Board for Registration of Voters

MINUTES Board for Registration of Voters Tuesday, April 7, 2026, 6:00 PM, Police Department Community Room, 1 North Ave, Burlington, VT, 05401 OR remotely via Zoom 1. Call Meeting to Order The meeting was called to order at 6:03pm by Chair, Grace Grundhauser. Board members in attendance: Lesley Gendron, Alison Harte, Adam Franz, Karen Rowell, Kevin Lewis, Colleen Montgomery, Jeanne Keller, Annie Schneider, Grace Grundhauser, Michelle Lefkowitz, Lauren Ebersol, Janet Stambolian, and Youth Member Will Cunningham Also in attendance: Sarah Montgomery, Assistant City Clerk 2. Agenda Jeanne Keller made a motion to adopt the agenda. Seconded by Lauren Ebersol. Passed unanimously. 3. Announcements There were no announcements. 4. Meeting Length The meeting was set to end at 7pm. 5. Adopt Minutes Jeanne Keller made a motion to adopt the minutes. Seconded by Kevin Lewis. Passed unanimously. 6. Public Forum No members of the public were present. 7. Clerk's Report Sarah Montgomery reported that there are currently 29,609 voters on the checklist. Out of this total number, 4,876 are currently challenged. In February, there were 208 voters added to the checklist, 32 voters removed from the checklist, and 127 voters were transferred to other Vermont towns. In March, there were 330 voters were added to the checklist, 23 voters were removed from the checklist, and 171 voters were transferred to other Vermont towns. For the Annual City Election on March 3rd, 8,919 ballots were cast, which is equal to participation from 30.29% of the total registered voters. Out of these votes, 3,433 were cast in person on Election Day, and 5,486 were cast via absentee ballot. Out of the total cast by absentee ballot, 880 of those were received at the polling places on Election Day. For comparison, for the 2025 Annual City Election, 9,823 ballots were cast, which was 33.93% of the total registered voters at that time. 8. Approval of Voter Challenges The board reviewed the list of voters that Sarah Montgomery shared via email, which included a total of 1,767 voters, most of whom had Annual City Election ballots returned to the clerk's office as undeliverable. Jeanne Keller stated that she knew a few people who were on the list due to selling their properties, and wondered if the board should do voter outreach informing residents that selling their home may lead to their voter registration being challenged. Grace Grundhauser added that it might be worth doing voter education around voter challenges in general. Lesley Gendron noted that it could be a more broad announcement, letting voters know to check their voter registration if they have changed their address. Annie Schneider asked if that was necessary, since voters should know that if they move, they will need to update their registration, and also because same-day voter registration is available if issues are not resolved before Election Day. Karen Rowell suggested also doing outreach around the fact that folks will not receive a ballot automatically for the primary election. Lesley Gendron made a motion to challenge all of the proposed voters. Seconded by Jeanne Keller. Passed unanimously. 9. Election Day Review Board members reported about items that stood out on Election Day. Ward 1: Colleen Montgomery noted an issue with two Justices of the Peace coming in and inappropriately trying to access voted absentee ballots. Colleen said she didn't see exactly what happened, but heard from the election workers. Jeanne Keller asked what the consequences for election misconduct are. Adam Franz said that Google indicates that a Justice of the Peace would need to be impeached by the legislature, since it is an elected state position. Grace Grundhauser said the voters could also choose to elect different individuals. Ward 2: Lauren Ebersol said that it was quiet — nothing major to report. Ward 3: Michelle Lefkowitz said it was quiet until around 6:30, when she received an influx of voters. Ward 4: Lesley Gendron said it was a good day in ward 4, which had high participation, but was quiet for BRV work. She and Kevin Lewis came up with an idea about having a voting station for kids at the polling place, where they could practice voting on items like ice cream vs. creemees. They shared the idea with the ward clerk, who was excited about it. Ward 5: Jeanne Keller said it was really quiet. Annie Schneider agreed and also noted that she heard from several voters about inconsistent ballot mail delivery. For example, people who lived in the same household received their ballots on different days, or one individual in the household received their ballot while another did not. She noted that there were no issues with these voters' registrations. Will Cunningham said he heard a question about whether someone could deliver another voter’s ballot to the poll; Grace explained that as long as the ballot is sealed inside the signed absentee ballot envelope, it doesn’t matter who delivers it. Ward 6: Alison Harte said it was quiet, but steady. Adam Franz, who agreed that it felt slow in the morning, said he had a hard time finding the ward 6 entrance. Other members heard the same feedback from voters about the ward 6 entrance. Janet Stambolian asked if there might be a better way to make the old space at Edmunds Middle School accessible for Election Days, and recommended doing so if possible. Alison Harte agreed. Ward 7: Karen Rowell had an issue getting logged into the BRV computer. Other members agreed they had similar issues with the logins on the computers. Karen said she had a really helpful volunteer working with her. Ward 8: Grace Grundhauser had a very busy day – especially midday through to the end of the day. She processed lots of address changes and social security number verifications. Janet Stambolian, who worked part of her shift there, said she appreciated volunteering at a busy location. Jeanne Keller suggested that, if there is board member capacity, it might be helpful to have 2 BRV members at the busier polling places for future elections. Lesley Gendron said that a ward being busy isn’t necessarily correlated to the amount of participation, so it would be helpful to look at the data summary sheets to help determine which locations have the most volume at the BRV tables. 10. Member Terms Ending in June Michelle Lefkowitz and Grace Grundhauser both have terms that are ending at the end of June. The deadline to submit applications for these two seats is May 20th. Grace Grundhauser shared that she is considering not reapplying. Lesley Gendron suggested the board should start advertising the positions soon, through all our outreach methods. Karen Rowell said it shouldn’t be advertised on Front Porch Forum at all, since per the board’s rules, only Republicans should be appointed to these seats, and Republicans are not on Front Porch Forum. Colleen Montgomery made a motion to extend the meeting by 5 minutes, so the discussion could continue. Janet Stambolian seconded. Approved unanimously. Grace Grundhauser stated that the board does not get to make any decisions regarding who is appointed to the board; this is a decision that City Council will make. Karen Rowell made a motion for the board to make a statement to the City Council about following the board’s rules when it comes to party balance. Jeanne Keller asked for clarification on the motion. Grace Grundhauser clarified that Karen Rowell is referring to the laws pertaining to the board. Lesley Gendron said that the website says that no more than 6 members of the board can be from the same party. Karen Rowell said she would look at the language. There was no second to the motion. Lesley Gendron made a motion for Alison to draft communication about the vacancies, share with the board for feedback, and then share it as broadly as possible to any suggested outlets. Seconded by Colleen Montgomery. Discussion: Alison Harte asked if the intent was for the board to advertise for both vacancies, or just advertise if the incumbents were choosing not to reapply. Grace Grundhauser said that the board would advertise both vacancies, since they are open positions that anyone could be appointed to, not just incumbents. Alison Harte said she would be happy to host a subcommittee meeting to discuss where else the communication should be posted, since she hasn't had any luck posting anywhere other than Front Porch Forum. Jeanne Keller suggested the League of Women Voters. Alison said she could also take recommendations via email. Motion approved unanimously. Kevin Lewis said he would support advocating to City Council for a fairer appointment process in general — to acknowledge Karen's feelings and also due to what he experienced when he was appointed, which did not feel like an unbiased process. Lesley Gendron suggested formulating that at the next meeting, since there will be time to pass along that communication to City Council prior to the appointments. Grace will add this to the May agenda. 10. New Business No new business. 11. Adjournment Kevin Lewis made a motion to adjourn the meeting. Seconded by Lauren Ebersol. Approved unanimously.

Board for Registration of Voters Tuesday, April 7, 2026, 6:00 PM, Police Department Community Room, 1 North Ave, Burlington, VT, 05401 OR remotely via Zoom. Join Zoom Meeting https://zoom.us/j/93712437108 Meeting ID: 937 1243 7108 1. Call Meeting to Order 2. Agenda 2.1. Motion to amend/adopt agenda 3. Announcements 4. Meeting Length 4.1. Set Meeting Length 5. Adopt Minutes 5.1. Motion to adopt previous meeting's minutes File Attachments 1. Board for Registration of Voters Minutes Board for Registration of Voters Minutes.pdf 6. Public Forum 7. Clerk's Report 8. Approval of Voter Challenges 9. Election Day Review 10. Member Terms Ending in June 11. New Business 12. Adjournment 12.1. Motion to Adjourn