HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Council 031380 SpecialCITY COUNCIL
SPECIAL MEETING
CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS
MARCH 13, 1980
The Special Meeting of the City Council of March 12, 1980 was reconvened
by Mayor Samuel Laurie at 7:30 P.M. in the Assembly Room at the Municipal
Complex, 10500 North Military Trail, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida.
ROLL CALL: The roll was called by the City Clerk and present were: Mayor Laurie, Vice
Mayor Kiedis, Councilman Feeney, Councilman Martino, and Councilman Aldred.
City Manager John Orr and Attorney William Brant were also in attendance.
PURPOSE: The purpose of this meeting was to reconvene the Special Meeting of March
12, 1980, which was called for the purpose of opening the absentee ballots
and canvassing the votes of the General and Special Referendum Elections
of the City held (larch 11, 1980.
Pursuant to the request of the City Coui —ii acting as the City's Canvassing
Board at the Special Meeting of iaarch 12, 1980, Councilman Feeney reported
on the "recount" of the ballots cast in the City's General and Special
Referendum Clections on March 11, 1980. This "recount" transpired this
date at approx. 2:00 P.M. at the Palm Beach County Voting Machine Head-
quarters with Councilman Feeney. the City Manager, the City Attorney, and
the City Clark /Deputy Supervisor of Elections in attendance.
With the permission of Ms. Jackie Winchester, Palm Reach County Supervisor
of Elections, Councilman Feeney and the City Clerk physically examined each
and every ballot of the City's four precincts (i.e., 31, 42, 45, & 47) to
make certain that the holes punched by the Ci`_y's electors were clearly
defined and that there wasn't any residue left on the ballot cards to pre-
vent the computer from recording the votes properly.
l ^Jhile examining these ballots, it was noted that some electors chose to
cast their votes in the Presidential Preference Primary but did not elect
to cast their votes in the City's General and Special Referendum Elections.
There were some instances where some electors selected both candidates in
the same Group; and some that elected to vote in one Group and not the
other. This would be an explanation for the discrepancy between the total
amount of ballots tabulated versus the amount of votes recorded in each
group.
City Council Special Meeting, 3/13/80
Page 2
After Councilman neeney and the City Clerk examined the ballots individually
Mrs. Winchester reran the ballots through the computer; and the total
40 ihanq�d to the extent that Mike Martino, Candidate in Group 4, gained two
votea in Precinct 45, Linda Monroe, Candidate in Group 4, gained one vote
in Precinct 47, and John Kiedis, Candidate in Group 2, lost one vote in
Precinct 45. The tabulation of the votes cast for /against the Special
Referendum question remained the same.
After reviewing the "Supervisor of Elections Voter Registration List"
dated March 4. 1980, for the City's Precincts (dl's 31, 42, 45, & 47), 20
non - residents of the City were found to be included. A last made of these
20 non - residents wa^ compared with the records of the County Supervisor of
Elections: and it was noted that eight of these non - residents voted in the
City's Precincts during the Presidential Preference Primary and the City's
General and Special Referendum Elections on March 11, 1780. Even though
these eight non - resident voters may have voted for the successful candidate,
this could not have materially affected the - .—ome of the election, since
the subtraction of those eight votes from the total votes received by the
successful candidate would still provice a margin of 34 votes, including
the nbsentccs.
Councilman Feeney recommended that in view of the reconvass of the ballots,
individually, and the rerun of the totals by Precinct, that the final count
be accepted by the Palm Beach Gardens Canvassing Board as accurate; and
that Mrs. Monroe be accepted as the successful candidate in Group 4.
By a unanimous vote of the Council, the March 12, 1980 draft of Resolution
16, 1980, which was read in full by the City Clerk at the Special Meeting
of that date, vas removed from the table.
RESOLUTION 16. By a unanimous vote of the Council, the City Clerk read in full Resolution
1?&C 16, 1980, declaring the results of the City's General and Special Referen-
dum Elections of Maich 11, 1980. Resolution 16, 1980 was unanimously
adopted by the Council ivith the recorder vii -s tabulated in Lhe "recount"
plus the aoscntec vctcs canv,isoed of the Moich 12, 1987 Special Meeting
inserted in the appropriate blanks.
ADJOURNMENT: lvith no further business, the meeting adjourner' at 7:48 P.M..
(NOTE: After tnis meeting adjourned, Vice Mayor Kiedis made a speech abouc rl ke Martino,
member of the City Council since October 5, 1972: and Mr, Martino received a standing
ovation from the City Council, City Administration, and the members of the audience.
This speech has been attached to these minutes and made a part of the City's records.