Tolland County Rovac Meeting

TOLLAND COUNTY ROVAC MEETING

MINUTES

FEBRUARY 8, 2012

Present: Ken Houck, Tolland; Marjorie Roach, Coventry; Barbara Johnson, Coventry; Beverly Miela, Mansfield; Andrea Epling, Mansfield; Nancy Vogel, Willington; Dottie Neil, Bolton; Monita Hebert, Bolton; JoAnn Hornyak, Somers; Joan Sizer, Somers; Cindy Madden, Vernon; Judith Beaudreau, Vernon; Catherine Palazzi, Andover; Kara Sakelarakis, Andover; Mike Wyman, Tolland; Inge Pope, Coventry; Pam Sewell, Coventry; Merris Williams, Hebron; John Richmond, Hebron; Wanda DeLand, Ellington

The meeting was called to order at 1:02 by Mike Wyman at the Tolland Community Room, Tolland, Ct.

Corrections to the October 6, 2011 meeting. Ingrid Aarrestad last name was spelled incorrectly. Motion made by JoAnn Hornyak to accept the minutes. Seconded by Dottie Neil.

COMMITTEE REPORTS

Education – No report

Handbook – No report

Nominating – No one has been nominated for any of the ROVAC board positions

Conference – The conference will take place April 11-13 in Cromwell. Judi B. will be sending info when it becomes available. Somers will be in charge of the Country Basket for the conference. Registrars are asked to donate $10.00 each.

Legislative – On Line Voting – Judi B. was invited to participate on a task force discussion of upcoming technology. Consensus of the group is that CT does not have the means to make On Line voting secure. EDR, on the other hand, will more than likely move forward. Most people on the panel, including the SOTS are in favor of EDR. There has been no proof of voter fraud through EDR in other states. Mansfield registrars expressed their concern that college towns like Mansfield will have a very difficult time with EDR.

GENERAL BUSINESS TOPICS

Canvass – The official start date of this year’s canvass is January 31. If you are using NCOA for your canvass, you can print out and mail ED683’s . CVR’s can be printed out and dated April 24, but not mailed until that date. State statute does not allow removals of voters before a federal election. Friendly letters can be sent anytime inquiring of voter’s residences. If the letters are signed and returned, the voters can be removed.

Converse 2 – Ten towns attended training on Converse 2 at Goodwin College. Four towns are currently using the new system – Vernon, Manchester, Tolland and Southington. The SOTS has started rolling the new system to other towns. If you are interested in trying it, contact Ted Bromley. The system is very user friendly and works well. Registrar’s offices that have their own router will have no problems setting up Converse 2. Also, it is a good idea to try to clean your data before getting on the new system. It does not accept periods such as in Jr. and Sr.

Primary – State statue allows 17 year olds to vote in the primary if they are going to turn 18 by the Presidential date.

Nancy Vogel asked if towns are during high school registrations before the primary. Judi B. thought this was a good idea, as it would give the high school students the option to register to vote in the primary.

Monita asked if democrats can work in the office during the primary. They can and they can also work as poll workers.

Moderator training by Judi Beaudreau will be done before the primary in only big cities. She will resume training for others town in May.

Poll worker training must be done and the IVS set up for the primary on April 24.

G-Mail – Mike Wyman has asked each registrar in Tolland County to set up their own g-mail account. A handout was distributed showing how to do this. The state is hoping to replace g-mail with the VR accounts. The g-mail set up by the registrars will be protect them from FOI and will also help track new and retiring registrars.

Redistricting – Mike will meet with those towns after the meeting that have been redistricted.

SMART IDEAS- Mike Wyman – run a report on your voter list over a certain age and see if they have passed away. Joan Sizer has registered with legacy.com and they send her reports 2-3 times a week indicating deaths in her town. Remember to do state wide searches on your list of deaths and if they are from a different town send the information to that town.

Joan Sizer asked if anyone has budget numbers from their town because their budget just became independent from the Selectman’s budget. Judi B. will be sending her budget spread sheet.

Discussion Items

Judi B. asked that if you have any extra tabulators or IVS machines because of redistricting, please contact Daria Novak.

Ingrid asked if there are any updates on the IVS being discussed. There are currently no updates. The new Automarks eliminates having to use a telephone line, but is not being planned for purchase in the near future.

Audits – because of State statues audits will continue. Judi B. stated that there are new audit machines coming that count the ballots. EAC received a grant and gave the grant to UCONN which will be producing the machines. All ballots and election materials will be brought to them and they will handle the audit.

Reminder to return your memory cards to LHS so they can be programmed for the primary and presidential elections.

Duplicate Voters – the list was just sent out by Steve Mason. If your list has XXXXX’s on it, expand the column so all the data is visible. If there are OFF’s on your duplicate list, they may be deleted.

The meeting was adjourned at 2:50 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,

Wanda DeLand

Joan Sizer asked if anyone has budget numbers from their town because their budget just became independent from the Selectman’s budget. Judi B. will be sending her budget spread sheet.

Education -