five of the seven plans presented by Mr. Alim-Young involved shifts of entire existing precincts. Two of the plans involved splitting of existing Election Commission Meeting September 13, 1991 Page 2 precincts. Mr. Alim-Young reported that the State Bureau of Elections stated that they would allow us to split precincts is if they are divided in half or to join two contiguous precincts together. Mr. Alim-Young stated that the criteria he used in developing his seven plans was: 1. Equal population as possible 2. Contiguous 3. Compact Mr. Alim-Young reported that there is a discrepancy in our lines and the census maps with respect to fourteen residents near South Street. The census maps show these fourteen residents as being in Ward 1 and we show them as residing in Ward 4. Following the presentation, Alvan Knot asked that Mr. Alim-Young prepare a report depicting changes to minority populations for each of the seven plans compared to the present. Mr. Knot stated that no plan should be drawn which would dilute or minimize the voting power of any minority. Marion Hahn asked if splitting of precincts would generate any problems when we have to do our final adjustments to precincts upon receipt of federal/state and county plans. Robert Alim-Young replied that it could possibly generate additional splits of precicts, however, he felt that if we provided our approved plan to the other jurisdictions soon, they would be able to work incorporating the new lines in their final plans. Alvan Knot stated that he felt the Commission needed more time to study the plans before a final decision could be made. He felt, however, that we should move as quickly as possible as we have a September 29, 1991, deadline in which City Ward lines must be redrawn. Mr. Knot suggested that the Commission hire an outside consultant, such as Public Sector Consultants, to assist us in providing criteria by which the plans should be evaluated. Chairperson Blair stated that he felt it was the Commission's responsibility to establish policy and that perhaps an outside consultant could be utilized to help assemble the numbers for each plan. Election Commission Meeting September 13, 1991 Page 3 A motion was made by Alvan Knot that, within a week of this meeting, objective criteria to be used for redistricting be defined by some outside consulting group together with Robert Alim-Young and brought back to the Election Commission. This motion carried unanimously. Harold Leeman of 529 N. Francis asked for the data on minority representation as reflected by plan 30 for the Second Ward. This information was given to Mr. Leeman. Lloyd Teets of 116 E. Elm Street stated that he feels that minorities can be defined in many ways besides ethnic division. He feels that the City of Lansing does not have to worry about protecting minorities as they are spread throughout all areas of the City. The Commission members set the next meeting date for Friday, September 20, 1991, at 10:00 A.M. Meeting was adjourned at 3:35 P.M. Respectfully submitted, D. Blair, Chairperson K:\wpdata\mms\minutes2.ele