04-25-2018 Council Packet - Laserfiche WebLink

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STAFF REPORT TO: Mayor Keis and Members of City Council FROM: Heidi Heller, City Clerk DATE: April 20, 2018 RE: Discuss 2018 City Voting Options 2018 is once again election year. After the 2016 election and seeing how many people are now voting before election day, Ramsey County is taking on more duties, along with the expenses, for the cities who run their own elections. We need to decide what voting services we are going to offer and notify the County by April 27. The County will now be administering all of the mail absentee ballots, and in-person absentee voting will be available for any Ramsey County resident at the elections office on Plato Boulevard in St. Paul during the Primary Election, and at both the Plato building and Ramsey County Public Works in Arden Hills during the General Election. Cities may choose to administer in-person absentee voting at City Hall at their expense. In -person absentee voting has been manageable for City Staff in the past, and we can continue to offer this. Early voting during the 6 days prior to the General Election is where all of the cities became overwhelmed. The County will be running several early voting locations available for any Ramsey County resident to vote during the last week before both election days. The suburban locations for early voting will be at the libraries in White Bear Lake, Maplewood, Shoreview, and Roseville, the Ramsey County Public Works building in Arden Hills and St. Anthony City Hall. There will also be five locations in St. Paul in addition to the elections office on Plato Boulevard. The suburban locations will be open from noon - 6:00pm on weekdays and 9:00am – 3:00pm on Saturday. The Ramsey County elections office will be open longer hours. Little Canada may choose whether or not to offer the 6 days of early voting at city hall at our expense. If we opt to offer this, a few election judges will need to be hired at least for the last few days and voting will need to be moved into the Council Chambers in order to keep the steady stream of voters organized. In 2016, the front counter and lobby was not big enough to handle the large number of voters that came in during the last few early voting days. It is also very difficult for other customers to conduct their city business amidst the crowd of voters. Staff recommends that early voting is not offered in Little Canada due to staffing and logistical difficulties and the additional costs, along with the fact that there are two other locations within five miles of City Hall where voters can go.