Election-day absentee review approves 21 ballots; staff reports smooth operations
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Summary
Elections staff reported smooth election-day operations and recommended approval of 21 absentee ballots — six civilian (including one pending reviewed at the meeting), 14 overseas and one military — which the meeting approved by voice. Staff also explained a 'never resident' overseas-ballot procedure tied to memo 2025-O1.
Elections staff and board members met on election day for an absentee-ballot review and approved 21 absentee ballots, staff said.
Corinne Duncan, the executive director, told attendees that polling places opened on time and that operations were running smoothly. “As of 10:00 this morning, we had 3,656 voters out there at the polls,” Duncan said, and she noted the warehouse and emergency operations center were functioning and that the office had already held one media availability.
The meeting focused on processing absentee ballots received on election day. Staff explained that the meeting’s supplemental report lists ballots received that day and that state law changes require counting those votes tonight even though the format of the report has not changed. The staff member leading the review said there was one pending civilian ballot assigned to a review team and that staff had recommended approving five civilian ballots with one pending (anticipated to make six if approved), 14 overseas ballots and one military ballot.
Staff also described a special category of overseas ballots: a voter who indicated on the Federal Post Card Application (FPCA) that they had never been a resident. The staff member said the office handled that case under a court decision and “a numbered memo 2025-O1,” duplicating a ballot that included only the two federal contests that the person was eligible to vote in. The staff member added that if a voter files a corrective statement, staff will count all contests.
After staff finished the review, a committee member moved to approve the six civilian, 14 overseas and one military ballots presented; the motion was seconded, members responded by saying “aye,” and the chair announced the ballots were approved as presented. The meeting record shows staff completed scanning and sealing the absentee materials and prepared the sealed poly bags and USB results drives for signatures.
Duncan also provided context on turnout: she cited historical figures, saying early voting in 2024 was about 25,603 and election-day voting about 31,001, and that the most comparable midterm election in 2022 had roughly 24,585 early voters and 27,652 election-day voters. She noted a preliminary early voting total for this election of 30,773 and cautioned the figures were preliminary because same-day registrations may still be processed.
The meeting recessed and members agreed to reconvene at 7 p.m., with the public meeting scheduled to start at 7:30 p.m. for any remaining business and final counts.