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Special Meeting Minutes Monday, November 28, 2022 8:00 AM BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Maricopa County, Arizona (and the Boards of Directors of the Flood Control District, Library District, Stadium District, Improvement Districts and/or Board of Deposit) "The mission of Maricopa County is to provide regional leadership and fiscally responsible, necessary public services to its residents so they can enjoy living in healthy and safe communities” Board Members Bill Gates, Chairman, District 3 Clint Hickman, Vice Chairman, District 4 Jack Sellers, District 1 Thomas Galvin, District 2 Steve Gallardo, District 5 County Manager Joy Rich Clerk of the Board Juanita Garza Meeting Location Supervisors'/Sullivan Conference Room/ Supervisors’ Auditorium 301 W Jefferson, 10th Floor/205 W. Jefferson Phoenix, AZ 85003 BOARD OF SUPERVISORS The Board of Supervisors of Maricopa County, Phoenix, Arizona, convened in Special Session at 8:00 AM on Monday, November 28, 2022, in the Supervisors’/Sullivan Conference Room/ Supervisors’ Auditorium, 301 W Jefferson, 10th Floor/ 205 W. Jefferson Phoenix, AZ 85003, with the following members present: Bill Gates, Chairman, District 3; Clint Hickman, Vice Chairman, District 4; Jack Sellers, Supervisor, District 1; Thomas Galvin, Supervisor, District 2; Steve Gallardo, Supervisor, District 5 (entered meeting late). Also present: Amy Loper, Deputy Clerk; Joy Rich, County Manager; Andrea Cummings, Legal Counsel; Kelly Gardiner, Minutes Coordinator; Mia Vargas, Minutes Coordinator. 1. EXECUTIVE SESSION Vote to convene in Executive Session to consider the items on the Executive Agenda dated Monday, November 28, 2022, for Board of Supervisors and relevant Special Districts pursuant to the statutory authority listed for each item. Motion to approve by Supervisor Clint Hickman, seconded by Supervisor Jack Sellers Ayes: Bill Gates, Clint Hickman, Jack Sellers, Thomas Galvin Absent: Steve Gallardo ~ Supervisor Gallardo entered the meeting after the vote ~ After discussion in Executive Session, the Board reconvened in Open Session. OPEN SESSION RECONVENED Chairman Gates reconvened the Board in the Supervisors’ Auditorium. OPEN SESSION 2. CANVASS THE RETURNS FOR THE NOVEMBER 8, 2022, GENERAL ELECTION Canvass the election returns for the November 8, 2022, General Election in accordance with the Official Results prepared by the Maricopa County Elections Department. The Maricopa County Elections Department has prepared the Official Returns from all county precincts, declaring the vote for the November General held on November 8, Special Meeting Minutes Monday, November 28, 2022 Page 2 of 17 2022. The Elections Department requests that the Board of Supervisors canvass these returns and approve the Official Canvass for this election pursuant to A.R.S. 16-642 through 16-645. The Board of Supervisors is required to canvass these returns within twenty days following the election. The Official Canvass is on file with the Clerk of the Board of Supervisors and retained in accordance with ASLAPR approved retention schedule. (C-21-23-014-X-00) Chairman Gates opened the meeting and asked the Clerk to call the roll. He led the Pledge of Allegiance to the flag. Chairman Gates took a minute to explain the Canvass process and how the meeting would proceed. He began by saying that any challenge to the results of the election must be done within five days following the certification of the Canvass of both County and State results. He added that any challenge would be handled in the courts as outlined in A.R.S.§16-672, 673, and 674. Despite the perception of the challenge process being done too quickly, Chairman Gates assured the audience that the Board has reviewed all the details and is not rushing this process. Chairman Gates said Recorder Richer would make some opening comments, followed by comments from the public. Next, a presentation and explanation would be given by Scott Jarrett, Director of Election Day Voting, and Rey Valenzuela, Co-Director for Elections. Chairman Gates requested decorum in the auditorium during the meeting. Stephen Richer, Recorder, came forward and explained his statutory responsibilities in the elections process. He reviewed, in detail, the many steps involved in the registration and voting process. Recorder Richer said as of the October 11, 2022 registration deadline, there were approximately 2,435,000 registered voters. He offered a breakdown of parties and said of the total registered voters, approximately 78% were on the Active Early Voting List (AEVL) and those citizens received a ballot by mail. Recorder Richer offered a breakdown of the different political parties who were on the AEVL. Approximately 1,870,000 early ballots were mailed out. He continued to give statistics from previous elections to highlight the similarities and differences and the history of early voting statistics. He noted of the early voting ballots in green envelopes, 290,000 were hand delivered to vote centers on Election Day versus being sent through the mail or deposited in an official drop box. He said the early voting process had remained the same over the years and he went on to describe in detail that process including the timeframe for when ballots are received and then tabulated. Recorder Richer stated that early ballots, in green envelopes, that are dropped off at the voting centers are kept at the vote center until the polls close. Those ballots are then processed in the overnight hours in the same fashion as the mail-in ballots. Recorder Richer explained the provisional ballot and the curing process. He concluded his comments and said the early voting process was safe and secure, is trackable and was a success with very few voter issues. Maricopa County has had early voting in place since 1992. Recorder Richer stated that each step of the early voting process was overseen by political party observers. He thanked his hard-working staff and the 3,000 or so volunteers that have been through a lot over the past two years. Recorder Richer said he looks forward to continuing improvement and increased public support. The following people were called on to speak during Public Comment. Most spoke out saying the Board of Supervisors should not certify the election results and there should be a new election. The new election should be one day only, and the ballots be hand Special Meeting Minutes Monday, November 28, 2022 Page 3 of 17 counted. Tabulators should not be used because of the equipment errors that occurred on November 8, 2022. The comments focused primarily on believing voters were disenfranchised, that there was voter suppression, fraud, conspiracy, and the election was rigged. There were five people who had positive comments on how the election was conducted. Catherine Sigmon, spoke in favor. Lewis Herms, spoke in opposition. Joe Oltmann, spoke in opposition. Chris Fernandez, spoke in favor. Martha Kochi, spoke in opposition. Denise Babayan, spoke in opposition. Lydia Abril, spoke in opposition. Don Henninger, spoke in favor. Joanne Pierce, spoke in opposition. Michelle Altherr, spoke in opposition. Kathy Rosko, spoke in opposition. Barbara Russell, spoke in opposition. Vern Bybee, spoke in opposition. Randy Miller, spoke in opposition. Sharon Huber, spoke in opposition. Mike Petersen, spoke in opposition. Raquel Cantacessi, spoke in opposition. Susan Truax, spoke in opposition. Ben Bergquam, spoke in opposition. Scott Brogi, spoke in opposition. Linda Atlee, spoke on behalf of Barbara Jennings in opposition. Andrew, spoke in opposition David Clements, spoke in opposition. John Landry, spoke in opposition Mary Ziola, spoke in opposition. Kimberly Burleson, spoke in opposition. Robert Canterbury, spoke in opposition. Samantha Paez, spoke in opposition. Chris Hamlet, spoke in opposition. Theresa Breithaupt, spoke in opposition. Lezley Shepherd, spoke in opposition. Jenelle Weaver, spoke in opposition. Ben Scheel, spoke in favor. Veronica Corcoran, spoke in opposition. Roger Maib, spoke in opposition. Gail Golec, spoke in opposition. Tom Vanek, spoke in opposition. Tim Schwartz, spoke in opposition. Michelle Dillard, spoke in opposition. Blake Lister, spoke in favor. Chairman Gates welcomed Mr. Jarrett and Mr. Valenzuela for the presentation. Mr. Jarrett began the presentation and thanked the Board for their time and thanked all the voters who offered feedback on the administration of the election. He stated the presentation was formatted to answer many of the questions that have been raised by the public. Special Meeting Minutes Monday, November 28, 2022 Page 4 of 17 Mr. Jarrett reviewed the above slide and highlighted the need for so many ballot styles to accommodate the variety of voters in the record number of vote centers across the County. He also noted there was a record number for voter turnout in this election. Mr. Jarrett read the above slide and then reviewed voter turnout on the next slide. Special Meeting Minutes Monday, November 28, 2022 Page 5 of 17 Mr. Jarrett focused on the Registered Voter turnout and talked about the historic data. There was a record turnout in comparison to other counties in Arizona. He remarked on the turnout based on political parties, emphasizing that all voters were served. Mr. Valenzuela thanked the Board for the opportunity to present this information. He said as a co-director for elections, the goal was to serve all voters. Mr. Valenzuela reviewed the variety of methods used to serve all voters. Special Meeting Minutes Monday, November 28, 2022 Page 6 of 17 Mr. Valenzuela continued reviewing the statistics for voter turnout and stated being voter centric meant giving voters many options to cast a ballot. Mr. Jarrett mentioned that one of the concerns expressed was the time it took to count all the ballots, particularly the early ballots dropped off at a vote center on Election Day. He stated that state statute does not allow those ballots dropped off at the vote center to leave the vote center until the center closes for the day. He discussed the chain of custody for the ballots that included the bipartisan teams. Mr. Jarrett explained the lengthy process to verify all the envelopes and ballots. Mr. Valenzuela discussed the Claim slide and reviewed the robust tracking system that has been implemented to educate the public about the receipt of their ballot. Special Meeting Minutes Monday, November 28, 2022 Page 7 of 17 Mr. Valenzuela reviewed the above slide and explained the process of ballot status vs. voter history. Supervisor Gallardo asked about the process for veterans to vote. Mr. Valenzuela explained, in detail, the Federal law regulating the delivery of these ballots. He reviewed the timetable that is followed, including a special disposition to get the ballots returned for tabulation prior to 7:00 p.m. on Election Day. Mr. Valenzuela discussed the details of ballot security and said the above steps are undertaken by humans not Artificial Intelligence (AI), with a variety of checks and balances performed throughout the process. Supervisor Gallardo confirmed that bipartisan boards are present to review the processes. Supervisor Hickman asked if there has been a record kept of bipartisan crosschecking to determine if discrepancies have gone up or down historically. Mr. Valenzuela said there is a log and the number of questionable ballots has remained very similar over time. He added that the Special Meeting Minutes Monday, November 28, 2022 Page 8 of 17 importance of the telephone number added to the envelope has made curing of ballots more efficient. The curing period of five days does delay results. Mr. Jarrett shared the above slide as an example of how the curing process worked. Supervisor Gallardo remarked that the legislature has allowed this process of curing and thereby reduces the disenfranchising of voters. The above slide was read out loud by Mr. Jarrett and addressed in the following slide. Special Meeting Minutes Monday, November 28, 2022 Page 9 of 17 Improved access to vote in-person at “Vote Anywhere” centers meant that any registered voter could vote at any of the vote centers in the County. Mr. Jarrett said the Elections Department strives to give the voter as much information as possible and developed a system that allows voters to gauge wait times. They can then decide which vote center to go to. This information was available on the Elections website and updated regularly throughout the day. Supervisor Galvin asked if the people who show up to vote on election day stood in a different line than the early ballot drop off voters. Mr. Jarrett replied those dropping off a ballot do not stand in line but just deposit the green envelope in a secure drop box. He explained the process of voter check in at a vote center using the Site book which requires an Internet connection. He stated the vote tabulation system is not connected to the Internet. Mr. Jarrett read the above slide “Claim” and responded on the following slide. Special Meeting Minutes Monday, November 28, 2022 Page 10 of 17 Mr. Jarrett reviewed the slide above and explained the different types of Ballot on Demand (BOD) printers used. The Oki BOD printers were the ones that had problems on Election Day but they had been used in several elections throughout the County prior to the 2022 midterms. He stated all the equipment had been using the same uniform settings and had been stress tested. Supervisor Hickman asked that a “'stress test" be defined. Mr. Jarrett said it involved running hundreds of ballots through randomly selected machines at high speed to make sure it operates properly. He talked about the size of the ballot because Maricopa County needed 20-inch ballots due to the number of races for this election. Supervisor Galvin asked if ballots were run through a tabulator machine. Mr. Jarrett said ballots were run through the tabulators without incident. He said the Elections Department welcomed scrutiny to improve the process. He produced a stack of paper examples of the setting checks that were performed on each machine. Supervisor Hickman commented on the purchase of equipment and the scrutiny that is involved. The Board discussed the timetable for Election Day and when the problem occurred. The problem was first reported at 6:20 a.m. and the problem identified by 11:30 a.m. He said over the course of the next several hours, the affected printers had their settings adjusted. There were 33% of the printers affected equalling 70 individual printers. Mr. Jarrett summarized the poll workers training process on how they handle citizens and their ballots when problems occur at the polling places. Special Meeting Minutes Monday, November 28, 2022 Page 11 of 17 Mr. Jarrett read this Claim slide and addressed it in the following slide. Mr. Jarrett responded to the claim, referring to the slide above. He described the secure ballot boxes and said this method has been used in every election for decades. He said due to all the misinformation, voters have been scared and confidence in the election system has eroded over the past two years. Voters feared their vote would not count. Special Meeting Minutes Monday, November 28, 2022 Page 12 of 17 Mr. Jarrett reviewed the information and numbers on the above slide. Chairman Gates commented that redundancies have been put in place for these types of situations. Supervisor Gallardo left dais briefly at 1:15 p.m. and returned at 1:18 p.m. Supervisor Hickman asked for an explanation of the voter experience. Mr. Jarrett explained each of the steps and talked in detail about memory cards and how they correspond to the ballots. At the end of the day, the Elections Department reads all the memory cards from all the vote centers, allowing results to be known sooner. It was reported that two vote center locations had comingled box 3 ballots in with the tabulated ballots. Mr. Jarrett said that because of the redundancies that are in place, Elections was able to get an accurate count of the ballots. Supervisor Sellers briefly left the dais at 1:25 p.m. and returned at 1:27 p.m. Supervisor Hickman commented on the need for bipartisan oversight due to the complex nature of the elections and asked how issues are handled to reduce the reoccurrence of the same problems. Mr. Jarrett mentioned the variety of checks that are performed at different points in the process. Mr. Jarrett read the above Claim and addressed it in the following slide. Special Meeting Minutes Monday, November 28, 2022 Page 13 of 17 Mr. Jarrett reviewed the slide above that explained the reliability of the equipment being used including chain of custody and audit information. Mr. Jarrett reviewed the slide above. He spoke about the criticism from the public regarding the amount of time it took to count ballots and call races. Mr. Jarrett said when high profile races have wide margins, the media outlets have been known to “call the contest” before the counting of the ballots is complete. The above slide shows the history of the amount of time it has taken to count the ballots noting his analysis of several other states and all of them were still tabulating ballots 10 days after the election. Projections made do not equal ballots counted. Special Meeting Minutes Monday, November 28, 2022 Page 14 of 17 Mr. Jarrett said the above slide outlined several factors that slow the counting and increase the integrity of the count. Mr. Jarrett read the above Claim and responded in the following slide. Special Meeting Minutes Monday, November 28, 2022 Page 15 of 17 Mr. Jarrett explained the above slide that outlined the steps that the Elections Department took to be inclusive toward political party observers. Mr. Jarrett reviewed the slide above and thanked the recruiters who filled the volunteer positions with nearly equal numbers of Republicans and Democrats. He said the increased training was welcomed and made a difference on Election Day. Supervisor Gallardo suggested more “troubleshooter” positions would help in the future. Supervisor Hickman commented on a public comment that reported no power at a Dysart vote center.. Mr. Jarrett said it was a MOFI Internet connection that did not work. Discussion followed about the importance of using facilities that have adequate signal strength. Mr. Jarrett added that a test for connectivity was done prior to Election Day. Special Meeting Minutes Monday, November 28, 2022 Page 16 of 17 Mr. Valenzuela read the above Claim and responded with the following slide. On the slide above, Mr. Valenzuela discussed the variety of methods and the amount of information that was available to the public for Election Day. He said there were over 45 million hits on the Elections Department webpage. Chairman Gates thanked Mr. Jarrett and Mr. Valenzuela for the explanation of the elections process and for addressing the questions the public had. He asked his colleagues if they had any questions. Supervisor Hickman said he appreciated Chairman Gates’ allowing time for public comment and he had hoped the public would stick around for the answers. Supervisor Gallardo thanked Mr. Jarrett, Mr. Valenzuela, and Maricopa County Tabulation and Election Center (MCTEC) for all the time that has gone into preparing for the election and compiling this report. He stated the questions that have been asked were answered honestly and every registered voter had the opportunity to cast their ballot. Supervisor Gallardo said that during the public comment period of this meeting there were complaints. Kari Lake tweeted 28 of those complaints and no tweets on the answers that were given. She was not interested in the answers only to broadcast the complaints. Special Meeting Minutes Monday, November 28, 2022 Page 17 of 17 Supervisor Sellers was glad the Board was able to answer all the questions the public asked. He said he was disappointed that many of the people who came did not come to get answers, only to complain. Supervisor Galvin thanked Chairman Gates for making time for this meeting and he thanked Recorder Richer for his explanation of the process. He reiterated the issues that came up about the printers. He thanked the public for their comments with 35 being dissatisfied. He said he wanted to hear that people got to vote. He acknowledged the thunderstorm that has consumed our community over the last two years. Supervisor Galvin talked about the lack of accountability for people who put inaccurate information on the Internet. He said it is incumbent for all of us to call out misinformation when we see it rather than continuing to spread that information. Supervisor Galvin said we all need to work together, and he intends to be an agent of change. Chairman Gates said he believed this was a good election and while it was not perfect, it was transparent. He stated he was proud of what was accomplished and said the Board strove for continuous improvement and will do better next time. Chairman Gates said he was bothered by individuals who challenged the integrity of his colleagues. He said the election was safe and secure and the votes have been counted accurately. Motion to approve by Supervisor Steve Gallardo, seconded by Supervisor Clint Hickman Ayes: Bill Gates, Clint Hickman, Jack Sellers, Thomas Galvin, Steve Gallardo MEETING ADJOURNED There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned. ___________________________ Bill Gates, Chairman of the Board ATTEST: ______________________________ Amy Loper, Deputy Clerk of the Board