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Special Emergency Meeting Minutes Thursday, March 12, 2020 5:15 PM BOARD OF SUPERVISORS Maricopa County, Arizona (and the Boards of Directors of the Flood Control District, Library District, Stadium District, Improvement Districts, Housing Authority of Maricopa County, Housing Authority of Maricopa County 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 Clint Hickman, Chairman, District 4 Jack Sellers, Vice Chairman, District 1 Steve Chucri, District 2 Bill Gates, District 3 Steve Gallardo, District 5 County Manager Joy Rich Clerk of the Board Fran McCarroll Meeting Location Board of Supervisors Conference Room 301 W. Jefferson, 10th Floor Phoenix, AZ 85003 BOARD OF SUPERVISORS The Board of Supervisors of Maricopa County, Phoenix, Arizona, convened in Special Emergency Session at 5:15 PM on Thursday, March 12, 2020, in the Board of Supervisors Conference Room, 301 W. Jefferson, 10th Floor, Phoenix, AZ 85003, with the following members present: Clint Hickman, Chairman, District 4; Jack Sellers, Vice Chairman, District 1 (attended telephonically); Steve Chucri, District 2 (attended telephonically); Bill Gates, District 3 (attended telephonically); Steve Gallardo, District 5 (attended telephonically). Also present: Fran McCarroll, Clerk of the Board; Joy Rich, County Manager. Tom Liddy Deputy County Attorney also attended telephonically. Others present at the meeting were: Adrian Fontes, Maricopa County Recorder; Keely Varvel, Chief Deputy Recorder; Scott Jarrett, Director of Election Day and Emergency Voting; and other staff members of the Recorder’s and Supervisor’s staff. At the beginning of the emergency session, Tom Liddy stated that this emergency meeting was being held due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the effect it is having on the plans for the Presidential Preference Election scheduled for March 17, 2020. A number of poll workers have called indicating that they will not be able to work on Election Day, and the Elections Department has received notice from some polling locations that they will not be allowing their location to be used as a polling site. The Board needed to meet and consider what changes may need to immediately be made to the election-day plan in light of these events. Chairman Hickman stated that the Board needed to discuss and possibly make some decisions about changes that may need to be made to the current election-day plan to deal with these recent developments. Director Jarret reviewed some of the calls that have come in recently including a number of poll workers (many of whom are over 60 and in the more high risk group) indicating they would not be able to work on election day due to concerns about COVID-19. Additionally, he listed several school districts that had called indicating they were withdrawing their previous approval to use certain school campuses as polling places. He also explained that the Public Health Department had issued certain guidelines for poll workers to follow regarding the proper use of cleaning supplies, and the recommended frequency of cleaning polling place. Some Vote Centers are already open, and it is now apparent that the supply of cleaning supplies is quickly diminishing. It is expected that there will not be enough Clorox wipes to sufficiently cover the needs for every polling place. Although they have called and placed orders wherever Special Emergency Meeting Minutes Thursday, March 12, 2020 Page 2 of 5 possible, there simply are not sufficient supplies available from distributors to meet the need. Possible alternatives involving spraying the site books with a Clorox solution have not been able to be sufficiently tested on the machines. The solution may damage the machines and make them inoperable. There was discussion on the following: The diminishing number of poll workers and polling locations. Some troubleshooters have also called indicating they cannot work on Election Day The importance of making this election as available as possible to all eligible voters The importance of making sure that minority voters have adequate availability to the polls Recorder Fontes said he and his office have been working to come up with options to some of these concerns that have been raised. He indicated that there had been a meeting which included many of the Recorders and Election Directors from around the state with the Secretary of State last week. At that time he asked the Secretary of State or Governor to declare an emergency and authorize mailing ballots to the remaining Democrats who are not on the Permanent Early Voting List (PEVL). For Maricopa County this would be approximately 198,000 voters. However, that did not happen. Recorder Fontes referred to ARS 26-307. He read a portion of the statute which indicated that the governing body of the county could take emergency measures as deemed necessary to carry out the provision of that statute. He said that the Board of Supervisors would suspend the rules and make this election an all-mail ballot election. He further stated that polling places could be turned into drop box locations. Mailing the ballots now would mean that ballots could be to votes by Monday. Mr. Fontes also stated that since he knew it would take some time to print and prepare those ballots for mailing that he had called Runbeck (the County’s ballot-printing vendor) and directed them to begin printing those ballots to those 198,000 voters. Recorder Fontes indicated that he had tried to check with the County Attorney regarding this, but had not heard back yet. He explained that this plan would alleviate pressure on staff and would get down to 2 locations for certain actions. He stated that he would only send the mail ballots if the Board of Supervisors gave the “go-ahead.” He indicated that elections had been declared “critical infrastructure” in January of 2017. The Chairman said he understood the County Attorney was looking at “options,” and asked Tom Liddy if the County Attorney’s Office was looking at this option. Recorder Fontes said that these additional ballots would only go to those not on the PEVL. Chairman Hickman asked if this could lead to the possibility of people voting two times, and what if people get this ballot and mail it back. Recorder Fontes said that it was still “first in” would be the ballot that would be counted. Only one would count. He also said that they would have to send out notices to not mail the ballot, but to drop it off. Tom Liddy, responding to the Chairman’s earlier question related to ARS 26-207, said that wasn’t anything in that statute which would allow the County to send mail-in ballots to those who are not on the PEVL. Recorder Fontes said, “That’s what emergencies are for. That’s why the Board of Supervisors has the authority to suspend the rules.” Mr. Liddy responded that no one can act without statutory authority – the Board of Supervisors does not have the authority to do this.” Mr. Liddy stated that this is the advice of the County Attorney’s Office. Special Emergency Meeting Minutes Thursday, March 12, 2020 Page 3 of 5 Chairman Hickman added that neither the Governor nor the Secretary of State have called for this action. Director Jarrett stated that one plan could be to: Reduce this election to the 40 vote centers Still have the other polling places, but make them “drop boxes” Would want to have at least 4 poll workers there. Could put more site books in the vote centers Supervisor Gallardo asked how voters would be notified of these changes to only 40 locations, and how would they be redirected to proper locations. Director Jarrett indicted there could be a number of ways to notify voters including: Using the Communications team Notices on social media and the social media vendor Making robo-calls to reach voters The website Having hand-outs at voting locations to direct voters to a vote center Supervisor Sellers asked about the “risk” of mailing ballots. Mr. Liddy responded that someone could challenge that the government overreached their authority. He said it was similar to an issue that had come up in the Bush v. Gore matter that someone can’t simply change the rules just because everyone agrees that it is a good idea. In addition, he reminded all that there must be enough options to serve the minority communities. Recorder Fontes referred to ARS 26-314 dealing with Immunity of state, political subdivisions and officers, agents, employees and emergency workers… He quoted some sections from this statute about immunity for workers. Mr. Liddy replied that individuals like the Recorder or Board of Supervisors may be immune, but the County would not be immune. The discussion turned to the possibility of opening more Vote Centers. Supervisor Gallardo stated some concerns including: The ability to comply with diverse populations Also geographical diversities A concern that the 2016 election had 60 Vote Centers and this would be only 40 vote centers The difference between the 2016 and the 2020 elections and number of voters involved A concern that at this late point in the process that there would need to be a number of preprinted ballots available as reporting has to be by legislative and congressional district Concerns about accessibility with a smaller number of Vote Centers given that voters in certain areas do not have vehicles or access to light rail, etc. Supervisor Gallardo stated that he would be more comfortable with more sites and asked where additional sites might be located. Director Jarrett indicated that he had just learned that the LDS churches were suspending public gatherings, so those church sites may be out. In addition, 17 other churches are scheduled to be used as polling locations. There was discussion about who may or may not challenge or sue the County depending on what changes to the plan would be made. Also discussion ensued regarding how many Democrat voters were not on the PEVL, what percentage of turn-out was projected, how that translated to how many voters were expected to vote in the election and if Independents might still show up to vote even though they can’t in this election. Special Emergency Meeting Minutes Thursday, March 12, 2020 Page 4 of 5 Supervisor Chucri asked if there might be the ability to move toward a hybrid solution that might include closing some locations, making some locations drop centers and still possibly mailing some ballots. However, he expressed concern that Runbeck could even get ballots to people in time. Mr. Liddy stated that if there was a plan to mail any ballots at this point it would need to be pre- cleared before taking that action… maybe with the Democratic National Committee or the Arizona Democratic party. Recorder Fontes offered that the team could do all they could for regular polling places, use the mail options as a back-up, but mail all of the ballots. Supervisor Chucri indicated that if some did not want to vote by mail that there should be directions to voting locations. He also said there would be a need for a press conference. He also asked if the County could push harder to have locations remain available for polling locations, however, Mr. Liddy stated the County could not force locations to continue to offer their site. Supervisor Gates indicated that he reviewed the statutes which were earlier referred to about taking action in an emergency. He indicated that this would be an extreme measure. Mr. Liddy indicated that sometimes there is an allowance for polls to be open later than normal, but this could only be done with a court order, and this change is more profound than keeping them open later. This action would be contemplating overruling the state legislature. Some of these statutes indicate that these emergency measures could be taken if a “state of war” had been declared. Some other ideas were: Could Secretary of State Katie Hobbs weigh in to order the mailing of the ballots Maybe the head of the Democratic party could speak to this. Possibly going to court to ask that the election be postponed for 2 weeks The need for a court order to mail these additional ballots or delay the election The issue that Maricopa County would be different from other counties, and what would be the effects of that Possible legal challenges What measures have been taken in other states or counties Director Jarrett said what had occurred in some other states. He indicated the newest factor was that those over 60 years old might be more susceptible to the virus and are more at risk. He also indicated a concern that those who get a mail ballot would fully understand what their options are. Discussion turned to determining where changes might be made to polling place locations to fully consider locations of high in-person voting history, where the County could re-deploy resources, and a sound reasoning basis for any changes. In response to a question about extending the deadline for mail-in ballots to Thursday, Mr. Liddy indicated that there was no authority for that extension, especially because it would make Maricopa County different from other counties. He indicated that the safest way to go would be if there were extraordinary measures that they would be statewide and pursuant to a court order. Recorder Fontes indicated it should be a statewide call as several counties have concerns about what to do. He said he still thought we should mail out ballots. Special Emergency Meeting Minutes Thursday, March 12, 2020 Page 5 of 5 Supervisor Chucri summarized that thoughts included: A potential to mail out more ballots Bringing 229 polling places down to some manageable numbers Estimating how many more poll works might drop out Maybe it would best to keep the largest number of polling places open as possible, and factor in the consideration of the availability of cleaning supplies Director Jarrett stated that reducing the polling locations, possibly by half, would mean that they could probably cover the high voter propensity that may occur. This would be about 110 locations. The plan would still be subject to locations still allowing a polling place to be there. In that case they would probably have enough poll workers and supplies to service the election. Discussion turned again to cleaning supplies and the availability of supplies. Prior to the COVID- 19 issue the estimated number of Clorox wipes etc. was sufficient for all polling locations. Now, with the added frequency of cleaning it is estimated that polling places could run out of supplies by the end of the morning. The cleaning is a significant factor to consider. The Board was reminded by Director Jarrett that the county had entered into a “Wait Time Settlement,” which indicated that wait times at the polls should be 30 minutes or less. This factor would also need to be considered in any plans to change the number of polling places. The vote center technology differs from a polling place technology. After discussion on various issues including the diminishing number of poll workers and the current number of facilities that have called to indicate they will not be available for use as a polling location with the possibility of additional closure of polling locations, the following motion was set forward by Supervisor Sellers, and seconded by Supervisor Gates: “Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Board of Supervisors confirms their previously approved election-day plan, and further, gives the Election Day and Emergency Voting Director authority to deal with polling places that have been closed and direct voters to other viable locations, and in addition, take whatever additional reasonable actions that are within the Board’s statutory authority to mitigate any possible risk of disparate impact for minority voters’ access to the polls.” The motion passed with the following members voting “aye: Hickman, Sellers, Gates and Gallardo. Supervisor Chucri left the meeting prior to the vote. MEETING ADJOURNED There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned. ______________________________ Clint Hickman, Chairman of the Board ATTEST: _______________________________ Fran McCarroll, Clerk of the Board