1 00:00:06,900 --> 00:00:11,715 Morning. It's September 2nd, 2026, and this is the meeting of the State Board of 2 00:00:11,760 --> 00:00:16,980 Elections. I'm Peter Kosinski. I'm joined today by Commissioners Henry Berger, 3 00:00:17,640 --> 00:00:19,710 Tony Casale, Essma Bagnuola, 4 00:00:20,940 --> 00:00:26,310 and we'll start the meeting off with a review of minutes from previous meetings. 5 00:00:26,340 --> 00:00:31,560 We have three sets of minutes. I have May 2nd, June 5th, and July 2nd. 6 00:00:32,445 --> 00:00:33,990 Do I have a motion to accept the minutes? 7 00:00:35,190 --> 00:00:35,850 So moved. 8 00:00:35,970 --> 00:00:36,470 Second. 9 00:00:37,231 --> 00:00:38,310 All in favor, aye. 10 00:00:39,210 --> 00:00:39,710 Aye. 11 00:00:40,200 --> 00:00:44,610 Aye. That's adopted unanimously. Okay, we'll move on to unit reports. 12 00:00:45,330 --> 00:00:47,520 We have Kristen and Ray. Whoever wants to go. 13 00:00:48,990 --> 00:00:51,120 Thank you, Commissioner. I'll take the report. 14 00:00:51,750 --> 00:00:56,265 The co-executive directors worked with staff throughout the agency, as well as 15 00:00:56,280 --> 00:00:59,955 coordinated with county boards of elections and other state agencies on several 16 00:01:00,000 --> 00:01:02,370 issues since our last board meeting. 17 00:01:02,580 --> 00:01:06,735 Starting with the 2026 primary election, by all accounts, the election was a 18 00:01:06,750 --> 00:01:11,461 success with a statewide as well as federal and local primaries throughout New 19 00:01:11,551 --> 00:01:16,035 York. County boards of elections employed tens of thousands of poll workers across 20 00:01:16,080 --> 00:01:19,830 the state. We thank our partners for their coordination throughout the election 21 00:01:19,890 --> 00:01:22,965 process and the county boards for their tireless efforts. 22 00:01:23,370 --> 00:01:27,630 With results certified, we look forward to the 2026 general election. 23 00:01:28,860 --> 00:01:32,880 Speaking of the '26 general election, ballot access for that has concluded in 24 00:01:32,970 --> 00:01:35,940 August with nominations of Supreme Court justices. 25 00:01:36,420 --> 00:01:40,830 Later today, the co-executive directors will certify the general election ballot a 26 00:01:40,860 --> 00:01:45,016 full week ahead of the deadline, providing county boards ample time to design their 27 00:01:45,090 --> 00:01:50,400 ballots and certify their local contests ahead of the September 18th deadline to 28 00:01:50,461 --> 00:01:52,245 transmit military and overseas ballots. 29 00:01:53,521 --> 00:01:57,345 As Kristen had mentioned in our last report, election security is our priority 30 00:01:57,420 --> 00:02:01,680 every year. We continue coordination with our state and federal partners to ensure 31 00:02:01,711 --> 00:02:05,790 the general election is safe, secure, and accessible to all voters. 32 00:02:06,750 --> 00:02:10,110 Throughout the summer, we met with several state and federal partners to continue 33 00:02:10,171 --> 00:02:12,690 our work in ensuring election security. 34 00:02:13,921 --> 00:02:18,690 We held a follow-up tabletop exercise with all our state partners to ensure the 35 00:02:18,750 --> 00:02:24,720 election security playbook was updated to reflect any new or emerging threats for 36 00:02:24,870 --> 00:02:30,240 2026. Last month, the State Board of Election, in conjunction with the New York 37 00:02:30,330 --> 00:02:34,215 State Department of Homeland Security and Emergency Services, as well as other 38 00:02:34,260 --> 00:02:37,680 state partners, held tabletop exercises throughout the state. 39 00:02:38,385 --> 00:02:42,180 These were daily events in all four corners of the state that allowed county boards 40 00:02:42,210 --> 00:02:48,016 of elections, county IT, and county emergency services to work together to plan for 41 00:02:48,060 --> 00:02:53,565 the upcoming election. I want to thank our CISO, Ben Speer, our CIO, Laura Baker, 42 00:02:53,730 --> 00:02:59,219 as well as our operations and PIO teams for their work coordinating these events. 43 00:02:59,700 --> 00:03:02,820 Since our last meeting, the state budget was passed and signed into law. 44 00:03:03,450 --> 00:03:07,546 State Board received full funding for our operations as well as grant renewals and 45 00:03:07,560 --> 00:03:08,355 some new grants 46 00:03:09,570 --> 00:03:12,299 that PIO will speak about later. 47 00:03:14,430 --> 00:03:19,921 On to OVR and AVR. Since the start of 2026, our online voter 48 00:03:19,951 --> 00:03:25,800 registration portals have seen 78,076 transactions, a little 49 00:03:25,860 --> 00:03:30,300 over 40,000 through the state portal and just under 38,000 through the New York 50 00:03:30,330 --> 00:03:35,490 City portal. This brings the total transactions to just shy of 1.6 million since 51 00:03:35,520 --> 00:03:37,260 its inception in 2023. 52 00:03:38,970 --> 00:03:43,830 Automatic voter registration has been live with DMV since March for phase one. 53 00:03:43,890 --> 00:03:47,400 These are all electronic transmissions through the DMV regarding voter 54 00:03:47,430 --> 00:03:53,281 registration. In that time, 535,308 55 00:03:53,296 --> 00:03:56,730 transactions have passed through the clearinghouse to county boards of elections. 56 00:03:57,660 --> 00:04:02,385 Rollout for phase two, which includes paper forms, is scheduled for 2027. 57 00:04:02,910 --> 00:04:07,590 We are actively working with ITS and DMV to go live on phase two. 58 00:04:08,370 --> 00:04:11,791 Additional agencies continue their work to connect to the clearinghouse, and the 59 00:04:11,851 --> 00:04:14,010 State Board is ready to assist in that process. 60 00:04:14,730 --> 00:04:18,870 As a reminder, phase two will tackle paper applications and transmit those forms 61 00:04:18,900 --> 00:04:24,480 from agencies. And then phase three will integrate the State Board DMV change of 62 00:04:24,570 --> 00:04:29,744 address transmissions required under NVRA into the AVR clearinghouse, which will 63 00:04:29,760 --> 00:04:32,190 consolidate systems and streamline the process. 64 00:04:33,660 --> 00:04:38,610 The PCFB/SBOE integrated software, MTX has been on site since March of 65 00:04:38,790 --> 00:04:44,490 2024. They continue to work closely with Deputy Directors Connolly and Vulo, CIO 66 00:04:44,550 --> 00:04:47,281 Laura Baker, our business units, and our IT unit. 67 00:04:48,300 --> 00:04:52,650 Our team and MTX continue with testing on matching funds and payments for PCFB. 68 00:04:53,281 --> 00:04:57,315 Public reporting has been developed, and we continue to work through security and 69 00:04:57,360 --> 00:04:58,410 performance testing. 70 00:04:59,820 --> 00:05:03,480 Once this testing is completed, we will go live with public reporting. 71 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:09,510 Election operations is meeting weekly with MTX to develop business rules for their 72 00:05:09,540 --> 00:05:10,500 section of the system. 73 00:05:13,050 --> 00:05:15,360 2026 projects, we'll start with Train the Trainer. 74 00:05:15,480 --> 00:05:18,900 The work continues with Election Center to stand up the State Board of Elections 75 00:05:19,020 --> 00:05:23,744 Training Institute. Our accessibility and training unit are meeting regularly with 76 00:05:23,760 --> 00:05:28,410 Election Center, and they are drafting the training manual, and we still expect a 77 00:05:28,470 --> 00:05:29,775 launch in 2027. 78 00:05:31,170 --> 00:05:34,380 Voting and elections database. Work on the Dr. John L. 79 00:05:34,440 --> 00:05:37,320 Flato Voting and Election Database of New York continues. 80 00:05:38,400 --> 00:05:43,680 The application went live before April of 2026 implementation date. 81 00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:48,120 ITU and PIO have worked with our vendor on all phases of this project. 82 00:05:48,420 --> 00:05:53,385 PIO and ITU have also held sessions with villages, schools, libraries, and county 83 00:05:53,460 --> 00:05:57,930 board of elections to walk through the expectations and data layouts required to 84 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:03,870 file their results with us. Based on local jurisdiction suggestions, we continue to 85 00:06:03,930 --> 00:06:06,855 make updates to the system and the data reporting sheets. 86 00:06:07,201 --> 00:06:12,000 As a reminder, data is required to be entered no later than January 1st for all 87 00:06:12,060 --> 00:06:14,175 elections taking place in 2026. 88 00:06:15,750 --> 00:06:18,841 August has been an exceptionally busy month for the State Board. 89 00:06:18,930 --> 00:06:22,230 As I mentioned previously, we spent the week of August 10th traveling around the 90 00:06:22,290 --> 00:06:24,869 state hosting our Election Security Road Show. 91 00:06:24,930 --> 00:06:29,055 These took place in Newport, Queensbury, Oriskany, and Rochester, and had 92 00:06:29,099 --> 00:06:31,529 attendance from almost every county across the state. 93 00:06:32,670 --> 00:06:36,841 The following week of August 17th, five members of the State Board leadership 94 00:06:36,901 --> 00:06:40,110 attended the annual Election Center Conference in Kansas City. 95 00:06:41,160 --> 00:06:44,954 The annual conference is an opportunity for election officials across the country 96 00:06:45,120 --> 00:06:49,125 to meet and collaborate with federal partners as well as each other. 97 00:06:49,170 --> 00:06:52,740 At this conference, four members of the State Board of Elections received their 98 00:06:52,800 --> 00:06:57,360 CERA certification. CERA certification is the highest professional achievement for 99 00:06:57,390 --> 00:07:01,470 election officials in the country and is offered in collaboration with the Election 100 00:07:01,561 --> 00:07:06,061 Center and Auburn University. In the next year, we expect two more members of the 101 00:07:06,120 --> 00:07:10,320 State Board staff to receive their certification, with others currently going 102 00:07:10,680 --> 00:07:12,811 through the process in addition to those two. 103 00:07:15,076 --> 00:07:19,081 The following week, August 24th, SBOE attended the Summer Elections Commissioners 104 00:07:19,140 --> 00:07:21,811 Association Conference in Oneida County. 105 00:07:22,500 --> 00:07:26,670 This biannual gathering of county commissioners and staff provide our local 106 00:07:26,730 --> 00:07:30,600 election community with an opportunity to collaborate and receive important 107 00:07:30,630 --> 00:07:33,630 information from both the State Board and outside partners. 108 00:07:34,290 --> 00:07:38,070 State Board presented at this conference, and we thank the ECA for their continued 109 00:07:38,160 --> 00:07:43,470 partnership. We continue to have ongoing meetings biweekly with the Division of 110 00:07:43,500 --> 00:07:44,000 Budget, 111 00:07:45,780 --> 00:07:49,740 biweekly with the executive branch, monthly with OGS, 112 00:07:51,870 --> 00:07:55,800 biweekly with the Division of Election Law Enforcement, and we do hold monthly 113 00:07:55,831 --> 00:08:00,390 conference calls with the Election Commissioners Association and work with them to 114 00:08:00,420 --> 00:08:02,790 provide guidance to county boards. 115 00:08:04,980 --> 00:08:10,680 In the last year, we have begun including an additional training series following 116 00:08:10,710 --> 00:08:14,220 our monthly ECA calls to bring additional resources to county boards. 117 00:08:14,880 --> 00:08:18,285 These include important updates from the State Board as well as information from 118 00:08:18,331 --> 00:08:22,320 outside partners. Last month, the Attorney General's office presented to counties 119 00:08:22,350 --> 00:08:24,750 on how to respond to requests for the criminal process. 120 00:08:25,140 --> 00:08:28,710 This month, we have FBI New York coming in, who will be presenting on de-escalation 121 00:08:28,800 --> 00:08:29,300 training. 122 00:08:30,570 --> 00:08:33,630 Finally, I just want to do a thank you to our staff and our partners. 123 00:08:34,201 --> 00:08:38,070 The work of election officials is often thankless with very long hours, and we 124 00:08:38,100 --> 00:08:42,300 appreciate the work of all the counties are doing to make democracy happen in the 125 00:08:42,331 --> 00:08:45,436 state of New York this year. With that, I'll pass it over to Kristen for any 126 00:08:45,450 --> 00:08:46,770 additional comments you might have. 127 00:08:46,890 --> 00:08:49,306 Thank you. I would just say that 128 00:08:50,550 --> 00:08:54,570 elections are in the news quite a bit lately, as we all know, and there's a lot 129 00:08:54,600 --> 00:08:58,681 being thrown at our commissioners and a lot being thrown at election administrators 130 00:08:58,710 --> 00:09:02,235 throughout the country. They rise to the occasion, so I really do have to thank 131 00:09:02,311 --> 00:09:08,026 them. We also have the greatest staff in the world who are constantly 132 00:09:08,070 --> 00:09:12,270 looking for ways to support the counties, to bring them the tools and the resources 133 00:09:12,300 --> 00:09:15,990 they need to succeed. And there was a lot of talk about some of the federal 134 00:09:16,050 --> 00:09:19,500 partners maybe stepping back. I do want to say that we had a great partnership with 135 00:09:19,561 --> 00:09:22,770 our state Homeland Security and Emergency Services. 136 00:09:22,860 --> 00:09:28,395 They provided an incredible tabletop exercise that, dare I say, was 137 00:09:28,710 --> 00:09:31,770 maybe as good, if not better, than in the past. 138 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:37,230 They were with us partners the entire week, and so I think voters in New York 139 00:09:37,290 --> 00:09:38,550 should rest assured that 140 00:09:40,050 --> 00:09:44,595 we're ready for this election. We are professional, and all of the counties have 141 00:09:44,640 --> 00:09:49,635 the tools they need to succeed and to act on any 142 00:09:50,250 --> 00:09:55,770 problems, issues to make sure that every eligible voter has unfettered access. 143 00:09:55,830 --> 00:09:59,670 So I really am so proud of everyone here and in the counties. 144 00:09:59,760 --> 00:10:04,186 I also am delighted to introduce Christina Asbee, who is our new deputy counsel at 145 00:10:04,230 --> 00:10:08,010 the State Board. She comes to us from Disability Rights New York. 146 00:10:08,070 --> 00:10:08,776 She is 147 00:10:10,254 --> 00:10:14,094 An accomplished litigator, and she's already jumped right into the team, and we're 148 00:10:14,154 --> 00:10:15,594 so happy to have her here. So 149 00:10:17,034 --> 00:10:17,534 thank you. 150 00:10:19,224 --> 00:10:21,113 Okay, thank you. Any questions? 151 00:10:22,554 --> 00:10:24,894 Hearing none, we can move on. Thank you for that report. 152 00:10:24,909 --> 00:10:29,634 We'll move on to the Operations unit, Amy and Jude. 153 00:10:29,724 --> 00:10:33,564 Thank you so much, Commissioner. In addition to all of the things previously 154 00:10:33,654 --> 00:10:38,274 mentioned, of course, we have been working on that general ballot certification for 155 00:10:38,304 --> 00:10:42,444 the coexecs later today so that we can get that into the hands of the counties as 156 00:10:42,504 --> 00:10:47,784 quickly as possible so that they can get their ballots done, into the mail stream, 157 00:10:47,874 --> 00:10:53,814 and out to voters. We, of course, stand ready to provide assistance and proof their 158 00:10:53,874 --> 00:10:56,394 ballots if they would like to share them with us. 159 00:10:56,455 --> 00:10:59,814 We're happy to proof them to ensure compliance with the Voter Friendly Ballot Act. 160 00:11:00,504 --> 00:11:05,754 And since our last meeting, we've conducted upgrades and acceptance testing on over 161 00:11:05,994 --> 00:11:11,424 3,000 voting machines. By way of voting system vendors, we do have one system 162 00:11:11,514 --> 00:11:17,124 that's currently in testing, and that is an upgrade to the central count of the 163 00:11:17,154 --> 00:11:22,825 Clear Ballot machine, and that would allow for the 3% audit of the 164 00:11:22,914 --> 00:11:24,804 ExpressVote XL. 165 00:11:26,184 --> 00:11:29,904 For voter registration systems, nothing new to report, and for electronic poll 166 00:11:29,964 --> 00:11:35,709 books, we do have one electronic poll book, 10X, for consideration later this 167 00:11:35,724 --> 00:11:38,904 meeting. Jude, if you have anything to add, of course. 168 00:11:39,084 --> 00:11:41,634 Nothing to add. Thank you very much. 169 00:11:41,754 --> 00:11:45,459 Okay. Thank you. Is there any questions for either one of Amy or Jude? 170 00:11:46,974 --> 00:11:50,814 Hearing none, we'll move on to counsel, Brian and Kevin. 171 00:11:51,864 --> 00:11:57,384 Thank you, commissioners. We'll start with a litigation update on some 172 00:11:57,474 --> 00:12:03,114 outstanding matters. There is technically currently one ballot access matter 173 00:12:03,205 --> 00:12:08,559 still under appeal. We do anticipate that that will not be taken up by the Court of 174 00:12:08,575 --> 00:12:11,604 Appeals, and that that will be closed in the coming weeks. 175 00:12:13,374 --> 00:12:17,259 There was no change to the ballot based on the initial appeal in the Third 176 00:12:17,304 --> 00:12:23,274 Department. In the federal even-year election case in the Eastern 177 00:12:23,364 --> 00:12:27,744 District, a second amended complaint was filed following the granting of the motion 178 00:12:27,774 --> 00:12:29,349 to dismiss as to the 179 00:12:30,804 --> 00:12:33,295 state defendants from the initial complaints. 180 00:12:33,384 --> 00:12:38,274 There is an in-person conference on a pending motion to dismiss scheduled for 181 00:12:38,334 --> 00:12:42,084 October 7th in the Eastern District. 182 00:12:42,234 --> 00:12:47,545 In the citizens audit lawsuit, which sought equitable relief and money damages 183 00:12:47,634 --> 00:12:52,374 against both the Attorney General's office and the Board of Elections, the motion 184 00:12:52,434 --> 00:12:55,434 to dismiss that was filed was mostly granted. 185 00:12:55,464 --> 00:12:58,210 We were represented by the AG's office in that matter. 186 00:12:58,464 --> 00:13:02,904 A few remaining prongs of that case are going to move forward on the merits, so we 187 00:13:02,964 --> 00:13:07,284 are in the discovery phase in that matter, but that is moving along. 188 00:13:08,874 --> 00:13:13,914 In the American Future Fund matter, which is a challenge to the definitions within 189 00:13:14,004 --> 00:13:19,614 the independent expenditure committee section of our campaign finance laws, the 190 00:13:19,644 --> 00:13:23,575 preliminary injunction that was applied for was denied late last year. 191 00:13:23,753 --> 00:13:26,814 The interlocutory appeal on that is still ongoing. 192 00:13:27,265 --> 00:13:31,045 There was a mediation session that occurred back in February, but we have not heard 193 00:13:31,104 --> 00:13:34,614 anything since then, so we are still moving forward on that. 194 00:13:35,874 --> 00:13:40,404 United States versus the Board of Elections was the federal government's challenge 195 00:13:40,464 --> 00:13:45,384 to the denial for certain voter registration data that was requested. 196 00:13:45,445 --> 00:13:50,545 The motion to dismiss on behalf of the state defendants was granted with prejudice 197 00:13:50,634 --> 00:13:51,579 on July 10th. 198 00:13:53,545 --> 00:13:58,524 Common Cause, which is the challenge to the certification of the ExpressVote XL, 199 00:13:58,585 --> 00:14:03,174 that is still ongoing. The Supreme Court originally dismissed on procedural 200 00:14:03,234 --> 00:14:07,028 grounds. That was appealed and then sent back to the Supreme Court to be heard on 201 00:14:07,075 --> 00:14:12,384 the merits. That was decided and dismissed in the beginning of May. 202 00:14:12,504 --> 00:14:15,864 The appeal on the merits is now ongoing in the Third Department. 203 00:14:15,924 --> 00:14:19,075 The oral argument for that has not yet been calendared. 204 00:14:19,899 --> 00:14:24,325 And then finally, Frenzel versus Moore is the still ongoing federal challenge to 205 00:14:24,384 --> 00:14:30,054 the OTB write-in statute. The Western District granted the 206 00:14:30,085 --> 00:14:33,325 summary judgment motion and dismissed the case in June of last year. 207 00:14:33,744 --> 00:14:36,624 An appeal was taken to the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. 208 00:14:36,714 --> 00:14:41,364 We are still awaiting calendaring of oral argument in that matter. 209 00:14:43,314 --> 00:14:48,114 For the remainder of the meeting agenda, we do have five regulations that are up 210 00:14:48,144 --> 00:14:52,434 for final adoption. We can discuss those in more detail when we arrive to that part 211 00:14:52,464 --> 00:14:58,344 of the agenda. Turning to the compliance unit, the total number of active 212 00:14:58,374 --> 00:15:03,085 filers is currently 7,409. We have 213 00:15:03,265 --> 00:15:08,874 1,108 non-filers as of yesterday on file for the July periodic. 214 00:15:10,195 --> 00:15:15,429 Since the last board meeting, the unit has completed over 5,700 reviews and 215 00:15:15,474 --> 00:15:21,085 received over 7,000 itemized reports, registered 787 216 00:15:21,174 --> 00:15:27,144 candidates as well as 170 committees, while simultaneously terminating 206 217 00:15:27,204 --> 00:15:31,284 committees and 257 candidate records. 218 00:15:32,004 --> 00:15:36,265 Since the last board meeting, 570 emails have been processed through our CF info 219 00:15:36,654 --> 00:15:39,159 email account, providing varying levels of assistance. 220 00:15:40,344 --> 00:15:45,864 And in a broader sense, there are continuing initiatives on the 221 00:15:45,894 --> 00:15:51,024 compliance front to update and refresh a number of things, including standard 222 00:15:51,114 --> 00:15:55,945 operating procedure, materials, forms, checklists, and investigating current 223 00:15:56,034 --> 00:16:00,714 workflows to find potential room for improvement and streamlining. 224 00:16:00,774 --> 00:16:04,374 This is in parallel to a number of longer-term, what we're referring to as cleanup 225 00:16:04,434 --> 00:16:08,754 initiatives, including investigating dormant committees, following up on invalid 226 00:16:08,844 --> 00:16:13,749 email addresses and committees on hold, which will help us clear out longstanding 227 00:16:14,634 --> 00:16:17,394 committees and records that should not still be 228 00:16:18,924 --> 00:16:23,484 active in our system, so to speak. These initiatives, I would like to mention, are 229 00:16:23,604 --> 00:16:27,654 for the vast majority moving forward on the unit's own initiative. 230 00:16:28,164 --> 00:16:32,528 The leadership of that unit comes to Brian and myself on a regular cadence with 231 00:16:32,575 --> 00:16:38,393 these ideas, and they are continuously looking to find ways to improve our 232 00:16:38,454 --> 00:16:41,094 processes and make sure that everything is current. 233 00:16:41,184 --> 00:16:45,234 And I just want to make sure to thank the unit and its leadership for their 234 00:16:45,265 --> 00:16:50,424 continued initiative and hard work on that, because these are all very 235 00:16:51,295 --> 00:16:55,224 important measures to be taking, and I think they're very much improving our 236 00:16:55,524 --> 00:17:01,374 workflow overall. So, I just want to thank them for their work on that, and 237 00:17:01,614 --> 00:17:05,934 second the comments earlier for welcoming Christy as a member of counsel's office. 238 00:17:07,075 --> 00:17:12,654 It's noteworthy whenever someone joins our small unit within the board, so just 239 00:17:12,729 --> 00:17:17,844 want to make sure to say that. So, that's all I have, unless Brian has anything to 240 00:17:17,934 --> 00:17:18,434 add. 241 00:17:18,475 --> 00:17:19,254 I have nothing to add. 242 00:17:19,644 --> 00:17:20,064 Great. 243 00:17:20,064 --> 00:17:20,545 Thank you. 244 00:17:20,545 --> 00:17:21,045 Thank you. 245 00:17:21,594 --> 00:17:24,804 Okay. Any questions for Kevin or Brian? 246 00:17:26,575 --> 00:17:29,094 Hearing none, we'll move on to enforcement. Mike Johnson. 247 00:17:31,164 --> 00:17:31,765 Yeah. 248 00:17:34,044 --> 00:17:39,475 The Division of Election Law Enforcement, we actually took on a 249 00:17:39,774 --> 00:17:44,874 matter earlier this year regarding the July 250 00:17:44,890 --> 00:17:50,124 primary. We received a complaint regarding 251 00:17:50,140 --> 00:17:54,414 possible videotaping of the voters. 252 00:17:55,015 --> 00:17:57,894 I reached out to the two commissioners, 253 00:17:59,184 --> 00:18:04,794 who had no idea it was happening, and to their credit, they both acted 254 00:18:04,914 --> 00:18:07,193 immediately to take care of the matter. 255 00:18:07,914 --> 00:18:13,134 And after speaking with both commissioners, I sent 256 00:18:13,674 --> 00:18:19,569 two investigators to review the matter, and they came up with 257 00:18:19,644 --> 00:18:24,084 some suggestions for the commissioners, which they were suggestions that were 258 00:18:24,174 --> 00:18:30,054 implemented. And I noticed that the board, Kristin and Ray, they 259 00:18:30,144 --> 00:18:36,084 sent out a flowchart diagram incorporating some of the suggestions 260 00:18:36,144 --> 00:18:42,084 that we had made to the two commissioners out in Fulton County, 261 00:18:42,114 --> 00:18:47,844 I believe. And it was great, and I thank you guys for putting that out 262 00:18:47,904 --> 00:18:52,794 because it was perfect. So it incorporated a lot of the things that we had 263 00:18:52,854 --> 00:18:57,294 suggested and things that the commissioners implemented out there to deal with the 264 00:18:57,384 --> 00:18:58,494 issue. 265 00:18:59,784 --> 00:19:05,725 And speaking further with regard to the division itself, we're also looking 266 00:19:05,814 --> 00:19:11,694 at different types of improvements and initiatives and things like that. 267 00:19:11,725 --> 00:19:17,515 And one thing that we are doing now is we're working with ITS 268 00:19:18,072 --> 00:19:23,652 ... to come up with a better case management system because the case management 269 00:19:23,803 --> 00:19:29,638 system we're currently using is something that has been put together from when 270 00:19:29,712 --> 00:19:32,682 I've started, and it's evolved over time. 271 00:19:32,712 --> 00:19:37,482 But in the process of looking for improvements, efficiencies, and things of that 272 00:19:37,602 --> 00:19:38,622 nature, we 273 00:19:40,062 --> 00:19:46,061 need to do a complete audit of our process and what we do before we can migrate 274 00:19:46,212 --> 00:19:49,242 over what we have into the new system. 275 00:19:49,617 --> 00:19:55,212 And part of that audit process will involve looking at our workflows, 276 00:19:55,422 --> 00:20:00,627 what we've done, the numbers that get generated in terms 277 00:20:00,702 --> 00:20:06,551 of our statistics regarding how many cases we have, how many cases 278 00:20:06,612 --> 00:20:12,372 we've closed, and part of that will involve looking at how we have done 279 00:20:12,432 --> 00:20:17,772 things in the past to see if we can find efficiencies to do a much 280 00:20:18,072 --> 00:20:22,482 smoother job and make things flow a little bit easier for us. 281 00:20:27,222 --> 00:20:28,452 Is that it? Are you- 282 00:20:28,572 --> 00:20:29,352 That's it 283 00:20:29,472 --> 00:20:32,022 ... finished with that it? 284 00:20:32,172 --> 00:20:36,912 I know that you wanted some information regarding some of our 285 00:20:36,942 --> 00:20:42,553 statistics and with regard to some of the reports that get generated, the quarterly 286 00:20:42,612 --> 00:20:47,892 reports, the yearly reports. That will be part of the audit 287 00:20:47,952 --> 00:20:53,517 process that we're going into right now to make certain that all of your 288 00:20:53,562 --> 00:20:59,127 questions get answered. So once the audit process gets complete, and I'm hoping 289 00:20:59,142 --> 00:21:01,513 that it can be done within the next couple of weeks or so, 290 00:21:02,892 --> 00:21:08,097 you'll hear from me, and I will provide you with the answers that you were looking 291 00:21:08,142 --> 00:21:08,642 for. 292 00:21:09,912 --> 00:21:12,402 Okay. Yeah, I appreciate that, Mike. 293 00:21:12,432 --> 00:21:15,252 So you think that audit will be done in a couple of weeks? 294 00:21:15,462 --> 00:21:21,013 I'm hoping because we really need to get the case management 295 00:21:21,072 --> 00:21:21,732 system. 296 00:21:22,182 --> 00:21:22,722 Yeah. 297 00:21:24,492 --> 00:21:27,042 Yep, agreed. Just to give this some context, 298 00:21:28,602 --> 00:21:32,622 our staff looked at some of the statistics, and I know they brought it to Mike's 299 00:21:32,682 --> 00:21:38,562 attention that there's some discrepancies within his reporting to us as far 300 00:21:38,742 --> 00:21:44,382 as number of complaints he receives, number of cases opened, number of cases 301 00:21:44,472 --> 00:21:45,013 closed, 302 00:21:46,272 --> 00:21:51,057 and there's just some cases that aren't accounted for, and it sort of varies year 303 00:21:51,132 --> 00:21:57,087 to year. It's actually been better lately, but I noted in 2023, we found there 304 00:21:57,087 --> 00:22:01,422 were 59 complaints that were filed that were not accounted for, either closed or 305 00:22:01,542 --> 00:22:06,162 opened or any accounting to either the board or in the annual report. 306 00:22:06,282 --> 00:22:10,602 So, we brought that to Mike's attention, and you told us, I know, in that letter 307 00:22:10,722 --> 00:22:14,352 that you were going to do this audit, and that would resolve it or hopefully get us 308 00:22:14,382 --> 00:22:15,372 some more information on 309 00:22:16,722 --> 00:22:20,112 resolving those discrepancies. So I appreciate that you're doing that, and I look 310 00:22:20,172 --> 00:22:23,352 forward to your report. So in the next couple of weeks, I'll look forward to 311 00:22:23,412 --> 00:22:23,912 getting that. 312 00:22:24,672 --> 00:22:29,922 Yeah, because some of the things, for instance, and I know those numbers don't show 313 00:22:29,951 --> 00:22:35,922 is we may get five complaints in. They may all be the exact 314 00:22:36,072 --> 00:22:40,152 same thing. We don't open five cases. It's just one case. 315 00:22:40,452 --> 00:22:43,812 So sometimes you'll see discrepancies in numbers like that. 316 00:22:44,202 --> 00:22:49,287 But again, the audit process that we're going through will clarify for you 317 00:22:50,112 --> 00:22:52,212 exactly what those numbers mean. 318 00:22:52,782 --> 00:22:53,862 Okay, that'd be helpful. 319 00:22:55,362 --> 00:22:55,862 All right. 320 00:22:56,803 --> 00:22:59,172 Anything else? Any questions? 321 00:23:00,732 --> 00:23:04,932 Commissioner, I would just say that I would like to add to Michael our thanks 322 00:23:05,022 --> 00:23:08,592 because the commissioners at Fulton County were amazing. 323 00:23:08,652 --> 00:23:11,922 They acted, and I think the type of guidance we sent out- 324 00:23:12,132 --> 00:23:12,597 Right 325 00:23:12,597 --> 00:23:17,292 ... is exactly what we should be doing in response to issues like that that arise. 326 00:23:17,322 --> 00:23:22,662 And that was a surveillance that was in a justice court, and it just lets us go 327 00:23:22,722 --> 00:23:26,952 into the November election with commissioners thinking about this in advance, 328 00:23:27,296 --> 00:23:31,572 knowing that they should check their poll sites, make sure that voting is private 329 00:23:31,602 --> 00:23:35,832 and there's nothing happening, that they don't really control those sites until the 330 00:23:35,862 --> 00:23:40,872 days of election. So, that was a very good thing, and I just, again, would, I 331 00:23:40,902 --> 00:23:44,712 think, Ray and both commend those commissioners. They did a great job. 332 00:23:44,862 --> 00:23:45,362 Yeah. 333 00:23:47,172 --> 00:23:48,672 Okay. Good to hear. 334 00:23:50,382 --> 00:23:55,376 If we're done with enforcement, we'll move on to NVRA, NDRA, TIO, Kathleen, and 335 00:23:55,452 --> 00:23:55,952 Jennifer. 336 00:23:57,132 --> 00:23:59,232 Okay. Good morning, commissioners. 337 00:23:59,292 --> 00:24:02,876 To start, as always, with our freedom of information request that we received at 338 00:24:02,892 --> 00:24:07,257 the board since our last meeting on May 12th, the Public Information Office, in 339 00:24:07,303 --> 00:24:12,102 just shy of four months, has processed 852 foil requests. 340 00:24:12,642 --> 00:24:17,502 We average about 216 a month, and right now, 97.6 are closed. 341 00:24:17,546 --> 00:24:23,352 So 52 of 873 are closed. As a reminder, we are a clearinghouse for foils for not 342 00:24:23,382 --> 00:24:26,847 only the state board but also the PCFB and the Division of Election Law 343 00:24:26,862 --> 00:24:31,107 Enforcement, working with staff to gather responsive material, get it reviewed by 344 00:24:31,152 --> 00:24:34,332 council, and make responses in a timely manner. 345 00:24:34,362 --> 00:24:38,952 We also provide guidance to the county boards on foil requests they receive. 346 00:24:38,982 --> 00:24:42,553 For the state board's website, we've had numerous updates since our May meeting, 347 00:24:42,672 --> 00:24:47,847 including posting proposed regulations for public comment, as council alluded to, a 348 00:24:47,922 --> 00:24:52,827 new HAVA determination from council, an updated list of voting technology used by 349 00:24:52,842 --> 00:24:57,342 the various counties, updated statement of identity lists from contributing LLCs. 350 00:24:57,792 --> 00:25:03,252 The new 2026 Election Law Book has been published there in an accessible format. 351 00:25:03,912 --> 00:25:08,022 Certified results from the June primary election are posted, as well as updated 352 00:25:08,112 --> 00:25:12,612 board meeting information for both today and some board meetings, the quicker board 353 00:25:12,672 --> 00:25:14,442 meetings we've had in June and July. 354 00:25:15,702 --> 00:25:21,192 Our email service has grown subscribers since our last board meeting. 355 00:25:21,222 --> 00:25:26,502 We've sent out four emails, including a reminder about the Golden Day for the 356 00:25:26,532 --> 00:25:31,542 primary election, reminders about mail ballot request deadlines, a reminder in 357 00:25:31,602 --> 00:25:36,222 advance of the July periodic report for our campaign finance filers, a security 358 00:25:36,283 --> 00:25:40,332 alert from the Secure Election Center about phishing attempts via email, and 359 00:25:40,362 --> 00:25:42,671 publication about today's board meetings. 360 00:25:44,143 --> 00:25:49,631 Since our last board meeting, we have had six visits to county boards from PIO 361 00:25:49,692 --> 00:25:53,667 staff, and that includes Clinton, Essex, Franklin, Hamilton, Herkimer, and Saint 362 00:25:53,742 --> 00:25:57,792 Lawrence. These visits cover list maintenance, NVRA requirements, and grant updates 363 00:25:57,822 --> 00:26:03,567 for these counties. Also related to counties, since we last met, we collected the 364 00:26:03,612 --> 00:26:08,188 pre-election and post-election federal surveys regarding military and overseas 365 00:26:08,292 --> 00:26:12,372 ballots for the June primary from the counties, and we're now preparing for the 366 00:26:12,432 --> 00:26:16,842 upcoming move deadline on September 18th for the general election and will work 367 00:26:16,902 --> 00:26:20,172 with the county boards to ensure their surveys about that election are submitted 368 00:26:20,232 --> 00:26:20,732 timely. 369 00:26:22,362 --> 00:26:26,352 Since our last board meeting, NVRA coordinator Tantumi has conducted one training 370 00:26:26,412 --> 00:26:30,313 with the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance last month in July, with 371 00:26:30,372 --> 00:26:35,471 more being scheduled in the fall. As Ray mentioned earlier, PIO is part of the 372 00:26:35,502 --> 00:26:37,692 state board team working to develop the John L. 373 00:26:37,813 --> 00:26:41,787 Latow Voting and Elections Database of New York Act, VEDAS, as we call it. 374 00:26:41,922 --> 00:26:45,432 We continue to communicate with our county boards, as well as other election 375 00:26:45,462 --> 00:26:49,047 authorities such as school districts, libraries, and villages, about this law 376 00:26:50,292 --> 00:26:54,672 change and offering training for those election authority uploaders so that they 377 00:26:54,732 --> 00:26:56,232 can meet their statutory deadline. 378 00:26:57,582 --> 00:27:01,842 For general media functions, we have had a lot of traditional media inquiries since 379 00:27:01,902 --> 00:27:06,013 we last met, a wide variety of issues, including independent nominating petitions 380 00:27:06,042 --> 00:27:10,242 and signature requirements, the ballot certification early voting numbers, and the 381 00:27:10,332 --> 00:27:15,672 unofficial results for the June primary, mail ballot deadlines amidst USPS 382 00:27:15,703 --> 00:27:19,962 changes and campaign finance issues such as disclosure reports, contribution 383 00:27:20,022 --> 00:27:24,283 limits, and lastly, how online voter registrations are processed. 384 00:27:24,313 --> 00:27:28,033 We released press releases regarding the change in postmarking guidelines from 385 00:27:28,092 --> 00:27:33,252 USPS. We commemorated National Poll Worker Recruitment Day last month, and we put 386 00:27:33,283 --> 00:27:37,572 out a press release regarding the Election Security Road Show that we hosted last 387 00:27:37,602 --> 00:27:39,402 month that Ray also mentioned in his report. 388 00:27:40,362 --> 00:27:44,232 For social media, we have had a really busy few months with lots of engagement. 389 00:27:44,292 --> 00:27:48,732 In fact, it's been our best State Board of Elections month ever on social media. 390 00:27:48,792 --> 00:27:53,172 We've had posts that have covered explaining what a primary election is, reminding 391 00:27:53,203 --> 00:27:56,862 folks about the Golden Day in terms of different deadlines and early voting, daily 392 00:27:57,132 --> 00:28:02,322 early voting posts, thanking poll workers post-election, reminder for that July 393 00:28:02,382 --> 00:28:05,832 periodic report, again celebrating National Poll Worker Recruitment Day. 394 00:28:06,222 --> 00:28:10,962 We did a series about voters in special circumstances that got us our most shares 395 00:28:11,052 --> 00:28:16,317 and comments and replies ever. Publication of this year's law book has been posted 396 00:28:16,422 --> 00:28:18,357 and board meeting information. 397 00:28:19,632 --> 00:28:23,307 We have accounts still on Facebook, Instagram, and X, where we have increased 398 00:28:23,652 --> 00:28:27,462 followers. And in fact, I know that these numbers can feel weird, but on Facebook, 399 00:28:27,552 --> 00:28:31,662 just in the last four months, which didn't include a general election, we had over 400 00:28:31,992 --> 00:28:36,942 254,000 views of what we said and over 8,000 interactions on our posts. 401 00:28:36,987 --> 00:28:40,662 And that includes impressions of when someone that follows us shares it to their 402 00:28:40,722 --> 00:28:45,462 followers, and so the message is getting out there, and we've had an increase of 7% 403 00:28:45,942 --> 00:28:48,522 followers on Facebook, over 10% on Instagram. 404 00:28:48,627 --> 00:28:52,617 So it's really been our best few months yet in social media. 405 00:28:52,662 --> 00:28:56,172 We continue to create content for the upcoming months, including celebrations this 406 00:28:56,263 --> 00:29:00,102 month for National Voter Registration Day and Disability Voter Rights Week, and 407 00:29:00,132 --> 00:29:02,772 information about the general election as we approach November. 408 00:29:03,912 --> 00:29:07,212 Three quick miscellaneous items to cover before I hand it to Jennifer. 409 00:29:08,382 --> 00:29:12,462 As Ray mentioned, the Election Security Roadshow, PIO presented on mis, dis, and 410 00:29:12,492 --> 00:29:17,547 mal information, as well as safe mail handling procedures for election offices and 411 00:29:17,592 --> 00:29:21,132 technology-related foil requests and guidance. 412 00:29:21,763 --> 00:29:25,602 At the ECA Summer Conference last week, we presented on language access 413 00:29:25,662 --> 00:29:29,112 requirements, grants, list maintenance, and VIDA. 414 00:29:30,313 --> 00:29:34,063 Later this month, Ben Spears, Siso, and I will participate in a discussion at the 415 00:29:34,092 --> 00:29:38,622 Ewing Forum at Canandaigua about election and cybersecurity that we're excited to 416 00:29:38,682 --> 00:29:43,242 talk about all the steps the state and the county boards do to ensure our elections 417 00:29:43,302 --> 00:29:47,112 run securely, both in both information and cyber realms. 418 00:29:47,186 --> 00:29:49,632 So I will pass it over to Jennifer for grants. 419 00:29:49,992 --> 00:29:54,477 Thank you, Kathleen. Since our last meeting, the state legislature finalized the 420 00:29:54,522 --> 00:29:58,902 budget for our fiscal year 2026, 2027, and I am pleased to report that in the 421 00:29:58,962 --> 00:30:03,432 budget, we did receive two new grant appropriations to be used by county boards, $3 422 00:30:03,492 --> 00:30:08,232 billion for expenses related to elections held in 2026, and $5 million for mail 423 00:30:08,322 --> 00:30:12,567 ballot-related expenses. This is actually the third year in a row that counties are 424 00:30:12,582 --> 00:30:16,842 receiving general funding to support elections for the year, and the fifth year in 425 00:30:16,872 --> 00:30:21,492 a row that we are receiving state funding for mail ballot-related expenses. 426 00:30:21,552 --> 00:30:26,382 In addition to these new funds, we also had annual extensions for our eight 427 00:30:26,502 --> 00:30:31,212 existing grant funds. And across those appropriations, we only have about 9% of 428 00:30:31,272 --> 00:30:35,052 funds remaining. So again, we're very grateful to the legislature for these new 429 00:30:35,112 --> 00:30:39,342 funds. During this budget cycle, we also requested that the legislature let lapse 430 00:30:39,402 --> 00:30:44,412 our three older state grants, our 2019 Capital Projects Electronic Poll Book, 2019 431 00:30:44,472 --> 00:30:49,002 Eight Localities Early Voting Grant, and our 2021 Early Voting Expansion Grant. 432 00:30:49,662 --> 00:30:53,292 And the total of those funds was $26.7 million. 433 00:30:53,412 --> 00:30:56,727 Ahead of the budget, we encouraged the counties to spend down any remaining 434 00:30:56,742 --> 00:31:02,052 balances that they had, and I am super proud of our team and of the counties 435 00:31:02,112 --> 00:31:07,467 because, in the end, we only had 0.2% of funds remaining across those three grants. 436 00:31:08,502 --> 00:31:12,612 On our federal grants, we are also finally closing out our two older HAVA 437 00:31:12,703 --> 00:31:17,697 sub-awards, our HAVA 251 shoebox and HAVA 101 Voter Education and Poll 438 00:31:18,462 --> 00:31:22,797 Worker Training grants. These original HAVA appropriations were issued as early as 439 00:31:22,932 --> 00:31:27,807 2006, and there's been several different appropriations over the years that have 440 00:31:27,852 --> 00:31:30,807 been funding for both state and local boards of elections. 441 00:31:30,882 --> 00:31:35,652 Based on our federal reporting, the 251 grant appropriation totaled more than $172 442 00:31:35,712 --> 00:31:41,277 million since its inception, and the 101 grant had over $16 million in 443 00:31:41,292 --> 00:31:45,822 funds. Similar to the other three grants, we did encourage counties to spend down 444 00:31:45,852 --> 00:31:47,832 any outstanding funds before we closed them. 445 00:31:48,492 --> 00:31:52,962 And in the end, there was $162,000 left on the shoebox grant and 446 00:31:52,992 --> 00:31:58,078 $332,000 left on the 101 grant, which sounds like a lot, but in the grand scheme of 447 00:31:58,078 --> 00:32:03,042 $172 million and $16 million, it's really quite a drop in the bucket. 448 00:32:03,102 --> 00:32:06,132 And the excellent news is, because these are federal funds, they will not be 449 00:32:06,222 --> 00:32:09,522 surrendered back to the state, and instead, the State Board of Elections will get 450 00:32:09,552 --> 00:32:14,682 to keep those funds and repurpose them for other federal election-related expenses. 451 00:32:14,742 --> 00:32:15,972 And that's everything I have for grants. 452 00:32:16,092 --> 00:32:16,592 Thanks, Jen. 453 00:32:18,342 --> 00:32:19,977 Good. Thank you. Any questions? 454 00:32:21,643 --> 00:32:23,966 If not, we'll move on to... Thank you for that. 455 00:32:24,477 --> 00:32:28,453 We'll move on to accessibility and training. Helen and Jen. 456 00:32:29,922 --> 00:32:31,302 Good afternoon, commissioners. 457 00:32:32,893 --> 00:32:37,572 The Accessibility Services and Training unit will now oversee language access for 458 00:32:37,632 --> 00:32:41,832 the agency. We're working with Jen and Kathleen to ensure a smooth transition. 459 00:32:42,522 --> 00:32:46,962 We activated video services on our language line account to accommodate people 460 00:32:47,022 --> 00:32:50,502 whose primary language is ASL who may come into the office. 461 00:32:50,982 --> 00:32:55,602 We translated the 2026 political calendar into Spanish, and we are currently 462 00:32:55,662 --> 00:33:00,402 translating the large print voter registration forms into Bengali, Chinese, Korean, 463 00:33:00,462 --> 00:33:06,388 Malayalam, Tagalog, and Urdu. For accommodation requests in Executive Order 464 00:33:06,732 --> 00:33:12,672 31, which was signed in 2023 and commits New York State agencies to 465 00:33:12,703 --> 00:33:15,792 be a model employer for people with disabilities. 466 00:33:15,852 --> 00:33:19,796 We met with Marybeth Schneider from the Chief Disability Office to learn about 467 00:33:19,842 --> 00:33:24,972 inclusive internship opportunities, and we also added language to all State Board 468 00:33:25,002 --> 00:33:30,057 of Elections job postings stating that we're an inclusive employer and encouraging 469 00:33:30,132 --> 00:33:34,557 job applicants to provide feedback on the accessibility of our interview and hiring 470 00:33:34,632 --> 00:33:39,703 processes. As Ray mentioned already, for the Training Institute, we're continuing 471 00:33:39,732 --> 00:33:43,482 to work with Election Center to review and finalize the poll worker manual, 472 00:33:43,572 --> 00:33:47,352 training material, and testing material, and are developing the train-the-trainer 473 00:33:47,622 --> 00:33:53,412 manual. And lastly, for poll site accessibility surveys, election law requires that 474 00:33:53,442 --> 00:33:57,972 the State Board publish a non-technical guide describing standards for poll site 475 00:33:58,033 --> 00:34:03,013 accessibility and adopt a survey tool for counties to use to evaluate the 476 00:34:03,042 --> 00:34:04,947 accessibility of their poll sites. 477 00:34:05,563 --> 00:34:10,123 The board originally published the non-tech guide in 2010, which, if you can 478 00:34:10,152 --> 00:34:16,062 believe it, was 16 years ago. And the survey that was adopted was the 2004 479 00:34:16,152 --> 00:34:21,822 ADA Checklist for Polling Places, which was based on 1991 ADA standards. 480 00:34:21,912 --> 00:34:27,882 In 2016, an updated ADA checklist for polling places was released based on 481 00:34:28,062 --> 00:34:33,552 the most current ADA standards, and we are currently updating the non-technical 482 00:34:33,643 --> 00:34:38,143 guide and poll site survey tool to align with the current accessibility standards 483 00:34:38,263 --> 00:34:40,842 and disability inclusion practices. 484 00:34:41,562 --> 00:34:44,893 The new survey will be 18 fewer pages. 485 00:34:45,373 --> 00:34:49,346 The new survey is displayed in a clear chart format, whereas the old survey had 486 00:34:49,393 --> 00:34:55,212 questions buried among a bunch of informational text, and it'll give 487 00:34:55,243 --> 00:34:57,013 more access to voters with disabilities. 488 00:34:58,393 --> 00:35:00,387 Jen, do you have anything else? 489 00:35:03,373 --> 00:35:06,402 I'm sorry. Jen, do you have anything or are you guys done? 490 00:35:07,212 --> 00:35:07,712 Thank you. 491 00:35:07,992 --> 00:35:10,707 Okay. All right. Thank you. Are there any questions? 492 00:35:12,342 --> 00:35:15,702 Not hearing any questions, we'll move on to ITU. 493 00:35:17,682 --> 00:35:21,672 ITU SEC. I'm not sure what SEC stands for, to be honest with you. 494 00:35:21,732 --> 00:35:23,442 That's Laura and Ben. 495 00:35:23,532 --> 00:35:24,132 The center. 496 00:35:25,932 --> 00:35:28,422 Good morning, commissioners, and that is the Secure Election Center. 497 00:35:28,482 --> 00:35:29,187 I'm going to be handling it. 498 00:35:29,232 --> 00:35:31,152 Okay. I didn't know. Okay. Thank you. 499 00:35:33,012 --> 00:35:36,042 From the ITU internal side of the house 500 00:35:37,362 --> 00:35:42,957 good morning. We continue to support frequent upgrades to the Voting 501 00:35:43,002 --> 00:35:44,937 Elections Database System. We have 502 00:35:46,182 --> 00:35:51,132 responded to upgrades that have been requested as we onboarded new 503 00:35:51,192 --> 00:35:56,907 authorities. To date, we have 392 authorities registered in the system, and we have 504 00:35:57,102 --> 00:36:00,477 427 election events that have been reported. 505 00:36:02,862 --> 00:36:07,902 With the 2026 filing cycle, our current system has seen a vast increase in the 506 00:36:07,962 --> 00:36:13,752 volume and frequency of filing. Our team has adapted that system to 507 00:36:13,932 --> 00:36:19,632 the need as the need comes our way. We have kicked off 508 00:36:20,772 --> 00:36:25,632 our testing for the phase two release of the AVR system. 509 00:36:26,742 --> 00:36:32,172 Right now we are testing that system, reviewing it, and creating documentation for 510 00:36:32,382 --> 00:36:35,862 users, both internal and external. 511 00:36:36,237 --> 00:36:41,772 Proactively, the team is working on some systems that 512 00:36:42,912 --> 00:36:47,742 are going to need upgrade in the near future, so election night reporting or voter 513 00:36:47,772 --> 00:36:52,272 lookup, online voter registration, and the electronic filing system are all being 514 00:36:52,332 --> 00:36:58,152 roadmapped for upgrade. And in addition to that, we 515 00:36:58,212 --> 00:37:02,442 continue to provide support in all aspects of the MTX project as 516 00:37:02,532 --> 00:37:08,292 needed. And with that, I'm going to hand it to Ben, unless there's any questions 517 00:37:08,322 --> 00:37:08,822 for me. 518 00:37:10,752 --> 00:37:16,437 Thank you, Laura. So, beginning recently, we've begun work with our infrastructure 519 00:37:16,542 --> 00:37:20,202 team to plan out our data center modernization project, which we hope to start 520 00:37:20,322 --> 00:37:25,992 after the election. Turning to our security updates, as the co-executive director's 521 00:37:26,022 --> 00:37:31,332 already elaborated, a very successful primary election with a very limited number 522 00:37:31,393 --> 00:37:37,062 of events, primarily all power and telecom outages with limited impacts to 523 00:37:37,123 --> 00:37:37,623 voting 524 00:37:38,496 --> 00:37:43,356 Additionally, to add some color around our security roadshow that we did have a few 525 00:37:43,386 --> 00:37:47,196 weeks back, it really was a huge success. 526 00:37:47,556 --> 00:37:50,736 I definitely can say that when the only things most can complain about are the 527 00:37:50,797 --> 00:37:56,736 cookies and the condiments. And with that, we used that to 528 00:37:56,797 --> 00:37:59,856 learn a lot about what we can bring to the counties going forward. 529 00:38:00,606 --> 00:38:05,076 And especially that success can be credited to our Division of Homeland Security 530 00:38:05,196 --> 00:38:10,281 Services, who we did bring to the tabletop exercises, not just to provide the same 531 00:38:10,326 --> 00:38:13,656 exact exercise we've done in the past, but additionally add a new communications 532 00:38:13,716 --> 00:38:19,611 component, where we worked to have the officials respond to a specific incident in 533 00:38:19,716 --> 00:38:22,686 groups and talk about how they would communicate and who they would communicate 534 00:38:22,701 --> 00:38:28,266 with on a particular incident. We do continue to receive feedback, and received it 535 00:38:28,297 --> 00:38:32,797 during the event from counties saying this was the best one yet, and we are very 536 00:38:32,826 --> 00:38:38,106 appreciative of that. One big change that we made this year that was briefed at the 537 00:38:38,166 --> 00:38:41,317 last meeting is that we are looking to increase our engagement with emergency 538 00:38:41,436 --> 00:38:46,011 managers. When this first started, it was intended to serve as a way for boards to 539 00:38:46,056 --> 00:38:48,547 not just learn about cybersecurity, but to increase their engagement with the 540 00:38:48,576 --> 00:38:53,346 county IT directors. I'm proud to say that 75% of counties brought an IT 541 00:38:53,376 --> 00:38:58,326 representative to the event, and 41% of counties brought an emergency management 542 00:38:58,356 --> 00:39:02,406 representative, which was a great showing considering this was our first attempt to 543 00:39:02,466 --> 00:39:07,400 engage with them. We will be continuing to expand our partnership with emergency 544 00:39:07,476 --> 00:39:11,420 management in September at the State's Disaster Preparedness Consortium Conference. 545 00:39:12,186 --> 00:39:15,711 Myself and another representative from the Division of Homeland Security Services 546 00:39:15,786 --> 00:39:19,776 will be presenting on our partnership, and encouraging more emergency management 547 00:39:19,806 --> 00:39:25,221 engagement with the elections community, because as we've learned in our work at 548 00:39:25,326 --> 00:39:30,606 the state level, a lot of the resources that the counties are relying on that we 549 00:39:30,636 --> 00:39:33,396 help coordinate for them actually are held at the county level. 550 00:39:33,427 --> 00:39:37,656 So if we can create that direct engagement, we can hopefully get those resources to 551 00:39:37,716 --> 00:39:39,696 them quicker because they have those relationships. 552 00:39:40,656 --> 00:39:44,526 As always, I do want to thank not just DHS but our other partners that were in 553 00:39:44,556 --> 00:39:48,936 attendance. The State Intelligence Center, which presented on their role in 554 00:39:48,996 --> 00:39:53,406 supporting the counties, the Information Office of Information Technology Services, 555 00:39:54,006 --> 00:39:56,256 several of their executive leadership were in attendance. 556 00:39:57,096 --> 00:40:01,146 The Department of Public Service and their emergency response teams, as well as all 557 00:40:01,177 --> 00:40:05,946 three FBI field offices in the state were in attendance at the various events. 558 00:40:07,056 --> 00:40:10,371 We, as always, are focused on our partnerships with the counties and with those 559 00:40:10,896 --> 00:40:15,636 state partners. Myself and Laura will be participating, at the end of this month, 560 00:40:15,876 --> 00:40:21,456 in the whole of state cybersecurity call, which will be sent to all 561 00:40:21,486 --> 00:40:26,766 municipalities in the state, as well as presenting with those partners and on our 562 00:40:26,826 --> 00:40:30,456 own at the State Local Government IT Directors Association at the beginning of 563 00:40:30,516 --> 00:40:35,406 October. With that, that's the extent of my report. Questions? 564 00:40:36,696 --> 00:40:38,136 Okay. Any questions? 565 00:40:38,797 --> 00:40:44,766 In addition to the cookies, at all four sites, commissioners should know this, 566 00:40:45,456 --> 00:40:47,706 there was participation across the board. 567 00:40:48,096 --> 00:40:54,006 In years past, we've had some long days where it was like pulling teeth, trying to 568 00:40:54,065 --> 00:40:58,701 get the participants to take part in this, because it is an interactive exercise, 569 00:40:59,226 --> 00:41:04,567 and it was fabulous. Everyone participated, everyone felt involved, and that is a 570 00:41:04,596 --> 00:41:05,976 credit to you, so great job. 571 00:41:06,336 --> 00:41:08,436 Thank you. 572 00:41:08,526 --> 00:41:10,326 Okay. Thank you. Any questions? 573 00:41:11,706 --> 00:41:15,666 All right. We're done with the unit updates. I just want to commend all the staff. 574 00:41:15,756 --> 00:41:19,956 There were very few questions today, which I think is a compliment to the staff. 575 00:41:20,047 --> 00:41:23,286 So we can move on now to old business. 576 00:41:23,976 --> 00:41:25,611 Is there any old business to come before the board? 577 00:41:27,276 --> 00:41:28,986 Hearing none, I'm going to move on to new business. 578 00:41:29,136 --> 00:41:33,096 I know there's some new business to come before the board, and the first one is the 579 00:41:33,186 --> 00:41:37,086 upgrade of the Pollbook 10-X system. 580 00:41:38,526 --> 00:41:41,286 And I don't know, Jude, do you want to speak to that? 581 00:41:41,736 --> 00:41:43,716 I'll let our director, Amy, speak to that. 582 00:41:43,821 --> 00:41:44,526 Amy, you going to speak to that? 583 00:41:44,541 --> 00:41:46,356 Sure. Okay, go ahead. 584 00:41:46,356 --> 00:41:52,086 Sure. Thank you, Commissioner. We received an application for an update to the 585 00:41:52,116 --> 00:41:53,886 10-X electronic poll book system. 586 00:41:54,516 --> 00:42:00,067 This is an upgrade to version 6.1.8 and Precinct 587 00:42:00,126 --> 00:42:05,076 Central 26.01. About 20 counties use the 10-X system. 588 00:42:05,226 --> 00:42:09,500 It has undergone functional and security testing, and we would recommend your 589 00:42:09,516 --> 00:42:10,266 approval. 590 00:42:12,156 --> 00:42:16,416 Amy, can you just give us a snapshot of what it does, what the upgrade actually 591 00:42:16,446 --> 00:42:16,946 does? 592 00:42:18,576 --> 00:42:21,006 Sure. There were just some general updates. 593 00:42:21,456 --> 00:42:27,006 There was a reported issue, which none of our counties saw in 594 00:42:27,067 --> 00:42:32,736 practice in the prior version, but when it went for long periods of time, 595 00:42:33,156 --> 00:42:36,817 there was an occurrence that the screen would turn off, so they would have to 596 00:42:36,846 --> 00:42:41,736 restart. So they corrected that. There will be no impact to the voter with this 597 00:42:41,826 --> 00:42:42,291 update. 598 00:42:42,291 --> 00:42:45,576 Okay. So the user interface to all of the voters will look the same. 599 00:42:45,576 --> 00:42:46,611 Okay. And they have corrected that. 600 00:42:46,611 --> 00:42:49,356 So the voters should not see any difference when they go to vote? 601 00:42:50,106 --> 00:42:51,006 No, Commissioner. 602 00:42:51,126 --> 00:42:57,021 Okay. Any questions? If there's any questions, 603 00:42:57,036 --> 00:43:00,396 I'll entertain those. If not, I'll entertain a motion to approve. 604 00:43:01,326 --> 00:43:01,986 So moved. 605 00:43:02,646 --> 00:43:03,336 Is there a second? 606 00:43:03,381 --> 00:43:06,486 Second. Then seconded. All in favor, aye. 607 00:43:06,486 --> 00:43:07,236 Aye. 608 00:43:07,251 --> 00:43:12,216 Aye. Opposed? That is carried unanimously. 609 00:43:12,216 --> 00:43:16,146 And that is the upgrade. So the next are some regulations. 610 00:43:16,206 --> 00:43:20,076 We have a series of regulations, and we can go through them one by one. 611 00:43:20,166 --> 00:43:26,016 I believe these are all regulations for final adoption that have been previously 612 00:43:26,076 --> 00:43:28,476 before the board for 613 00:43:30,276 --> 00:43:34,086 public comment, and I believe they went out for public comment. 614 00:43:34,281 --> 00:43:36,486 They were published under public comment. 615 00:43:36,576 --> 00:43:41,451 Public comments were received, and they're now back before us for final adoption. 616 00:43:41,556 --> 00:43:44,331 Correct me if I'm wrong on any of this, but I believe that's the case on all of 617 00:43:44,376 --> 00:43:48,726 these. There's five of them, and I think we should take them one by one so that we 618 00:43:48,817 --> 00:43:52,340 all understand what we're voting on. So I don't know who wants to carry this. 619 00:43:54,306 --> 00:43:57,366 I'm happy to go through these. I will not be issuing any corrections. 620 00:43:57,427 --> 00:44:01,056 You are correct in everything you said about these, so we can go through them one 621 00:44:01,086 --> 00:44:01,746 at a time. 622 00:44:01,806 --> 00:44:04,656 I'm sorry, Kevin. What did you just say? 623 00:44:04,716 --> 00:44:06,906 I said there is no correction to anything you said. 624 00:44:06,996 --> 00:44:07,496 Really? 625 00:44:07,521 --> 00:44:10,836 You're accurate in everything you said. "I was correct in everything I said," I believe is what you said. Is that right? 626 00:44:11,135 --> 00:44:11,526 Yeah. 627 00:44:11,526 --> 00:44:15,966 Thank you, Kevin. Thank you. Okay. Let's go again. So you're going to do this. 628 00:44:16,536 --> 00:44:19,386 Are you going to- This meeting is being recorded, so it's- 629 00:44:19,416 --> 00:44:21,906 That's great. I just want to make sure I heard that correctly. That's all. 630 00:44:24,067 --> 00:44:25,192 So we can go through these one by one. 631 00:44:25,192 --> 00:44:26,317 Make sure it's noted in the minutes. 632 00:44:26,496 --> 00:44:29,196 Great. That's even better. It's on video, so this is all good. 633 00:44:29,946 --> 00:44:31,251 Kevin, do you want to start with the first one? 634 00:44:31,297 --> 00:44:33,696 These are regulations on the Fair Campaign Code. 635 00:44:34,192 --> 00:44:40,086 Sure, absolutely. So just as a refresher on this one, what we did was implemented 636 00:44:40,386 --> 00:44:46,297 some regulatory changes in order to effectively mirror a lot of the provisions 637 00:44:46,356 --> 00:44:51,711 of our existing HAVA complaint procedures in the Fair Campaign Code violation 638 00:44:51,786 --> 00:44:56,766 procedures because the actual procedure in a Fair Campaign Code complaint that went 639 00:44:56,797 --> 00:45:01,281 to a hearing wasn't particularly spelled out, and the HAVA regulations had much 640 00:45:01,326 --> 00:45:04,476 more substance as far as that procedure. 641 00:45:04,506 --> 00:45:09,756 So we thought it would be prudent to adopt a number of those procedures and mirror 642 00:45:09,817 --> 00:45:15,067 that general structure for the hearings and the remainder of 643 00:45:16,026 --> 00:45:18,456 those sort of proceedings within the Fair Campaign Code. 644 00:45:18,516 --> 00:45:24,006 So we received no comment on these, and there was one minor single-word 645 00:45:24,067 --> 00:45:29,106 change that was an error or typo that we have corrected in this draft, 646 00:45:30,516 --> 00:45:35,165 where the word hearing was changed to transcript, just for clarity. 647 00:45:35,196 --> 00:45:37,881 But that is the only change from the initial adoption. 648 00:45:39,516 --> 00:45:42,067 How many of these Fair Campaign Code hearings do we have a year? 649 00:45:43,236 --> 00:45:44,016 Hearings? 650 00:45:44,196 --> 00:45:44,826 Yep. 651 00:45:44,886 --> 00:45:49,581 I don't believe we have had one in-- We certainly haven't had one since I joined 652 00:45:49,626 --> 00:45:52,896 the board. I don't know when the last time we would've had one would be. 653 00:45:52,956 --> 00:45:53,692 Yeah, I don't remember either. 654 00:45:53,766 --> 00:45:56,271 We receive the complaints- 655 00:45:57,306 --> 00:46:01,896 Right ... on the cadence of maybe a handful a year, but none of them have moved to the 656 00:46:01,927 --> 00:46:03,381 stage of holding a hearing. 657 00:46:03,666 --> 00:46:07,177 Okay. So it's unusual to even get to this stage, is that what you're saying? 658 00:46:07,806 --> 00:46:09,366 Exceedingly unusual, yes. 659 00:46:09,817 --> 00:46:13,416 Okay. Any questions on this from any of the commissioners? 660 00:46:13,626 --> 00:46:15,696 If not, I'll entertain a motion to adopt. 661 00:46:16,836 --> 00:46:17,436 So moved. 662 00:46:17,496 --> 00:46:17,996 Second. 663 00:46:18,516 --> 00:46:20,766 Moved and seconded. All in favor, aye. 664 00:46:20,856 --> 00:46:21,246 Aye. 665 00:46:21,246 --> 00:46:24,156 All aye. Opposed? That is carried unanimously. 666 00:46:24,186 --> 00:46:29,346 We'll move on to regulation number two, which is the write-in vote regulation. 667 00:46:29,376 --> 00:46:32,286 I believe this is to reflect a statutory change. Is that correct? 668 00:46:33,156 --> 00:46:37,986 That's correct, Commissioner. The statute was changed to permit a write-in vote to 669 00:46:38,047 --> 00:46:43,446 be counted on a ballot where that name already appeared as one of the options to 670 00:46:43,476 --> 00:46:47,406 vote for, and our regulations need to change accordingly. 671 00:46:47,826 --> 00:46:51,606 Okay. Any questions? If not, I'll entertain a motion to adopt 672 00:46:52,938 --> 00:46:53,628 So moved. 673 00:46:53,779 --> 00:46:54,279 Second. 674 00:46:54,529 --> 00:46:57,738 Moved and seconded. All in favor, aye. Aye. 675 00:46:57,812 --> 00:46:58,218 Aye. Aye. 676 00:46:58,218 --> 00:47:01,368 Opposed? Opposed. That's carried unanimously as well. 677 00:47:02,178 --> 00:47:03,978 Move on to the third regulation. 678 00:47:04,068 --> 00:47:09,558 These are voter registration 679 00:47:09,588 --> 00:47:10,938 transmittals. Okay, so 680 00:47:12,228 --> 00:47:14,418 can you speak to that, Kevin? What's this do? 681 00:47:15,228 --> 00:47:19,848 Certainly. This regulation is the requirement of county boards to effectively 682 00:47:19,938 --> 00:47:25,743 submit a summary of the transmittals that have come to the 683 00:47:25,818 --> 00:47:30,858 state board. We're simply making a change to say that they would be able to be 684 00:47:30,918 --> 00:47:34,128 submitted on a monthly basis as opposed to a weekly basis. 685 00:47:35,029 --> 00:47:38,029 We think it would be of benefit to the county boards. 686 00:47:38,449 --> 00:47:43,758 We obviously already are aware of these and could determine these numbers if we 687 00:47:43,818 --> 00:47:48,873 needed to during the pendency, but we think monthly is a far more reasonable 688 00:47:48,918 --> 00:47:51,468 timeframe to be providing these summaries. 689 00:47:51,558 --> 00:47:55,368 Okay, so this is just a single word change from weekly to monthly. Correct? 690 00:47:55,728 --> 00:48:01,248 Correct. Okay. Again, any questions? If not, I'll entertain a motion to adopt. So moved. 691 00:48:01,308 --> 00:48:01,808 Second. 692 00:48:02,928 --> 00:48:05,147 Moved and seconded. All in favor, aye. 693 00:48:05,208 --> 00:48:05,658 Aye. Aye. 694 00:48:05,658 --> 00:48:06,078 Aye. 695 00:48:06,078 --> 00:48:09,468 Opposed? That again is carried unanimously. 696 00:48:10,998 --> 00:48:13,098 Now we move on to the fourth regulation. 697 00:48:13,188 --> 00:48:13,758 This is 698 00:48:17,148 --> 00:48:21,588 conflict of interest. So this is a new provision, right? This is a new regulation? 699 00:48:21,768 --> 00:48:22,368 Is that correct? 700 00:48:23,268 --> 00:48:23,768 Yes. 701 00:48:23,808 --> 00:48:28,158 Yeah. This was adopted by the state legislature, and we were empowered to provide 702 00:48:28,188 --> 00:48:30,783 regulations. Well, you can speak to it briefly. 703 00:48:30,828 --> 00:48:33,858 This is about conflict of interest with Board of Elections employees, correct? 704 00:48:35,029 --> 00:48:35,343 Yes. 705 00:48:35,343 --> 00:48:41,088 Yeah. It's to prevent Board of Election employees from conflicts of interest, and a 706 00:48:41,088 --> 00:48:46,803 major focus of that is for Board of Elections employees to avoid direct 707 00:48:46,878 --> 00:48:52,308 financial interests in vendors and other outside 708 00:48:52,428 --> 00:48:57,468 employment that would potentially create conflicts within the board within their 709 00:48:57,529 --> 00:49:03,483 duties, and the procedure by which employees in those limited circumstances 710 00:49:03,498 --> 00:49:08,373 where they are permitted to theoretically wear two hats, would be able to seek that 711 00:49:08,373 --> 00:49:11,029 permission from the respective commissioners of the board. 712 00:49:12,168 --> 00:49:13,953 Okay. Are there any questions on this 713 00:49:16,158 --> 00:49:21,949 regulation? Hearing none, I'd entertain a motion to adopt. 714 00:49:22,038 --> 00:49:22,637 So moved. 715 00:49:22,654 --> 00:49:26,148 Second. Moved and seconded. All in favor, aye. 716 00:49:26,148 --> 00:49:26,313 Aye. Aye. 717 00:49:26,313 --> 00:49:31,098 Aye. Opposed? Again, carried unanimously. 718 00:49:31,098 --> 00:49:34,699 And now the final regulation, and this one is on the drop boxes. 719 00:49:34,818 --> 00:49:37,338 Again, this is a new regulation, correct? 720 00:49:37,938 --> 00:49:38,438 Correct. 721 00:49:38,838 --> 00:49:42,529 And this is something the legislature adopted, and these are regulations to enact 722 00:49:42,558 --> 00:49:46,638 the drop box procedure in New York State. So go ahead. 723 00:49:47,868 --> 00:49:48,618 You can speak to that. 724 00:49:48,858 --> 00:49:54,828 Yes. Of course. The state board was tasked with providing and promulgating 725 00:49:54,858 --> 00:49:58,158 regulations relating to drop boxes that 726 00:49:59,388 --> 00:50:04,848 involve a significant number of provisions about the drop box design, other various 727 00:50:04,877 --> 00:50:10,668 requirements for the drop boxes relating to security and structure, how they need 728 00:50:10,699 --> 00:50:15,828 to be secured, where they would be located, video surveillance, 729 00:50:16,368 --> 00:50:21,648 hours for pickup of the ballots, and just a number of general 730 00:50:21,798 --> 00:50:27,678 provisions relating to those. So what I would like to mention 731 00:50:28,699 --> 00:50:34,578 is that we did receive a number of public comment on these, which is different, I 732 00:50:34,638 --> 00:50:40,098 would say, from our normal procedure. We, if anything, receive only one or two. 733 00:50:40,248 --> 00:50:43,638 We received a significant number for this one. 734 00:50:43,818 --> 00:50:48,708 I will say that, for the record, we did go through and consider each of the public 735 00:50:48,768 --> 00:50:54,529 comments. We did try to ensure that where any of the public comments brought up 736 00:50:54,558 --> 00:50:59,598 some substantive suggestions that, to our belief, they are already 737 00:50:59,628 --> 00:51:05,253 reflected in the draft regulations, and we believe strongly that those 738 00:51:05,268 --> 00:51:10,818 substantive comments are already reflected within the draft language. 739 00:51:10,953 --> 00:51:16,308 It's also worth noting that the State Board of Elections will be promulgating a 740 00:51:16,998 --> 00:51:22,278 sample chain of custody form that we hope will be utilized by the respective 741 00:51:22,338 --> 00:51:26,943 counties that implement these drop boxes, and that the State Board of Elections is 742 00:51:27,048 --> 00:51:32,072 also tasked with approving standards for chain of 743 00:51:32,148 --> 00:51:36,199 custody with regard to the ballots that the respective counties would need to 744 00:51:36,228 --> 00:51:41,913 submit to us for approval. So there are still additional layers 745 00:51:41,989 --> 00:51:47,808 beyond even the text of this regulation to ensure additional security 746 00:51:47,868 --> 00:51:52,518 with regard to these drop boxes, should counties wish to adopt and implement them. 747 00:51:52,638 --> 00:51:58,068 But I did want to just mention that we did receive and review, and take those 748 00:51:58,098 --> 00:52:03,723 comments very seriously. So we appreciate those comments from the public, and with 749 00:52:03,798 --> 00:52:05,118 that, I would 750 00:52:06,648 --> 00:52:08,929 suggest that they are prepared to be voted on. 751 00:52:09,949 --> 00:52:14,868 Okay. I appreciate it. My understanding is that while we did appreciate the 752 00:52:14,929 --> 00:52:19,548 comments, and they were substantive, that we didn't make any changes in the 753 00:52:19,563 --> 00:52:25,459 proposed regulations because the feeling was that the proposed regulations already 754 00:52:25,489 --> 00:52:27,888 covered the matters that were raised in those comments. 755 00:52:27,902 --> 00:52:32,343 So while you won't see any changes here, it's not that we ignored the comments, but 756 00:52:32,358 --> 00:52:35,298 that we just felt those issues had already been resolved. 757 00:52:35,538 --> 00:52:38,433 Are there any questions about this regulation from the commissioners? 758 00:52:40,068 --> 00:52:44,568 If not, then I would entertain a motion to approve. So moved. 759 00:52:45,408 --> 00:52:45,908 Second. 760 00:52:45,978 --> 00:52:48,288 Moved and seconded. All in favor, aye. 761 00:52:49,308 --> 00:52:49,808 Aye. 762 00:52:50,268 --> 00:52:55,128 Opposed? I hear none, so it is again adopted unanimously. 763 00:52:56,329 --> 00:52:59,959 That really concludes all the business before the State Board of Elections. 764 00:53:00,408 --> 00:53:01,968 No, it helps. 765 00:53:02,253 --> 00:53:07,818 What else? Hold on. I'm not done. Hold on. Easy, guys. Easy. 766 00:53:07,818 --> 00:53:12,364 There is one other matter that comes before just myself and Commissioner Berger, I 767 00:53:12,438 --> 00:53:15,318 believe. Is that correct? 768 00:53:16,098 --> 00:53:17,418 You are correct, Commissioner. 769 00:53:17,628 --> 00:53:21,423 Okay. So can someone just go through with that? 770 00:53:21,528 --> 00:53:25,503 That is something to do with, and I don't completely understand this, it doesn't 771 00:53:25,517 --> 00:53:28,923 really make a lot of sense to me, but maybe somebody can explain it briefly. 772 00:53:29,898 --> 00:53:34,923 Apparently, Commissioner Berger and I have been empowered by the state legislature 773 00:53:34,998 --> 00:53:40,114 to decide how much money's needed for the public campaign finance system in this 774 00:53:40,188 --> 00:53:41,088 state. Is that correct? 775 00:53:42,709 --> 00:53:44,929 Periodically, we have to do that. 776 00:53:45,079 --> 00:53:50,493 Yeah. We have to certify the amounts that may be required by the Public Campaign Finance 777 00:53:50,568 --> 00:53:51,858 Board for matching funds. 778 00:53:51,978 --> 00:53:52,758 And someone- 779 00:53:53,763 --> 00:53:54,903 And you and I have to vote on that 780 00:53:54,903 --> 00:53:58,278 And someone besides you and I come up with that number, is that correct? 781 00:53:59,868 --> 00:54:00,528 Yes. 782 00:54:01,429 --> 00:54:01,908 Yes. So- 783 00:54:01,908 --> 00:54:07,038 Commissioner, that number is what if all of the committees currently active in the 784 00:54:07,098 --> 00:54:12,483 system were to max out what they could be paid out under the statute, that's the 785 00:54:12,528 --> 00:54:13,728 number we would require. 786 00:54:13,878 --> 00:54:15,603 And is there sufficient money in the budget to- 787 00:54:15,603 --> 00:54:16,128 $59 million 788 00:54:16,158 --> 00:54:19,579 ... is there sufficient money in the budget to cover that cost? 789 00:54:21,138 --> 00:54:21,638 Yes. 790 00:54:21,918 --> 00:54:24,768 Okay. Okay, and what is that number? 791 00:54:25,878 --> 00:54:27,949 The number is $59 million. 792 00:54:28,308 --> 00:54:33,558 $59 million. So Henry, you and I have control over $59 million right here. 793 00:54:35,598 --> 00:54:41,209 Yes, we do. And either one of us could kill it by not voting for this. 794 00:54:42,679 --> 00:54:45,378 So I would entertain a motion to adopt this, 795 00:54:47,028 --> 00:54:48,032 and I'll actually do it. 796 00:54:48,739 --> 00:54:50,223 Me too. I move and you have to second it. 797 00:54:50,223 --> 00:54:51,558 I'll make the motion. How's that? 798 00:54:52,128 --> 00:54:52,818 I'll second it. 799 00:54:52,864 --> 00:54:57,048 And it's seconded, and there's no more discussion because I think we've already 800 00:54:57,079 --> 00:55:00,949 done that, so I vote aye. 801 00:55:01,218 --> 00:55:02,778 Then I'll vote aye also. 802 00:55:02,868 --> 00:55:05,118 And Commissioner Berger votes aye, so it's a unanimous vote. 803 00:55:05,298 --> 00:55:11,209 So that is the last piece of business to come before us, I believe, unless 804 00:55:11,239 --> 00:55:13,068 there's a need for an executive session. 805 00:55:14,778 --> 00:55:15,709 There's no need, Commissioner. 806 00:55:15,858 --> 00:55:19,218 Okay. If there's no need, then we can make a motion to adjourn. 807 00:55:19,248 --> 00:55:22,878 And I would just, before we adjourn, note to everybody that following this meeting, 808 00:55:22,923 --> 00:55:25,548 there will be a meeting of the Public Campaign Finance Board. 809 00:55:26,658 --> 00:55:31,848 And for those of you who are of interest, you can join that I believe immediately 810 00:55:31,878 --> 00:55:37,128 following us, soon thereafter. Public Campaign Finance Board will be meeting. 811 00:55:37,248 --> 00:55:41,658 So, I will entertain a motion to adjourn. So moved. 812 00:55:41,673 --> 00:55:44,748 Second. It's moved and seconded. All in favor, aye. 813 00:55:44,748 --> 00:55:45,288 Aye. 814 00:55:45,408 --> 00:55:45,908 Aye. 815 00:55:45,933 --> 00:55:51,739 That's unanimous, and the meeting is adjourned. Thank you very much. 816 00:55:51,739 --> 00:55:52,239 Thank you.