December 1998 Meeting Minutes

The chair recognized Mr. King, who noted that Commission members had received a copy of a letter dated December 7, 1998 from Mr. King and Ms. Robertson to Mr. Jack Black of ES&S concerning their review of the escrow agreement between ES&S and Granite City Record & Security Storage. A copy of the letter is incorporated by reference in these minutes.

Mr. King stated that the Granite City escrow agreement provided significantly more flexibility than the escrow agreement between MicroVote Corporation and Brambles previously approved by the Commission. He indicated that as a result, the Election Division staff recommended approval of the Granite City escrow agreement, subject to ES&S and Granite City entering into an addendum to provide that one or more Election Division employees would be designated at all times as "authorized persons" under the terms of the Granite City escrow agreement. Mr. King noted that Commission members had been provided with a copy of the following documents: (1) a two page document titled "Addendum to Records Storage Agreement"; (2) a three page facsimile transmission dated October 9, 1998 from Ms. Bonnie Cuellar of ES&S to Ms. Christie; and (3) an eight page facsimile transmission dated November 12, 1998 from ES&S to the Election Division consisting of the 1990 Records Storage Agreement between Granite City and Business Records Corporation (now ES&S), the November 22, 1995 Addendum to Escrow Service Agreement executed by BRC & Granite City, and the Election Software Control Release executed November 16, 1995 and Customer Transmittal executed by BRC & Granite City. Copies of these documents are incorporated by reference in these minutes.

After the Commission examined these documents, Mr. Cruea moved, seconded by Mr. Perkins, that the escrow agreement between ES&S and Granite City be approved, subject to ES&S and Granite City entering into an addendum to provide that one or more Election Division employees

Indiana Election Commission Minutes

December 9, 1998

would be designated at all times as "authorized persons" under the terms of the escrow agreement, and that the chair be authorized to execute the proposed Addendum on behalf of the Commission. There being no further discussion, the chair called the question, and declared that with three members voting "aye" (Mr. Cruea, Mr. Bell, and Mr. Perkins), one member absent (Mr. Morgan), and no member voting "nay", the motion was adopted. Mr. Perkins urged Mr. Whalen to obtain the necessary signatures on the Addendum from Granite City as soon as possible.

The chair recognized Mr. King, who noted that Commission members had received a copy of a letter dated December 7, 1998 from Mr. King and Ms. Robertson to Mr. Steve Corey of GBS concerning their review of the escrow agreement between GBS and Fort Knox Escrow Services, Inc. A copy of the letter is incorporated by reference in these minutes.

Mr. King stated that the Fort Knox Escrow agreement had been amended in November 1997 to include the recommended provisions to protect the interests of the State of Indiana, and that this Addendum applied to all voting system software placed in escrow with Fort Knox by GBS. Mr. King added that GBS had subsequently clarified that both the ACCU-TAB and ACCU-VOTE voting system software had been placed in escrow with Fort Knox. He indicated that as a result, the Election Division staff recommended approval of the Fort Knox escrow agreement with regard to the ACCU-TAB voting system software. Mr. King noted that Commission members had been provided with a copy of the following documents: (1) a letter dated December 7, 1998 from Ms. Monica F. Fuller, Client Services Representative, Fort Knox Escrow Services, Inc., to Mr. King; (2) a letter dated November 16, 1998, from Ms. Dianna L. Dillard, Senior Client Services Representative, Fort Knox Escrow Services, Inc. to Mr. Larry Calvert of GBS; (3) a three page letter dated November 18, 1997 from Mr. Michael Amiri, Account Manager, Fort Knox Escrow Services, Inc. to Ms. Christie; and (4) a facsimile transmission dated October 14, 1998 from Mr. Corey to Mr. King. Copies of these documents are incorporated by reference in these minutes.

After the Commission examined these documents, Mr. Perkins moved, seconded by Mr. Bell, that the escrow agreement between GBS and Fort Knox Escrow Services, Inc. regarding the ACCU-TAB voting system software be approved. There being no further discussion, the chair called the question, and declared that with three members voting "aye" (Mr. Cruea, Mr. Bell, and Mr. Perkins), one member absent (Mr. Morgan), and no member voting "nay", the motion was adopted.

Indiana Election Commission Minutes

December 9, 1998

The chair recognized Ms. Thompson, who stated that Orders 1998-109 through 1998-126, inclusive, had been prepared and distributed earlier to Commission members. Copies of these documents are incorporated by reference in these minutes.

After Commission members reviewed the proposed orders, Mr. Cruea moved, seconded by Mr. Perkins, that Orders 1998-109 through 1998-126 be adopted as presented. The chair noted that Mr. Morgan had not yet arrived, and moved to table this motion until Mr. Morgan was present. Commission members unanimously consented to this motion.

Upon the subsequent arrival of Mr. Morgan, and after according him an opportunity to review the proposed orders, the Commission consented to take this motion off the table. There being no further discussion, the chair called the question, and declared that with four members voting "aye" (Mr. Cruea, Mr. Bell, Mr. Morgan, and Mr. Perkins), and no member voting "nay", the motion was adopted.

The chair recognized Ms. Thompson, who reported that the office of the Attorney General had sent letters to several committees to demand payment of civil penalties assessed by the Commission that remained unpaid. She indicated that at the next Commission meeting she would provide members with a list of both collected and outstanding civil penalties.

The chair recognized Ms. Thompson, who reported that the audit functions in the Campaign Finance Database were functioning properly, and that staff would have additional information to present concerning this matter at the next Commission meeting.

Indiana Election Commission Minutes

December 9, 1998

The chair recognized Ms. Thompson, who reported that all of the 1998 pre-election reports and pre-election large contribution supplemental reports had been published on the Internet.

The chair recognized Ms. Thompson, who stated that the Election Division staff was continuing to investigate this matter, and would have an updated report prepared for the next Commission meeting.

The chair recognized Ms. Thompson, who noted that Commission members had received a copy of a letter dated October 21, 1998 from Mr. Keith J. McClarnon, Treasurer of the Sarah Wolf for State Representative Committee to Mr. Cruea, alleging that the Committee to Elect Bob Cherry had violated the Campaign Finance Act by failing to report three expenditures for campaign mailings. A copy of this letter is incorporated by reference in these minutes. Ms. Thompson stated that the Election Division staff would investigate this matter, and have an initial report prepared for the next Commission meeting.

The chair recognized Ms. Thompson, who reported that ten committees had failed to file 1998 pre-election reports with the Election Division by the statutory filing deadline, and that eighteen candidate committees had failed to file pre-election large contribution supplemental reports by that deadline. She indicated that cause numbers would be assigned for these 28 committees, and that the hearings on these causes would be scheduled for the next Commission meeting.

The chair thanked Ms. Thompson for her reports.

Indiana Election Commission Minutes

December 9, 1998

The chair recognized Mr. Northern, who noted that Commission members had received a copy the following documents: (1) a facsimile transmission received August 10, 1998, and addressed to Ms. Christie and Ms. Tippett from Michael J. Beattie, Executive Director of the National Coalition for Students with Disabilities Education and Legal Defense Fund; (2) a letter dated September 21, 1998 from Ms. Christie and Ms. Tippett to Mr. Beattie; and (3) a memorandum dated August 10, 1998 from Brian Hancock, Election Research Specialist, Federal Election Commission, to all State Election Directors. Copies of these documents are incorporated by reference in these minutes.

Mr. Northern noted that the Election Division was required to notify any office or agency that might be required to provide "full service" voter registration under NVRA to individuals with disabilities. He added that the Commission was then required to provide an opportunity for a hearing before issuing an order to require the office or agency to provide "full service" voter registration. Mr. Northern remarked that he was working to identify which Indiana colleges and universities had established disability offices, and to contact them for information regarding this issue. He indicated that he would provide the Commission with more information at a future meeting.

Mr. Northern addressed the question of voter registration problems that surfaced at the 1998 General Election. He noted that some counties reported issuing a large number of certificates of error, and that many individuals had applied for registration at a license branch, but the county voter registration office had no record of their applications. He indicated that state law permitted individuals who claimed to have applied at a full service voter registration office, such as a license branch, to vote at the polling place, but only if the individual could produce their application receipt from the license branch or other agency. Mr. Northern noted that if the individual could not produce the receipt, state law prohibited the individual from voting at the precinct unless his or her name was listed on the registration list or a certificate of error could be issued. He concluded by remarking that employee turnover at full service voter registration offices required ongoing training concerning voter registration, and that the Bureau of Motor Vehicles continued to work to address these problems.

Indiana Election Commission Minutes

December 9, 1998