Minutes of the Canvass of the August 4, 2020 State Primary Elec on

Held on Wednesday, August 5, 2020 in the Jury Assembly Room

Allegan County Courthouse

Day 1:
Members of the Board present: Chairman McNeal (R- Saugatuck Township), Vice Chair Catherine Pardee (D-
Watson Township), and Carolyn Ladenburger (R- Trowbridge Township). Alternate Canvassers Sue Bonnell (R-
Otsego City), David Green (D-Cheshire Township), and Carol Catherine (D-Valley Township) were also in
a endance.

Chairman McNeal called the mee ng to order at 1:00 PM. Pledge of Allegiance led by McNeal.

Clerk Genetski explained the challenges of this elec on, possible re-count, Holland City, Allegan County the
countywide proposals (Medical Care Facility and Conserva on District) having a pe on filed to conduct a mail-in
elec on for these proposals and the strict procedures that would need to be observed.
Clerk Genetski Administered the Oath of Office to Alternates Green and Catherine.

Group was split into 3 teams to conduct canvass.

Chairman McNeal and Vice Chair Pardee collected Canvassers envelopes from the Probate Court.
Members set the schedule for the Canvass as follows:
Wednesday, August 5 2020 1:00pm to 5:00pm
Thursday, August 6, 2020 9:00am – 5:00pm
Friday, August 5, 2020 9:00am – 5:00pm
City of Allegan Clerk Chris Tapper joined the canvass to observe the process.

Board began the canvass and recessed at 5:00 p.m. on 8/5/2020. A mo on was made by Pardee to recess un l
9:00 am. on 8/6/2020. 2nd by Ladenburger. All in favor. None opposed.

Day 2:
Members of the Board present: McNeal, Bonnell, Ladenburger, Green, Pardee and Catherine. Mee ng was called
to order at 9:08 am. Pledge of Allegiance led by Ladenburger.

Clerk Genetski presented copies of le ers regarding mail ballot for the City of Holland/Allegan County. One le er
was generic from the State. Genetski asked for any changes or revisions. Revisions were suggested by Catherine,
who asked voters be told why they are receiving another ballot. Pardee said the le er should be simplified and
give be er explana ons. McNeal said the most important point should be in the first sentence. The group worked
with Genetski on changes to the le er.

Mo on to have the clerk prepare the le er on the Board’s authority to send to Holland City voters was made by
Pardee with a second by Catherine. All in favor. None opposed.

McNeal addressed problems with the City of Saugatuck during the last elec on. He said a complaint was sent to
the prosecutor but nothing came of it. McNeal asked the group to canvass the City of Saugatuck as a whole
because a complaint was filed by an elec on worker from the City of Saugatuck.

Ladenburger said that in reviewing the book, “it is not our duty to determine if something illegal happened, only to
verify what happened.” McNeal agreed it is not our duty but our obliga on. Discussion ensued and a ques on
was asked as to what la tude the Board has with regard to complaints. Discussion ended and the canvass
commenced at 10:26 am.

Donna Hetzel from Cheshire Twp. came in at the request of the Board to offer explana on of AVCB discrepancies.
She then sat with Ladenburger and Green to explain the AVCB. The canvassers were sa sfied with the explana on.

With regard to Fillmore Township, a mo on was made; in order to complete the canvass of Fillmore Township, the
original tabulator tape totals submi ed with the Poll Book prior to the re-tabula on is the tape the canvassers will
use to cer fy the results of the elec on. Mo on made by Pardee, 2nd by Ladenburger. All in favor. None
opposed. Numbers will be adjusted on reports.

The Board con nued with the canvass and recessed at 4:00 p.m. on 8/6/2020. A mo on was made to recess
un l Monday 8/10/2020 at 9:00 a.m. Mo on made by Pardee, 2nd by Ladenburger. All in favor. None opposed.

Day 3:
Members of the Board present: McNeal, Bonnell, Ladenburger, Green, Pardee and Catherine. Mee ng was called
to order at 9:07 am. Pledge of Allegiance led by Green.

New business: Clerk Genetski

He received a media inquiry regarding Elec on Inspectors in the City of Saugatuck. One Democrat and one
Republican had concerns over how the elec on was run. Long term clerk from Saugatuck City le her posi on and
Cindy Osman is the interim clerk. The complaint alleged that AV ballots were managed behind closed doors. Bob
asked if they had a formal complaint. Bob obtained the minutes of Elec on commission for Saugatuck city as well
as training cer ficates. He further discussed State comments rela ve to Clerk cer fica on. Un-cer fied workers
were o.k. to work but only if they did not touch ballots. Saugatuck City had one elec on worker who was not
cer fied and was processing AV’s behind closed doors.

Clerk Genetski then distributed a dra of the agenda for the mee ng on 8/11/2020 to approve the pe on
language for the City of Holland mail elec on. The public is expected at the mee ng and Chair McNeal said it
would be more formal, according to Robert’s Rules of Order.

9:30 a.m. the State Bureau of Elec ons was contacted regarding the cer fica on of the elec on. The direc ve
from Christy Dugan was that all races would be cer fied with the excep on of the Allegan county proposals that
are part of the mail elec on in the City of Holland.

9:35 a.m. Mike Villar joined the public area of the canvas to observe.

Upon comple on of the canvass, an email was introduced from Marilyn Starring regarding issues at the City of
Saugatuck. The board reviewed the e-mail. Discussion ensued: Note was well wri en and not accusatory. Need
procedure on handling paper jams. AV ballots were counted in a separate room. Saugatuck City was noted as
requiring AV ballots to be processed in a public area unless an AV Coun ng Board is used.

Mo on to cer fy the elec on, with the excep on of Allegan County/City of Holland, was made by Pardee. Second
by Ladenburger. All in favor. None opposed. Canvass sheets were signed and mee ng was adjourned at 12:04
p.m.

Township Notes
Allegan Twp. #1 Excellent job.
Allegan Twp. #2 Excellent job.
Allegan Twp. AVCB AV Poll List not included in book
Casco Twp. Signature of two inspectors missing from Close of Polls
Casco Twp. AVCB Elec on inspector cert not checked. Tabulator Serial #’s do not match (appears the digits were transposed); all
inspectors not on tabulator tape; no write in page.
Cheshire Twp. Signatures of two inspectors missing from Ballot container seal verifica on on Statement of Votes
Cheshire Twp. AVCB Excellent job.
Clyde Twp. Excellent job.
Dorr Twp. #1 Excellent job.
Dorr Twp. #2 Excellent job.
Dorr Twp. #3 Excellent job.
Dorr Twp. AVCB Tabulator count and hand count don’t match – explana on?
Fillmore Twp. Electronic Pollbook shows the count is off by 7 votes. Tabulator tapes shows 838 votes. Hand count at 8:46
shows 831 ballots. Remarks sec on shows 6 paper jams between 3:16 and 7:21 pm, each me jam was cleared
and voters con nued to vote on machine. There was no documenta on of count on machine before or a er
jam was cleared. Documenta on is not adequate to account for the discrepancy. Fillmore results are not re-
countable. Based on tes mony, the original seal was broken and not properly accounted for.
Ganges Twp. Duplicated ballot in error. Should have been spoiled (#118)
 Ganges Twp. AVCB Excellent job.
Gun Plain #1 Form says no write-in delegates but there are forms a ached for two people - both names need to appear.

Gun Plain #2 Form says no write-in delegates but there are forms a ached for two people - both names need to appear.

Gun Plain AVCB Excellent job.

Heath Twp. Copies of statement of votes and AV’s must be in book.
Heath Twp. AVCB Excellent job.
Hopkins Twp. Excellent job.
Laketown Twp. #1 Excellent job.
Laketown Twp. #2 Excellent job.
Laketown Twp. #3 Excellent job.
Laketown Twp. AVCB Excellent job.
Lee Twp. List of voters needs to be hole punched and in binder.
Leighton Twp. #1 Excellent job.
Leighton Twp. #2 Excellent job.
Leighton Twp. AVCB Ballot summary; issued number is wrong (a) C should reflect rejected ballots. The sum in D should not include
rejected ballots.
Manlius Twp. Excellent job.
Manlius Twp. AVCB Excellent job.
Mar n Twp. Excellent job.
Monterey Twp. Excellent job.
Otsego Twp. #1 Excellent job.
Otsego Twp. #2 Excellent job.
Overisel Twp. “None” on challenged page but list of challenges separate. Ballot 929
Overisel Twp. AVCB Excellent job.
Salem Twp. #1 Excellent job.
Salem Twp. #2 Excellent job.
Salem Twp. AVCB Inspector’s cert-all boxes need to be checked. Poll list should be place in book, not in envelope. Ballot
summary total not included.
Saugatuck Twp. Excellent job.
Saugatuck Twp. AVCB Excellent job.
Trowbridge Twp. 1 ballot was spoiled and not reissued. This is not reflected in the ballots tabulated. Mr. Smalla did not sign
tabulator page.
Valley Twp. Excellent job.
Watson Twp. Excellent job.
Wayland Twp. Excellent job.
Wayland Twp. AVCB Excellent job.

City of Allegan #1 Excellent job.

City of Allegan #2 Voter #13 – ballot should be spoiled instead of put thru tabulator by worker. Nobody can assume intent of
voter. Please give reason for spoiled ballots.
City of Douglas Declared write in page states ‘none’ but write-in statement of votes documents 1 write-in candidate with 6
votes. Remarks on ballot #432 do not adequately explain the vote tally discrepancy.
City of Fennville Excellent job.
City of Holland 4/9 Excellent job.
City of Holland 5/11 Excellent job.
City of Holland 5/12 Excellent job.
City of Holland 5/13 Excellent job.
City of Holland AVCB 4/9 – 341 ballots delivered – 340 ballots processed – paper jam.
City of Otsego Excellent job.
City of Otsego AVCB Excellent job.
City of Plainwell Excellent job.
City of Plainwell AVCB Excellent job.
City of Saugatuck Marilyn Starring did not sign Statement of Votes. Absentee ballot coun ng not conducted by an AV Coun ng
board. AV ballot processing MUST be conducted in front of the general public by members of both par es.
City of Wayland Excellent job.
City of Wayland AVCB Need to check all boxes in inspectors prep cer ficate.

___________________________________ ______________________________
Bob Genetski, Allegan County Clerk Steve McNeal, Chair, Allegan County
Board of Canvassers