Harrisonburg elections office readies poll‑pad provisional process, confirms ballots and training schedule ahead of June primary

HARRISONBURG, Va. — The Harrisonburg City Electoral Board on May 12 heard a routine operations report from Director of Elections Mark Finks outlining ballot inventory, completed logic‑and‑accuracy testing, plans to use electronic poll pads for provisional ballots and a schedule of training and deadlines ahead of the June primary.

Finks said the office has received ballots from vendor Printelect and that the current inventory includes 7,500 ballots for election day, 726 ballots ordered for mail distribution and about 400 early‑voting backup ballots intended for use if the ballot‑on‑demand system fails. He said absentee ballots mailed to voters total 430, with 30 emailed; 70 returned by mail; and 35 voters had voted early as of the morning of the meeting.

The polling‑equipment logic‑and‑accuracy (L&A) testing that Finks described has been completed for a subset of machines; he corrected an earlier date in the meeting and said the L&A completed on April 20, and the next L&A session is scheduled for June 2 at 1 p.m. He said L&A certifications had been submitted to the state for the early‑voting configuration.

Finks provided the board with a detailed description of a planned change to how the office records provisional ballots for same‑day registrants (SDR). Under the new process the electoral office will use the county’s poll pads as an electronic provisional ballot log. Poll pad entries would capture voter data at check‑in and generate reports that replace paper provisional logs; the office expects the change to reduce morning data‑entry work by several hours.

"This will allow me to just print that report off in the morning, and it'll be ready to go," Finks said, describing how the poll‑pad reports would substitute for the paper provisional logs observers currently review.

Finks said the new process will require a two‑step entry for many SDR voters: a poll worker will create the provisional record in the pad (name, birth year, address and whether ID was shown) and then complete the check‑in with the reason for provisional voting. Ballots will still be placed in envelopes by the voter; the change affects how the office records and later processes provisional entries.

He told the board the poll‑pad change should reduce office data entry and handwriting problems, but that it is unlikely to materially speed precinct‑level workflows. The office will test poll‑pad range and setup at precincts in June to confirm radio connectivity and finalize table configurations. Finks said the June election will serve as a pilot before wider rollout in the fall.

Finks also outlined training and staffing updates: the combined chief and info‑officer training is set for June 3 at 5:30 p.m.; poll‑book training is June 4 at 5:30 p.m.; the last day to request an absentee ballot by mail is June 6; the first Saturday of early voting is June 7 and the last day of early voting is June 14. He said the office will place ballots in machines and perform L&A on poll books on June 15. Election Day for the June primary is June 17; the canvas of results begins June 18 at 11 a.m. Finks said the office will travel for statewide trainings in Richmond at the end of July.

The board was told Ashley Dovell has been hired as a deputy and was starting office training the day of the meeting. Finks said he had submitted the office’s annual Virginia Election and Registration Security (LESS) reports; one outstanding incident‑report form had been added to next year’s checklist.

On voter rolls, Finks said Harrisonburg had 26,408 registered voters at the time of the meeting, down from 27,714 at the start of the year. He said the post‑federal‑election cleanup removed 1,264 registrants from the rolls and the office has recorded about 450 transfers out so far this year. Finks explained that many removals reflect inactive voters who have not shown voting activity in several years and that deaths or out‑of‑state moves sometimes are not reported to the office.

Board business during the meeting included routine procedural votes. The board approved the meeting agenda and the minutes from the prior meeting by voice vote. The board later moved into a closed session under section 2.2‑3711(a) of the Code of Virginia to discuss personnel matters and, after returning to public session, unanimously approved one applicant for an officer‑of‑election position.

Votes at a glance

- Approval of meeting agenda — approved by voice vote (ayes recorded; number of members present not specified in the minutes). - Approval of prior meeting minutes — approved by voice vote (ayes recorded; number of members present not specified in the minutes). - Motion to convene a closed session under Code of Virginia §2.2‑3711(a) (personnel) — approved by voice vote. - Approval of one officer of election following closed session — approved by voice vote.

The board chair adjourned the meeting at 10:46 a.m.