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Special Meeting Minutes Thursday, March 28, 2024 2:00 PM 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 Jack Sellers, Chairman, District 1 Thomas Galvin, Vice Chairman, District 2 Bill Gates, District 3 Clint Hickman, District 4 Steve Gallardo, District 5 County Manager Jen Pokorski Clerk of the Board Juanita Garza Meeting Location Supervisors' Auditorium 205 W Jefferson, Phoenix, AZ 85003 BOARD OF SUPERVISORS The Board of Supervisors of Maricopa County, Phoenix, Arizona, convened in Special Session at 2:00 PM on Thursday, March 28, 2024, in the Supervisors’ Auditorium, 205 W. Jefferson, Phoenix, AZ 85003, with the following members present: Jack Sellers, Chairman, District 1; Thomas Galvin, Vice Chairman, District 2 (remote); Bill Gates, Supervisor, District 3; Steve Gallardo, Supervisor, District 5 (entered meeting late, remote). Absent: Clint Hickman, Supervisor, District 4. Also present: Amy Loper, Deputy Clerk; Kelly Gardiner, Minutes Coordinator (remote); Jen Pokorski, County Manager; Andrea Cummings, Legal Counsel. ACTION 1. CANVASS THE RETURNS FOR THE MARCH 19, 2024 PRESIDENTIAL PREFERENCE ELECTION Canvass the election returns for the March 19, 2024, Presidential Preference Election in accordance with the Official Results prepared by Maricopa County Elections, A Department of the Board of Supervisors. Maricopa County Elections has prepared the Official Returns from all county congressional district, declaring the vote for the March Presidential Preference Election held on March 19, 2024. Maricopa County Elections requests that the Board of Supervisors canvass these returns and approve the Official Canvass for this election pursuant to A.R.S. 16-249. The Board of Supervisors is required to canvass these returns within ten 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-21-24-052-X-00) Chairman Sellers introduced item 1 and asked the Clerk to call the roll. Chairman Sellers suggested the Board ask questions during the presentation. He asked Zach Schira, Scott Jarrett, and Rey Valenzuela, to come forward. Mr. Schira, Executive Director, thanked the Board for their time. He introduced Scott Jarrett, Director of Election Day and Tabulation, and Rey Valenzuela, Elections Director. Mr. Schira highlighted the following election day accomplishments: all the voting facilities opened on time there were minimal issues reported on Election Day Special Meeting Minutes Thursday, March 28, 2024 Page 2 of 5 the results matched the post-election hand count audit perfectly He also stated that with the support of the Board, the elections were smooth and efficient. Mr. Schira said they were able to run the first large election in their new renovated MCTEC facility. This allowed for better workflow, increase in staff, and a larger number of tabulators working to facilitate Election Day and getting the results out faster. Mr. Schira then handed the presentation over to Mr. Jarrett. Chairman Sellers commented that with this smaller election, it gave the Elections Department a chance to test some of the improvements before the bigger elections coming up. Mr. Jarrett thanked the Board for giving him the opportunity to present the canvass documents for consideration to approve and certify the election. He emphasized that the hand count audit matched the tabulation results perfectly. He gave a brief overview of the canvassing process and upcoming dates to provide the results to the Secretary of State. Mr. Jarrett highlighted the numbers and percentages of voter participation on the slide. Supervisor Gates asked to confirm what the 39.9% of the Total Ballots Cast represents. Mr. Jarrett stated that this is only the number of eligible Republican and Democrats that registered 29 days before the March 19, 2024 Presidential Preference Election (PPE) not the total number of the voters within Maricopa County. Chairman Sellers confirmed that Independents and No Party voters were not included in the PPE. Mr. Jarrett said the political parties not included in this PPE were offered a Provisional Ballot and their status was confirmed later through voter registration records. Special Meeting Minutes Thursday, March 28, 2024 Page 3 of 5 Mr. Jarrett reviewed the above slide that showed previous PPE elections statistics. He highlighted voter turnout in the days leading up to the election. The slide above has “call out boxes” that shows this 2024 PPE was tracking a little bit ahead for voter turnout 7 days before the election day. Mr. Valenzuela highlighted the Administering the Election slide and discussed the civic duty program that allows County employees to assist with elections resulting in additional open check-in lines and many other process improvements. Mr. Valenzuela answered a question that was asked previously which inquired about each of the political parties that used Early Voting: He said 34.2% of early voters were Democrat verses 41.02% were Republican. Mr. Valenzuela talked about the success of the Special Election Boards and Braille services. Special Meeting Minutes Thursday, March 28, 2024 Page 4 of 5 Supervisor Gates mentioned a constituent who thanked him for providing the Special Election Board for his mom. Mr. Jarrett stated that due to the Civic Duty Program, elections were 91% staffed. He thanked everyone willing to step up and assist with this election cycle and he looks forward to working with them again on future elections. Mr. Valenzuela reviewed the 2024 Primary Election Key Dates slide highlighting the moved up Primary Election date of July 30, 2024; the moved up General Election date of November 5, 2024. Mr. Jarrett highlighted the deadline dates for the Primary and General Election cycle. He talked about the terms that Elections uses. The letter “E” and a number that follows is how many days until Election Day. We are currently at E45 until the next election. Special Meeting Minutes Thursday, March 28, 2024 Page 5 of 5 Supervisor Gates congratulated everyone’s hard work and asked if anything stood out this election and asked if there were lessons learned. Mr. Jarrett stated that the legislation that moved the Primary Election up one week required the development of new procedures for the upcoming elections. Mr. Schira agreed this was a great election to “get our feet wet” for the coming elections. Supervisor Gallardo thanked the Elections team for the leadership and hard work. He wanted to thank all the poll workers and he also stated that this was the first election that he did not get a phone call regarding issues on Election Day. Supervisor Galvin thanked the Election team and hoped that all the election workers know that they are appreciated, and we always strive to be the best. He stated that we will have a steeper hill to climb but has no doubt that our team will prevail. Chairman Sellers appreciated Recorder Richer, Scott Jarrett,and Rey Valenzuela who ran a great election and thanked to all the volunteers who were willing to work the elections. Motion to approve the Canvass of the March 2024 Presidential Preference Election by Supervisor Bill Gates, seconded by Supervisor Thomas Galvin Ayes: Jack Sellers, Thomas Galvin, Bill Gates, Steve Gallardo Absent: Clint Hickman MEETING ADJOURNED There being no further business to come before the Board, the meeting was adjourned. _____________________________ Jack Sellers, Chairman of the Board ATTEST: ______________________________ Amy Loper, Deputy Clerk of the Board