Harrisonburg elections director outlines steps to speed same-day registration, adjust mileage reporting and staff for fall

At its July meeting, the Harrisonburg City Electoral Board heard an update from Mark (last name not provided), director of elections, on efforts to improve same-day registration processing, staffing and other operational items ahead of the fall election.

Mark said the office has been working with comparable localities to develop faster procedures for same-day registration (SDR) on campus and elsewhere in the city and aims to refine the process for the fall election. He said the office used lessons from the primary and the provisional-ballot workflow to identify bottlenecks and will continue work on the “back provisional / ballot” process to reduce delays.

The director described staffing plans to reduce data-entry delays on election day. He said the office is in discussions with human resources and finance about temporarily hiring one or two officers of election to help enter SDR information into the city’s verification system (referred to in the meeting as “Veri’s”), and that those temporary workers would need city logins and computer access. “The main goal is to have at least one, if not two, extra people,” Mark said. He told the board he will meet with HR, finance and IT this week to identify needs such as laptops and to clarify pay/HR requirements.

Mark said the office also is leaning toward using the city’s regular officers of election where possible because they are familiar with election terminology and procedures. He described informal options for having pre-season staff on election day to help voters complete envelopes and reduce backlogs.

The office will change how mileage reimbursements are submitted. Mark said finance and the elections office agreed to stop using the city-specific mileage worksheet and a Google Maps-based precinct map and instead use the state-recommended mileage form. Under the new form, pollworkers will provide starting and closing odometer readings for each day and sign a single sheet, which the director said should reduce back-and-forth with finance.

Mark also listed outreach and event dates: he will participate in a panel on July 30, visit James Madison University on Aug. 18 to meet with fellows about registration deadlines, and the office plans a thank-you event for officers of election on Aug. 12 at 6 p.m. in Room 011012 of City Hall’s basement with light refreshments. He said the office expects to close at 4 p.m. through the sixth of the month for the VRAV/VA Registrar association conference, though he noted that scheduling could change.

The director reminded the board of several voter-facing deadlines and closures: a student-focused block party on Aug. 23; early voting for the November election beginning on Nov. 19; City Hall closed Oct. 13 (no early voting that day); and Oct. 24 becoming a dual deadline day when both the last day to request an absentee ballot and the last day to register will fall on the same calendar date but at different cutoff times. Mark said absentee applications must arrive by 5:00 p.m. on Oct. 24, while voter registration submitted online may be accepted later that day up until the statutory midnight deadline. He said the elections office had sought legislative changes to “marry up” the deadlines but was unable to secure the change this session.

On accessibility, the director proposed an in-person ADA compliance walkthrough of precincts and school-based polling places in August or September and said he would contact Harrisonburg City Schools to coordinate. He said past compliance checks identified primarily parking and curbside-sign issues and one outstanding construction-related item; he asked that the schools help with building access for the walkthrough.

The report included administrative notes on recruiting election officers and using a toolkit adapted from a partner organization. The board took no formal vote on these items during the public portion of the meeting and moved later to a closed session for personnel and election-security matters.