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Committee outlines May 21 vote-counting steps, ballot-curing window and schedule for final election report
Summary
The committee set procedures for the May 21 vote-counting session — Zoom observation of vendor counts, a process for adjudicating non-machine-readable ballots, a five-day ballot-curing window, and internal deadlines to circulate the June election report draft by June 10 with a June 9 committee meeting to finalize.
The Martin's Additions Election Committee on Tuesday agreed on procedures for the May 21 vote-counting session, described the ballot-curing process and set internal deadlines for the final 2025 election report.
Committee members set a 7 p.m. start for the May 21 counting session and instructed the village manager and vendor staff to provide a Zoom feed so the committee can view the vendor’s handling of return envelopes and ballot opening. The chair described the counting as a stepwise process: vendor review of return envelopes (signature verification), opening and anonymizing the privacy envelopes, and running ballots through counting machines. "If all the ballots are fine, no sweat," the chair said; any ballots the machines cannot read will be flagged for committee adjudication.
The committee emphasized candidate rights during adjudication: candidates or their representatives (one per candidate) may object to any adjudication decision. For unsigned outer envelopes, the vendor will supply identifying information (address and envelope number) so the committee can procure a voter-signed affidavit to cure the ballot; the chair said the curing period is up to five days, although last year it was completed in one day. A committee member volunteered to visit voters’ homes to obtain signatures when necessary.
Members also set an internal certification schedule: if there are no outstanding cured ballots, the committee will hold a short administrative meeting on the day after counting to vote to certify results; otherwise, certification could be delayed by the curing window. The committee discussed producing the official election report as soon as all questions are satisfied and set June 9 as the next committee meeting and the internal due date for circulating draft report components. The final committee election report will be prepared for the council meeting in mid-June.
The committee confirmed the May 21 session will be recorded by the meeting host, and Michael Silliman said he will record from the village Zoom; the vendor may also keep its own recording for internal purposes. The committee asked the village manager to ensure committee members can access the recording and that the Zoom settings allow the committee to produce its own copy if needed.
