Board Discusses Election Signage to Improve Wayfinding
Geauga County Board of Elections (BOE) Special Meeting - August 4, 2026
Meeting Info - Special Meeting on August 4, 2026 at 9:00 am in the BOE Conference Room at 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Suite 004 (Basement), Chardon, OH, 44024. Attendance was in-person and virtual via MS Teams.
Public Comment Policy - The Board of Elections typically responds to questions about agenda items throughout the course of their meetings. Those exchanges are documented below as they occur.
Attendance: Present were:
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Board Chair - Dennis Pavella
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Board Member - Richard Piraino
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Board Member - Joan Windnagel
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Board Member - Janet Carson
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Director - Tyler Plants
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Deputy Director - Nora McGinnis
County Representatives: Ron Weigle, Maintenance Director. Frank Antenucci, Deputy Chief Administrator & Chief Information Security Officer, Automated Date Processing (ADP) was not in attendance.
Others: Online, one member of the public and Ohio Secretary of State (SoS) Regional Liaison Dustin Russell. In person, Gregory Morgan and this Observer.
Call to Order – The meeting was called to order at 9:08 am.
Minutes – Minutes for the Regular Meeting on July 16, 2026, were approved without edits.
Payment of Bills – Invoices totaling $4,130.78 were approved unanimously and included:
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$1,806.00 to OAEO (Ohio Association of Election Officials) for 2026 annual dues
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$100.00 to OAEO for NE regional meeting fees for 4 attendees
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$314.33 to Richard Piraino for reimbursement for CLE Richfield conference
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$22.90 to Nora McGinnis for reimbursement for USPS costs to return red seals to Intab
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$109.17 to Guardian Alarm for August 2026 monitoring
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$442.88 to KMI for #9 envelopes – 1,000 prepaid/2,000 return
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$227.53 to KMI for 2,000 #10 window envelopes
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$220.09 to KMI for 2,000 #10 regular envelopes
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$546.88 to Intab for red seals for Precinct Election Officials (PEO) equipment
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$341.00 to Tyler Plants for reimbursement for CLE Richfield conference
The Board discussed and agreed to ask Guardian Alarm to change their invoicing from monthly to quarterly to facilitate billing. Mrs. McGinnis said she has repeatedly had to contact Guardian to submit their monthly invoice.
Report from Automatic Data Processing (ADP) – No report as Mr. Antenucci was absent.
Report from BOCC Maintenance – Mr. Weigle reported that the former BOE offices at 470 Center Street have been “cleaned out pretty good,” noting that a lot of items were claimed by other county entities such as the Sheriff’s Department and Fair Board. He explained that the offering was done systematically, starting with entities under the hiring authority of the County Commissioners down to the townships. He stated, “We really tried to get anybody that needed it to get it. So that was a good thing.” He said everything left would probably soon go up for “gov deals.”
In response to a comment about early voting getting closer, Mr. Weigle said the parking lot extension for the county office building was on the BOCC agenda that day so the “ball is rolling forward.”
There was extended discussion about getting signage to guide persons looking for the BOE office and the ballot drop box. Mrs. Carson asked if a sign for the BOE could be placed on the doors at the main entrance. Mr. Weigle posited that visitors might be confused by such a sign, thinking the entire building was only the BOE. He said he would bring the request to the Commissioners.
The Board agreed that the “BOE this way” yard signs posted along key roads and intersections before the primary election had been very useful and wondered what had happened to them. They asked Mr. Weigle to try to locate the signs for the November election. The Board also decided to request a large banner to affix to the side of the building in advance of the November election to guide voters to their location. Mr. Weigle asked the Board to provide him with a sign proposal, including its dimensions and a posting location, for him to present to the Commissioners for approval.
Mr. Weigle departed the meeting at this point.
Executive Session - The Board voted by roll call to enter executive session under ORC 121.22(G)(1) on employment of a public official. Board members, the Director and Deputy Director attended the meeting, in which they interviewed a candidate for the Voter Registration Supervisor position.
Upon return to regular session at 10:27 am, the Board announced the hiring of Gregory Morgan for the position of Voter Registration Supervisor, effective August 10, 2026, at the salary of $45,000.
The Board discussed and decided to pursue hiring one or two of the other Registration Supervisor job candidates for part-time positions.
Ballot Quotes – Mrs. McGinnis distributed a packet to the Board with vendor bids for November ballots.
Phoenix Graphics, ES & S, and Integrated Voting Systems were among the companies cited as having submitted proposals. Mrs. McGinnis said she had contacted other BOEs for references. Mr. Pavella said Phoenix Graphics has been their vendor for the last “couple of” election cycles and had “done a good job for us.”
Selection of Ballot Print House - After a brief discussion, the Board unanimously voted to approve Phoenix Graphics as their ballot vendor. Mr. Pavella noted that, “They have been extremely responsive to our ballot design issues.”
Mrs. Carson stated she would like Phoenix to add a line at the bottom of the ballot along the perforation to make the perforation more visible and improve tear-off. This request will be considered when the ballot is designed. Mr. Plants said they are planning to have poll workers practice tearing the ballot at the perforation at training. Observer Note: Each ballot has an identifying number at the bottom that is removed before the ballot is scanned. If a voter tears the ballot while separating the tab, the ballot may become unscannable and must be cancelled and replaced with a new ballot.
Ohio Association of Election Officials (OAEO) Northeast Regional Meeting – The meeting will be held Friday, August 7 at the Sandusky Yacht Club. Mrs. Carson, Mrs. Windnagel, Mr. Piraino and Mr. Plants said they are planning to attend. The meeting will run from 8:30 am to 5:30 pm.
Mrs. Carson asked about a directive she received from the Secretary of State’s (SoS) office about changes to the Election Official Manual (EOM). Mr. Plants explained that there are “no real procedural changes” and most changes were simply “cleaning up verbiage.” He said there are also proposed changes being considered based on the new verbiage. Observer Note: Mr. Plants did not specify what the possible changes were.
Director’s Report – Tyler Plants reported:
Mr. Pavella asked Mr. Plants what Scott Daisher, Office Administrator, thought. Observer Note: Mr. Daisher was not present at this meeting. Mr. Plants said that he and Mr. Daisher believed it was “a safe option” and made KNOWiNK accountable if problems arose.
The Board agreed that any vendor representative sent to assist should be knowledgeable about the company’s systems and emphasized that ES&S must be reminded of this.
Should the Board decide to move forward on this, Mr. Daisher recommends contracting for a representative the day of and day before the election to help with preparations, such as uploading poll pads, and to be on-site to troubleshoot problems that may arise.
The Board asked Mr. Plants to get costs from KNOWiNK and ES&S for their next Board meeting.
The glass contractor offered to prepare separate quotes for glass only and glass with add-ons such as putting bullet-proof “plywood material” under the desk beneath the glass.
Mrs. Carson asked Mr. Plants what he envisioned for the banner discussed earlier in the meeting. He said the large sign could say “ballot drop box” with a down arrow and attach to the building above and behind the drop box, facing the road. He said they could also put flags on the cement barrel posts to make the drop box location more visible. Mrs. Carson suggested alternatively getting a large “ballot drop box” flag that could be positioned on the ground next to the drop box. The group discussed where to purchase the banner. Mrs. Carson noted that a large banner could be printed at the public library for $4.00 a foot. Mr. Plants agreed to get prices from several printers.
Deputy Director – Nora McGinnis reported she has been working on:
Updated Poll Pad Video – Mrs. McGinnis reported they have scheduled the shoot for the poll worker training video with Company 119 at their studio in Chardon on August 14. The script is written and Mr. Daisher will do the speaking and demonstrations.
Mrs. McGinnis reminded the Board about the cybersecurity training mandated by the SoS that must be completed by the end of August. She said it’s a 45-minute video that can be accessed online. Mr. Plants said representatives for Triad, their voting systems vendor, must have also completed the training and can meet the requirement by providing certificates of completion. He said the SoS is pushing hard for compliance since there is no strict county-wide policy “to make everybody do it.”
Mrs. Carson asked for a status report on part-time staffing. Mrs. McGinnis said they are in the process of recruiting workers. Mrs. Carson said she thought more staff should be trained to work at the counter. Mr. Plants said he has submitted paperwork for the truck and car rentals to transport people and equipment related to the fall election.
Next meeting: Regular Meeting, August 20 at 9:00 am in the BOE Conference Room at 12611 Ravenwood Drive, Suite 004 (Basement), Chardon, OH, 44024.
Adjournment – 11:01 am
Observer: Rooney Moy
Editor: Carol Benton
Reviewer: Sarah McGlone
Date Submitted: August 7, 2026
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