Madison County Board of Elections approves one provisional ballot, verifies DS200 counts

Secretary Dyatt Smathers called the Madison County Board of Elections to order at 10:00 a.m. on May 24, 2024, noting the board was composed of himself, Members Brian Ball, Debbie Ponder and Ray Lewis, Director Jacob Ray, and one member of the public. The board approved the meeting agenda and two sets of minutes by unanimous votes before taking up procedural matters related to provisional ballots and canvass import procedures.

The board reviewed one provisional ballot application, listed in the record with the reason "Unreported Move." The motion to approve that provisional application was made by Secretary Dyatt Smathers and seconded by Member Brian Ball; the motion passed unanimously, 4-0. Members then verified a public display count of one on the Provisional DS200 tabulator.

Ray Lewis, Member, reported "no complaints from the public and [is]n't hearing of any potential re-count," while Member Brian Ball thanked staff for their work and previewed the process the board was about to begin. Member Debbie Ponder complimented staff on their work for the second primary, and Secretary Dyatt Smathers said he had attended a sample hand‑eye audit and "complimented the procedures of the hand‑eye audit team." Director Jacob Ray provided copies of instructions from the State Board of Elections describing the procedures to be followed when importing canvass results into the local system; staff followed those instructions under board supervision during the import.

Following verification, voted ballots were sealed and secured for storage and the DS200 tabulators were closed. Under board supervision, the director imported results and conducted manual edits as needed "to preserve ballot secrecy," per the procedures provided by the State Board of Elections.

All formal motions recorded in the minutes passed unanimously (4-0). The meeting adjourned at 10:58 a.m.; the minutes include signatures for Jerry Wallin, Chair, and Dyatt Smathers, Secretary.

Votes at a glance: agenda approval (motion by Brian Ball, second Dyatt Smathers) — passed unanimously, 4-0; approval of May 13 and May 14, 2024 minutes (motion by Dyatt Smathers, second Brian Ball) — passed unanimously, 4-0; approval of one provisional ballot for reason "Unreported Move" (motion by Dyatt Smathers, second Brian Ball) — passed unanimously, 4-0; motion to adjourn at 10:58 a.m. (motion by Dyatt Smathers, second Debbie Ponder) — passed unanimously, 4-0.

The board did not review any supplemental absentee ballots at this meeting. The director's distributed State Board of Elections instructions and the board's verification of DS200 counts are recorded in the official minutes.