June Minute
Baxter County Democratic Committee
Meeting Minutes
The Back Forty
6/3/23
Chair Derek Huber called the meeting to order at 10:17 a.m.
Minutes: Called for any changes to May minutes, there were none. Called for approval of minutes, Sandi Baeten made a motion, Helen Stephenson 2nd, all in favor. The May minutes are accepted.
Treasury report: Karen Breton gave treasures report: current account balance is $2,144.50. Karen went over dues that have been collected at each meeting this year so far and reiterated the goal for us is to find and support candidates. Also reminded everyone that Act Blue is available online and can be set up as a recurring contribution, and is very user-friendly. Last meeting we approved $200 for VAN and $100 for Facebook ads which have not been purchased yet. No money has been spent out of our account this year.
Update: Karen collected $1,195 in donations at this meeting.
Chair Derek Huber Updates: Noted that it is pride month, encouraged all to celebrate as they see fit. Wanted to note the contrast of those trying to demonize and ban drag shows, or companies that are supporting pride month with the reality that we have KKK rallies being organized (still trying to confirm if that event is still happening) and the Patriot Front recruiting locally.
Reports of Officers and Committees:
Legislative: Nothing new at this time for Legislative Watch Committee.
Local Beats: We will have a big update soon regarding paper ballots and school board elections.
History: Nothing at this time.
Election Workers: Bob Bodenhamer gave an update: The Chair of the election commissioners quit after 3 months. The Republicans are expected to replace her with someone.
Update on VAN: We are going through the application process to purchase and will have it soon. Austin Ross will be here for our August meeting and will provide the VAN training.
Slack Communications: About 20 people have joined Slack and Derek will stay after the meeting to help any members that need it.
New Business:
Paper Ballot Issue: Bob Bodenhamer: It took 20 people all day to recount the ballots by hand from the last election. It took roughly 160 man hours, take this number by the minimum wage amount and you find the amount of money it would take just to staff a simple election. They ended up with about a 3% margin of error, and this was a simple election. The cost would be much more (and due to recent legislation would fall back on the county aka the people), it would take longer, and they are not as accurate. The machines that are used are secured and have never been connected to the internet per state law so there is no way for there to be fraud. At the next Quorum Court meeting on Tuesday at 6:00 p.m., the Patriots are expected to bring forth their resolution that they support paper ballots. It is our understanding that most quorum court members are against paper ballots.
Derek Huber encouraged everyone to contact their local JP and ask them directly if they support paper ballots or not.
Vice Chair JoAnn Baeten adjourned the meeting at 10:55 a.m.
Next Meetings: July 1st: Back Forty 10:00 a.m.
August 5th: Baxter County Library 10:00 a.m. (VAN training with Austin Ross)
