Board for Registration of Voters — Burlington, VT
Date: 2025-09-02
Time: 18:00

Board for Registration of Voters

 Tuesday, September 2, 2025, 6:00 PM,

 City Hall, 1st Floor, 149 Church Street, Burlington, VT, 05401 OR remotely via Zoom.



Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/93712437108
Meeting ID: 937 1243 7108
1. Call Meeting to Order

2. Agenda
 2.1. Motion to amend/adopt agenda

3. Announcements

4. Meeting Length
 4.1. Set Meeting Length

5. Adopt Minutes
 5.1. Motion to adopt previous meeting's minutes
 File Attachments
 1. August BRV Minutes August BRV Minutes.pdf

6. Public Forum

7. Clerk's Report

8. Approval of Voter Challenges

9. State District Boundary Audit
 9.1. Discussion about Draft State District Boundary Audit Report
 File Attachments
 1. DRAFT Boundary Audit Report DRAFT Boundary Audit Report.pdf

10. Board Member Expectations
 10.1. Rules and Procedures for the Board for Registration of Voters
 File Attachments
 1. Rules and Procedures of the Board for the Rules and Procedures of the Board for the
 Registration of Voters Registration of Voters .pdf

11. Voter Checklist Protections
  11.1. Discussion about Voter Checklist Protections
 File Attachments
 1. Voter Registration Public Records Request Voter Registration Public Records Request
 Procedure Procedure.pdf

12. New Business

13. Adjournment
  13.1. Motion to Adjourn

Board for Registration of Voters

 Tuesday, September 2, 2025, 6:00 PM,

 City Hall, 1st Floor, 149 Church Street, Burlington, VT, 05401 OR remotely via Zoom.



Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/93712437108
Meeting ID: 937 1243 7108
1. Call Meeting to Order

2. Agenda
 2.1. Motion to amend/adopt agenda

3. Announcements

4. Meeting Length
 4.1. Set Meeting Length

5. Adopt Minutes
 5.1. Motion to adopt previous meeting's minutes
 File Attachments
 1. August BRV Minutes August BRV Minutes.pdf

6. Public Forum

7. Clerk's Report

8. Approval of Voter Challenges

9. State District Boundary Audit
 9.1. Discussion about Draft State District Boundary Audit Report
 File Attachments
 1. DRAFT Boundary Audit Report DRAFT Boundary Audit Report.pdf

10. Board Member Expectations
 10.1. Rules and Procedures for the Board for Registration of Voters




 Page 1 of 13
 File Attachments
 1. Rules and Procedures of the Board for the Rules and Procedures of the Board for the
 Registration of Voters Registration of Voters .pdf

11. Voter Checklist Protections
  11.1. Discussion about Voter Checklist Protections
 File Attachments
 1. Voter Registration Public Records Request Voter Registration Public Records Request
 Procedure Procedure.pdf

12. New Business

13. Adjournment
  13.1. Motion to Adjourn




 Page 2 of 13
 BURLINGTON BOARD FOR REGISTRATION OF VOTERS
CITY HALL, 1ST FLOOR CONFERENCE ROOM, 149 CHURCH STREET, BURLINGTON, VT,
 05401 OR REMOTELY VIA ZOOM.

 MINUTES OF MEETING
 August 5, 2025




1. Call Meeting to Order
1. Call Meeting to Order
Meeting called to order by Chair Grace Grundhauser at 6:05pm

Members Present: Alison Harte, Adam Franz, Lauren Ebersol, Lesley Gendron, Grace Grundhauser, Kevin
Lewis, Annie Schneider, Colleen Montgomery, Jeanne Schwartz, Karen Rowell

Members Absent: Michelle Lefkowitz, Youth member WIll Cunningham

Others Present: Sarah Montgomery, Assistant City Clerk

2. Agenda
2. Agenda

2.1. Motion to amend/adopt agenda
2.1. Motion to amend/adopt agenda
Kevin Lewis made a motion to approve the agenda. 2nd by Jeanne Keller. Approved unanimously.


3. Meeting Length
3. Meeting Length

3.1. Set Meeting Length
3.1. Set Meeting Length
The meeting was set to end at 7:00 pm.


4. Adopt Minutes
4. Adopt Minutes

4.1. Motion to adopt previous meeting's minutes
File Attachments
1. Minutes 07012025 Minutes 07012025.pdf

4.1. Motion to adopt previous meeting's minutes
Karen Rowell made a motion to approve the minutes. Seconded by Lesley Gendron.

Alison Harte asked about the discussion that occurred during new business. She noted that she had to leave
at 7:00pm, which was the time the meeting was set to end, and substantive discussion took place after that.




 Page 3 of 13
She asked if the more substantive items could be discussed earlier in the meeting or that the board could
discuss whether they needed more than an hour for meetings.

Minutes approved unanimously.


5. Public Forum
5. Public Forum
No members of the public were present.

6. Clerk's Report
6. Clerk's Report
Sarah Montgomery reported that there are currently 29,100 registered voters. Out of those, 4,955 are
challenged. 128 of the total voters are All Legal Resident Voters and 9 of the total challenged voters are All
Legal Resident Voters. In July: 146 voters were newly registered, 83 voters were transferred from Burlington
to other Vermont towns, and 74 voters were removed from the checklist.

Sarah Montgomery announced that the remainder (2 years) of Mike McGarghan's term is currently open for
applications. Applications will be accepted until 8/20 at 4:30pm and appointments will occur at the 8/25 City
Council with Mayor Presiding meeting. Grace Grundhauser reminded members that it is a good idea for
applicants to attend the appointment meeting. Alison Harte shared that she would be advertising the vacant
position on Front Porch Forum, and asked other members to share other places where it could be advertised.
Karen Rowell said she would send her information about an additional place to advertise.

Colleen Montgomery asked if the new member being appointed would automatically be a republican, since
Mike McGarghan was a republican. Grace Grundhauser explained that Burlington City Charter allows no more
than 6 members from any major party to be on the board. She added that if there is no representation from
a major party and there is an applicant from that party that is not appointed, that party can petition City
Council to appoint a member from their party to the board. She also noted that people who declare
themselves as independents are not affiliated with any party. Adam Franz asked how members with dual
parties listed are counted toward the maximum of 6 representatives from that party. Grace Grundhauser said
that this was discussed at the appointment committee meeting, but she has not seen a definitive
determination come from the attorney's office. Sarah Montgomery will follow up with the attorney's office to
get clarification.

7. Approval of Monthly Voter Challenges
7. Approval of Monthly Voter Challenges
The board reviewed the list of proposed monthly challenges, which included 37 voters. Grace Grundhauser
noted that there were voters across most wards reflected in the challenge list, with the largest representation
of voters coming from ward 7, and the lowest from ward 8 (with 0 voters).

Jeanne Keller made a motion to approve the monthly challenges. Seconded by Lauren Ebersol. Passed
unanimously.

8. Biennial Challenge (Approval)
8. Biennial Challenge (Approval)
The board reviewed the proposed list of voters to challenge as part of the biennial review. This proposed list
included 203 voters after filtering out voters who were found to still be eligible to vote in Burlington, using
the sources the board approved in July.

Lauren Ebersol asked about the "Blind Voter" that was listed on the spreadsheet. Sarah Montgomery
answered that it indicates a voter who is in the address confidentiality program with the state. She did reach
out to the state's election team to determine if they had any data that could indicate this voter's continued
eligibility to be registered in Burlington, and they did not. Sarah also noted that a few voters had mailing
addresses listed instead of legal addresses - this is due to them being overseas or military voters. These
voters do have a legal address in Burlington in their voter registration, but it does not appear on the reports
generated from the system.




 Page 4 of 13
Grace Grundhauser noted that there was representation from all wards on this spreadsheet.

Lesley Gendon made a motion to approve the proposed biennial challenges. Seconded by Annie Schneider.
Passed unanimously.

9. State District Boundary Audit (Discussion)
9. State District Boundary Audit (Discussion)

9.1. State District Boundary Audit Discussion
File Attachments
1. State Boundary Audit Information State Boundary Audit Information.docx

9.1. State District Boundary Audit Discussion
Sarah Montgomery shared that in the recent legislative session, in the elections bill, language was passed
requiring municipalities with multiple state districts to audit their checklists to ensure that voters are
assigned to the correct districts. Burlington's city boundaries contain two different state senate districts and
six state representative districts, along with the eight city wards. Since these boundaries do not overlap,
Burlington has 21 different state district and city ward combination assignments that voters can fall into.
Sarah explained the process that the City went through in 2023, after the city redistricting, in order to assign
street segments to the correct districts. She noted that the language in the bill requires the local board of
civil authority (which, in Burlington, is the Board for Registration of Voters when it comes to the voter
checklist) and the town clerk to complete this audit together, then the clerk's office is required to submit a
report to the state. Sarah shared that the clerk's office is working with the IT department to do a
comprehensive audit of the voter checklist data by utilizing city mapping data and the state's boundary
mapping data, and asked the board how much they would like to be involved in the details of the process.
Alison Harte said she does not feel like she needs to be involved in the details of the process. Karen Rowell
asked Sarah if she needed help with the process. Sarah answered that it would be difficult for the board to
help with the process, but if the board wanted to be involved with the details, she could provide them with
some data to manually spot check. Jeanne Keller suggested that she would rather receive a report about the
process, what challenges came up, and how they were resolved. Annie Schneider made a motion to request
Sarah provide a report to the board in September, and have any necessary further discussion then.
Seconded by Colleen Montgomery. Passed unanaimously.


11. New Business
11. New Business
Lesley Gendron noted that she created a new voter registration election day process flowchart to reflect the
new Election Management System. She will share with the board via email and would appreciate the board's
feedback.

Jeanne Keller made a motion to add an agenda item to a future meeting to discuss voter checklist
protections. Seconded by Colleen Montgomery. Discussion: Annie Schneider asked if further information
could be brought to the discussion, including any discussions that the Clerk's office has already had with the
attorney's office about privacy regarding the All Legal Resident checklist. Sarah Montgomery said she could
share the voter registration public records request procedure with the board. Motion to add this item to a
future agenda (either September or October) passed unanimously.

10. Board Member Expectations
10. Board Member Expectations

10.1. Rules and Procedures for the Board for Registration of Voters
File Attachments
1. Rules and Procedures of the Board for the Rules and Procedures of the Board for the
 Registration of Voters Registration of Voters .docx

10.1. Rules and Procedures for the Board for Registration of Voters
Jeanne Keller discussed her recommended additions to the procedures document, noting that the proposed
addition would be an automatic trigger for board discussion, not an automatic trigger for recommendation for




 Page 5 of 13
removal by City Council. Alison Harte asked for a walk-through of the proposed changes so she could
understand the intent behind the additions, beyond simply noting the number of absences that are
acceptable. Jeanne Keller explained that the additions are being proposed due to a previous member being
unable to attend several meetings and also missing an election. She noted that covering all the polling places
when members are unavailable is challenging and that there is currently nothing specific in the board's
procedures to address that. She wanted to ensure that meetings, trainings, and elections were all included in
attendance requirements. Alison Harte agreed that meeting participation is important, but noted that missing
an election should likely be weighted more heavily since coverage on election day is so important. Kevin
Lewis asked if measuring by hours missed versus single events might be more effective to address this.

Grace Grundhauser said that while the board does have the authority to recommend removal to City Council,
it is awkward to initiate and additional language in the procedure to remove that ambiguity would be helpful.
She also noted that, since this is a community board of members that are volunteering their time, she thinks
the language could be less detailed. Annie Schneider noted that trainings are not required, and she doesn't
see that as necessary to count in the attendance. Annie also noted that there are other types of excused
absences, like parental leave, that might come up and need to be considered. Jeanne Keller said that she
sees election trainings as an integral part of the role, since implementing best practices for election days has
been decided on at these trainings. Grace Grundhauser said that decisions should not be made at trainings,
since they are not board meetings.

Grace Grundhauser will draft a shorter version for continued board discussion. Alison Harte recommended
that policies of other public bodies could be referred to as references. Jeanne Keller noted that she did refer
to the City Council and NPA steering committee procedures and tried to find something in the middle of those
two extremes.

Annie Schneider noted that considering people's technology access and comfort levels should be considered
when reviewing attendance expectations.

This item will be added as an agenda item at the next meeting for further discussion.


12. Adjournment
12. Adjournment

12.1. Motion to Adjourn
12.1. Motion to Adjourn
Kevin Lewis made a motion to adjourn. Seconded by Lesley Gendron. Passed unanimously. Meeting
adjourned.




 Page 6 of 13
 OFFICE OF THE CLERK TREASURER
 City of Burlington ________________________________________
 City Hall, 149 Church Street, Burlington, VT 05401 Voice (802) 865-7000
 Fax (802) 865-7014




September X, 2025

Vermont Secretary of State
Attn: Election Division
89 Main Street, 3rd Floor
Montpelier, VT 05620-3402

Re: Voter Checklist Boundary Audit

The City Clerk’s office, in conjunction with the Board for Registration of Voters, conducted this checklist
audit in August of 2025. We worked closely with our City IT department to follow the process outlined
here.

Street Listing Creation

The original methodology used to create the street segment list was completed utilizing GIS.
  E911 address data was extracted from the State dataset (source VCGI).
  Because we are only interested in residential locations, we filtered out any points that were not some
 form of residential (i.e. kept only single family, multi-family, mixed commercial/residential, condos,
 etc.)
  Using a spatial join GIS tool, we allocated each ward, house, and senate boundary to the points in
 which they fell.
  The resulting data table was tabulated using a Summary Statistics tool, which creates a list of each
 street broken down by ward/house/senate districts, and the Min/Max street numbers for each of these
 streets.
  Using the data table, we were able to identify streets and addresses which fell within more than one
 boundary.
 o Streets that only contained addresses within one boundary (ward/house/senate) were final.
 o Streets with addresses that fell within 2 or more boundaries were analyzed one by one, and
 the correct address range per boundary was assigned.
 o The two lists were then combined to generate the final list of high/low addresses per streets
 and district.

Street Listing Audit
  We started by ensuring the House District boundaries we used align with the ones provided by the
 state (VT Legislative District Lookup House), then proceeded with a visual inspection of address
 points that fell along the borders of the Ward and House boundaries. These are the most likely
 addresses to contain errors due to the boundaries sometimes crossing over properties. All of these
 checked out during the visual inspection.


 Page 7 of 13
  Using a random number generator containing 100 numbers between 1-500, we pulled out a sample
 of approximately 20% of the streets from the address list to check.
  For each street, we verified the high/low addresses, whether it was even/odd/all, and verified the
 ward/house/senate district it was within.

Conclusions and Findings for Street Segment Review:

  On Adams Street there initially appeared to be one error, where a single address (78 Adams
 Street) appeared to be attributed to the wrong district, as Adams Street is split by multiple
 districts. Based on the other streets analyzed, this seems to be an isolated error and not
 widespread. Upon further review, we found that this address was listed inconsistently between
 State and City address data. We field verified that this address falls within House district Chi-14,
 and was actually assigned correctly.
  On several streets, the high address number appeared to extend to contain commercial buildings.
 These segments could be edited to remove commercial buildings, but doing so may cause
 unlabeled mix use (commercial/ residential) buildings to be excluded.
  All other streets from the 20% sampled were verified as correct.

Full Voter Checklist Audit
Utilizing GIS, we were also able to individually analyze all of Burlington voters’ ward and district
assignments. Using these GIS point locations, we added attributes to the voter list point data for Ward,
Senate, and House district, using GIS operations to join this information based on where the points fall
within the boundaries.

Comparing the House/Senate/Ward districts from the voter list to the results of the GIS analysis, we were
able to identify any voter addresses with potential errors with their district assignments (ward, senate, or
house). Out of Burlington’s 29,008 voters, a total of 72 voters were flagged as having potential errors. Each
of these voter’s legal addresses were further inspected. The findings were:

  16 voters had their legal addresses hidden from the voter checklist report that was examined, due to
 voter status. These included voters who were designated as Homeless, Safe at Home, UOCAVA, or
 Address Confidentiality. When inspecting these voters, those who had visible legal addresses shown
 in their individual voter registrations had legal addresses that correctly corresponded to their
 assigned districts. No changes were needed with these voters.
  10 voters had legal addresses listed that were not valid legal addresses, but based on research
 showing where the address would fall, there was no question that that the assigned district would
 still be correct. This is a shortcoming of the election management system using street segments,
 rather than geocodes, to populate legal addresses. No changes were needed with these voters.
  3 voters with a legal address of 270 South Willard Street did not have districts assigned to them due
 to an issue with a conflict within our street segment listings. The street segment was corrected and
 the voters were assigned.
  8 voters did not have districts assigned to them. The reason is unknown, but could be due to a data
 transfer issue when the new election management system launched. These voters were assigned to
 their correct districts.
  3 voters were registered at slightly incorrect addresses causing their addresses and/or district
 assignments to be flagged. These included:
 o 1 voter who had their legal address listed as 171 Intervale Road, when it should have been
 171 Intervale Ave. 171 Intervale Ave is not a residential address, so we updated the voter’s

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 legal address, which changed their assigned state house district from Chi–17 to Chi–16. We
 also updated the street listing to remove the non-residential addresses from Intervale Road to
 prevent this from happening again.
 o 1 voter who had their legal address listed as 194 North Ave, when it should have been 194
 North Street. 194 North Ave is not a valid legal address, so we updated the voter’s legal
 address to 194 North Street, which changed their assigned state house district from Chi-17 to
 Chi-16.
 o 1 voter who had their legal address listed as 315 North Ave, which is no longer a legal
 address. This parcel is now addressed as 35 Cambrian Way, which the voter’s registration
 was updated to reflect. This did not change the voter’s district assignments.
  1 voter was found to be registered in Burlington at a South Burlington address. The voter was
 transferred to South Burlington and the Burlington street segment was updated to exclude that
 address to prevent this from happening again. This changed the voter’s house district from Chi-13 to
 Chi-11.
  22 voters, whose legal addresses are 226-280 Manhattan Drive, were determined to be assigned to
 the wrong house district due to an incorrectly assigned street segment. They were assigned to Chi-
 16, but should have been assigned to Chi-17. The street segment and voter assignments have been
 updated to correct this.
  1 voter, whose legal address is 31 South Prospect Street, was determined to be in the wrong house
 district due to an incorrectly assigned street segment. They were assigned to Chi-14, but should have
 been assigned to Chi-15. The street segment and voter assignment have been updated to correct this.
  8 voters, whose legal addresses are 75 Colchester Ave, were determined to be in the wrong city ward
 due to an incorrectly assigned street segment. They were found to be assigned to Ward 1, but should
 have been assigned to Ward 8. The street segment and voter assignments have been updated to
 correct this.

Final Conclusions:

During our review process, we needed to update the district assignments for the following street segments in
order to be fully aligned with the reapportionment descriptions:

 1. 226-280 Manhattan Drive, EVEN. Changed from Chi-16 to Chi-17.
 2. 31-85 South Prospect Street, ALL. Changed from Chi-14 to Chi-15.
 3. Changed high number of 529-936 South Prospect Street, ALL to end at 926, excluding South
 Burlington addresses on that street.
 4. 17-79 Colchester Ave, ALL. Changed from Ward 1 to Ward 8.

The voters who had their state or city district corrected as a result of this audit include:

 1. 22 voters who were incorrectly registered in Chi-16 are now accurately assigned in Chi-17
 2. 1 voter who was incorrectly registered in Chi-14 is now accurately assigned in Chi-15
 3. 1 voter who was incorrectly registered in Chi-13 is now accurately assigned in Chi-11
 4. 8 voters who were incorrectly registered in Ward 1 are now accurately assigned in Ward 8
 5. 2 voters who were incorrectly registered in Chi-17 are now accurately assigned in Chi-16

Based on our GIS analysis, and comprehensive review of any outliers identified by the GIS analysis, we can
be confident that our voters are now in the proper districts.




 Page 9 of 13
Rules and Procedures for the Board for the Registration of Voters
(Finalized 10-5-2021)
PURPOSE: The Board for Registration of Voters is committed to the enfranchisement of eligible
residents through the voting process. Voting is a right and responsibility. The Board
encourages voter registration and acknowledges the right of voters to freely participate in
elections. The Board may actively initiate and participate in voter registration outreach.
The Board’s legal responsibility is to maintain the voting checklist for the City of Burlington by
upholding the Vermont Election Laws (Title 17 of the Vermont Statutes Annotated).
AUTHORITY AND RESPONSIBILITIES: The Board for Registration of Voters is responsible for and
has authority for all duties with respect to preparing The City of Burlington’s voter checklist
pursuant to chapters 14, 15, 16 and 43 of the City’s Charter, and Title 17 of the Vermont
Statutes Annotated. The Board shall comply with the Vermont Open Meeting Law and other
laws covering public bodies.
In order to effectively and justly carry out its responsibilities all members will be expected to
familiarize themselves with the Vermont Election Law in Title 17 of the Vermont Statutes
Annotated, along with pertinent sections of the Burlington City Charter. The Board will
maintain an office in City Hall, wherein shall be kept available for public inspection the records
of all legal voters. The Board shall advise any petitioner affected by an adverse decision of his
or her statutory right to be included in the list of legal voters to seek judicial review of such
decision.
MEMBERSHIP: As established by the City-Charter, the Board for Registration of Voters shall
consist of 12 registered Voters of the City of Burlington, appointed by the City Council, with the
Mayor presiding. Appointments to the Board for Registration of Voters shall be for five (5)
years. Members may reapply and may be appointed for successive terms without limitation.
Members of the Board may be removed for incapacity, negligence, or bad conduct when a
majority of the City Council, Mayor presiding vote to remove the member pursuant to Chapter
129 of the Burlington City Charter. In addition and pursuant to this same section, when in the
judgment of two-thirds of the City Council, on the initiative of the Mayor, a member is no
longer effectively serving the city, that member may be removed from the Board.
Therefore because members are expected to actively participate in city elections, meetings and
other Board activities, a member’s continued non-participation in Board activities may result in
the Board’s recommendation to the City Council for removal from the Board. A two-third
majority vote of the Board is required for such a recommendation to the City Council.




 Page 10 of 13
OFFICERS: At the first meeting of the Board, following the annual appointments, the Board
shall elect a Chair by majority vote. A Vice Chair and Secretary may be elected at the discretion
of the Board. Terms of office shall be one year.
QUORUM: A simple majority of the Board shall be considered a quorum
MEETINGS AND MINUTES: The Board for Registration of Voters shall hold meetings on the first
Tuesday of each month unless otherwise determined by a majority vote of the Board.
Additional meetings are scheduled to accommodate closing of the checklist prior to elections
(Vermont Statute Annotated, Title 17). All meetings of the Board shall be open to the public
except at such times when an executive session is in order. No action shall be taken at any
meeting of the Board without a quorum present. No action shall be taken in executive session.
(See open meeting law)
Roberts Rules of Order revised shall govern proceedings of the Board for all cases which are not
specifically covered by other laws, ordinances, by-laws, or regulations.
Minutes shall be kept of all meetings. The minutes shall be available for public inspection
according to open meeting laws.
WARNINGS OF MEETINGS: In accordance with Vermont Open Meeting Law, the Board shall
provide the Clerk / Treasurer’s Office with notice of regular meetings on or before the Thursday
before the week of the meeting. The Clerk / Treasurer’s Office will warn the meeting. For
special meetings, the Board shall publicly announce at least 24 hours before the meeting the
time, place and purpose with appropriate media and post with the Clerk / Treasurer’s office and
two other public places. Emergency meetings may be held without public announcement,
without posting notices and without 24 hours notices to members, provided some public notice
is given as soon as possible before such meeting.
SPECIAL MEETINGS: Special meetings of the Board for Registration of Voters may be called by
the Chair, when the Chair deems it expedient or upon the request of two (2) members of the
Board for the purpose of transacting any business designated in the call. In accordance with
Vermont Open Meeting Law, Notice for a special meeting may be made by telephone or other
appropriate technology at least twenty-four (24) hours prior to the date of such special
meeting. At such special meeting no business shall be voted on other than that specified in the
call.
ADOPTION OF RULES AND PROCEDURES: The Board may adopt rules and procedures as it may
deem wise for the regulation of its work. Rules may be amended by a two-thirds majority
provided that the proposed amendment(s) have been discussed at two meetings prior to the
meeting at which the amendment(s) will be voted upon.




 Page 11 of 13
Public Records: Voter Registration
City Clerk Procedure
The Vermont Public Records Act (1 V.S.A. § 315-320) establishes the right of any person to inspect or
copy public records maintained by public agencies, including voter registration information.

Exemptions from Public Record:

Per 1 V.S.A. § 317 (31), the following voter information found in a voter registration record is exempt
from public inspection and copying and should never be shared:

  Month and day of birth
  Driver’s license or nondriver identification number
  Telephone Number
  Email address
  Last four digits of social security number

Additionally, per 17 V.S.A § 2154 (b)(2), any officer, employee, agent, or independent contractor of the
City shall not knowingly disclose a copy of the voter checklist to any foreign government or to a federal
agency or commission or to a person acting on behalf of a foreign government or of such a federal entity
for the purpose of:

  Registration of a voter based on his or her information maintained in the checklist;
  Publicly disclosing a voter’s information maintained in the checklist; or
  Comparing a voter’s information maintained in the checklist to personally identifying
 information contained in other federal or state databases.

Voter Checklist Requests:

Per 17 V.S.A § 2154 (c)(1), Individuals requesting a copy of the voter checklist must first swear or affirm,
under penalty of perjury, that they will not:

  Use the checklist for commercial purposes; or
  Knowingly disclose the checklist to any foreign government or to a federal agency or
 commission or to a person acting on behalf of a foreign government or of such a federal entity
 in circumvention of the prohibited purposes for using the checklist set forth in subdivision 17
 V.S.A § 2154 (b)(2)

All Legal Resident Voter and Citizen Voter checklists should be merged together when filling public
record requests to protect voters’ citizenship status. Sharing the entire voter checklist as a whole should
be the default, but a portion of the checklist can be shared when the requestor is asking for a list of
voters eligible to vote in a certain election.

Voter checklists may never be separated by citizenship status when filling public record requests. If a
requestor specifically asks for a portion of the checklist divided by citizenship status, they should be
referred to the Public Information Officer in the City Attorney’s office.




 Page 12 of 13
Individual Voter Records Requests:
Individual voter records are also publicly available under the Public Records Act. With the
exception of the exemptions previously listed, upon request, information related to an
individual’s voter registration and voting participation are public record and must be shared.
Requests for Data:
For informational and research purposes, total numbers pertaining to All Legal Resident Voter
registration and participation may be shared. For example, sharing the total number of
registered All Legal Resident Voters or the total number of All Legal Resident Voters who
participated in a certain election is permissible. However, lists of the specific voters who make
up these numbers shall not be shared, as it would divulge individuals’ citizenship statuses.




 Page 13 of 13

BURLINGTON BOARD FOR REGISTRATION OF VOTERS
 CITY HALL, 1ST FLOOR, 149 CHURCH STREET, BURLINGTON, VT, 05401 OR
 REMOTELY VIA ZOOM.

 MINUTES OF MEETING
 September 2, 2025




1. Call Meeting to Order
1. Call Meeting to Order
Meeting called to order by Chair Grace Grundhauser at 6:00pm

Members Present: Alison Harte, Adam Franz, Lauren Ebersol, Lesley Gendron, Grace Grundhauser, Kevin
Lewis, Annie Schneider, Colleen Montgomery, Jeanne Schwartz, Karen Rowell, Michelle Lefkowitz, Youth
member WIll Cunningham

Members Absent: Janet Stambolian

Others Present: Sarah Montgomery, Assistant City Clerk

2. Agenda
2. Agenda

2.1. Motion to amend/adopt agenda
2.1. Motion to amend/adopt agenda
Grace Grundhauser suggested moving the board member expectations agenda item to the next meeting.
Jeanne Keller, the member who asked for it to be added, stated that she was amenable to postponing this.
Agenda adopted as amended.


3. Announcements
3. Announcements
Grace Grundhauser shared that a new board member, Janet Stambolian, was appointed to the board. Karen
Rowell stated that she feels she should not be the only Republican on the board and was upset by the
appointment decision. She said that she would like to see equal political representation on the board. Jeanne
Keller asked if any Republicans had applied for the position. Karen Rowell said that she does not know, but
by only advertising it on Front Porch Forum, conservative residents were not reached. Karen added that
there was a conservative applicant, Jeff Comstock, who was rejected. Will Cunningham asked if anything
could be done now that the appointment has already been made. Grace Grundhauser shared that her
understanding is that if a Republican had applied, and the City Council had rejected them, the Republican
Party could object. Alison Harte noted that she did reach out to Karen Rowell asking for other places to post
the vacancy. Karen said she did connect with Guy Page, who wrote an article, but it was at the last minute.
Lauren Ebersol suggested that the board create a list of places where to post openings, so it could be
standard in the future. Annie Schneider noted that it is a relatively new practice for the board to advertise
board member vacancies, and it is not required. Karen Rowell said she will appeal it to City Council. She
thinks it is important for the board to hear different perspectives and investigate and advocate to the
Secretary of State when there are registration issues that should be investigated.

4. Meeting Length
4. Meeting Length

4.1. Set Meeting Length
4.1. Set Meeting Length
The meeting was set to end at 7pm.


5. Adopt Minutes
5. Adopt Minutes

5.1. Motion to adopt previous meeting's minutes
File Attachments
1. August BRV Minutes August BRV Minutes.pdf

5.1. Motion to adopt previous meeting's minutes
LG made a motion. 2nd by AH. Unanimous.


6. Public Forum
6. Public Forum
No members of the public were present.

7. Clerk's Report
7. Clerk's Report
Sarah Montgomery reported that there are currently 29,139 registered voters in Burlington. 5,123 of these
voters are challenged. In August, 174 new voters registered, 85 were transferred from Burlington to other
Vermont towns, and 35 were removed from the checklist.

8. Approval of Voter Challenges
8. Approval of Voter Challenges
Michelle Lefkowitz made a motion to challenge the voters presented to the board. Seconded by Lauren
Ebersol. Passed unanimously.

9. State District Boundary Audit
9. State District Boundary Audit

9.1. Discussion about Draft State District Boundary Audit Report
File Attachments
1. DRAFT Boundary Audit Report DRAFT Boundary Audit Report.pdf

9.1. Discussion about Draft State District Boundary Audit Report
Sarah Montgomery gave an overview of the material presented in the draft report, stating that 34 voters
were found to be incorrectly assigned — either to their state house district or their city ward. She stated that
it was a productive process and all errors found have been corrected. Jeanne Keller asked if the voters
affected by the correction would be notified. Sarah answered that she would notify them. Grace Grundhauser
asked if these updates would cause voter confusion at the polling places for the next election. Sarah
answered that she expects it might cause confusion for the 8 voters who had their ward assignment
changed, since this would affect their polling place. She also noted that the address where the ward was
incorrect was student housing, so those voters may no longer be at that address. Lesley Gendron asked if all
of this had been updated and VEMS and if that now can be trusted as the source of truth. Sarah confirmed
the updates have been made in the system. Adam Franz asked: would the voters who were incorrectly
assigned state house districts have voted in the wrong house district in the 2024 election? Sarah
Montgomery answered yes, any of those voters who participated would have received the incorrect ballot.
She can report back on the participation of those voters, but agreed that it was a valid concern, and was the
reason for the mandated audit across multi-district towns.
10. Board Member Expectations
10. Board Member Expectations

10.1. Rules and Procedures for the Board for Registration of Voters
File Attachments
1. Rules and Procedures of the Board for the Rules and Procedures of the Board for the
 Registration of Voters Registration of Voters .pdf

10.1. Rules and Procedures for the Board for Registration of Voters
This agenda item was postponed until the October meeting.


11. Voter Checklist Protections
11. Voter Checklist Protections

11.1. Discussion about Voter Checklist Protections
File Attachments
1. Voter Registration Public Records Request Voter Registration Public Records Request
 Procedure Procedure.pdf

11.1. Discussion about Voter Checklist Protections
Sarah Montgomery gave an overview of the voter checklist request procedure that her office created in
conjunction with the attorney's office. Sarah also noted that the Secretary of State had recently released a
statement about voter data. Annie Schneider asked if this procedure prevents the legal resident voter list
being shared separately. Sarah confirmed that the procedure does not allow for that. Alison Harte asked if
the voter checklist is public information. Sarah confirmed. Lauren Ebersol asked if the procedure could be
made available to legal resident voters to share information about what is done with their voter information.
Grace Grundhauser suggested pulling that information together into a more user-friendly FAQ. Grace noted
that the information would still be available to BRV members and election workers. Sarah Montgomery added
that for Election Day materials, there are public records that are created that indicate whether a voter is a
citizen or non-citizen. She added that her office can think through that piece further, because having that
distinction available for election workers is important in administering the election correctly.


12. New Business
12. New Business
Lesley Gendron reminded everyone to review the flow chart.

Colleen Montgomery said she wasn't able to get into VEMS and asked anyone else if they had issues. Sarah
Montgomery will share the login link with everyone. All members should try to log in and let Sarah know if
they cannot access it.

Adam Franz asked what the board's policies are about tabling for voter registration, especially at UVM since
the school year is starting. Will Cunningham added that he could do some work at the high schools, but that
could be challenging because most high school students are not old enough to vote. Adam Franz said he feels
like UVM students do not have enough information about their eligibility to vote in Burlington. Annie
Schneider said that the City Clerk in Winooski does table at the high school and that she believes that would
be allowed in Burlington schools as well. Michelle Lefkowitz shared that she has done plenty of voter
registration outreach in tabling as a board member, but it hasn't happened much in recent years. Lesley
Gendron asked if this type of activity would be mandatory. Grace Grundhauser does not think this is a core
function of the board and should not be a requirement for members who are not interested. Adam Franz
asked if the board would mind if he reached out to UVM to coordinate. Grace Grundhauser encouraged him
to and reminded members that when doing board outreach, they should remain neutral, not have any
campaign information etc. Alison Harte suggested that she, Lesley Gendron, and Adam Franz organize some
materials/plans for voter outreach now so they can be prepared for next year's election-filled year. Adam
Franz will reach out to folks at UVM and let the board know his plans. Michelle Lefkowitz said to make sure to
tell students that they can only be registered in one place. Michelle Lefkowitz noted that the Secretary of
State's office has a published how to do a voter registration guide. Sarah Montgomery will share some other
procedural resources.

Jeanne Keller was surprised to recently learn that board members were not required to attend pre-election
trainings, and asked for other board member opinions. She said that while policy decisions are not being
made at trainings, it is a good opportunity to learn from each other. Lesley Gendron said that there is a
nuance between board member training and volunteer training - the pre-election training is primarily tailored
for volunteers. She shared that her understanding is that the BRV members should already have the
knowledge that is shared at those training sessions. Lauren Ebersol said that she feels it is a good idea for
members to attend the training, but does not feel like it should be a requirement. Lesley Gendron added that
the post-mortem that the board members do after an election is a great opportunity to learn from issues that
occurred. Jeanne Keller noted that the day of election training was challenging for her, but she found the
pre-election training to be more helpful. Lesley Gendron said that previously there has also been training that
has happened within the regular meetings. Grace Grundhauser said she wants to balance the demands
placed on the members, who are volunteer community members. Jeanne Keller noted that the on-the-job
training that rotated between several wards was especially challenging because everyone had different styles
and specific workflows. Will Cunningham asked if it would be helpful for BRV members to stay at a single
election for their 1st election, and then rotate for their 2nd training election.

13. Adjournment
13. Adjournment

13.1. Motion to Adjourn
13.1. Motion to Adjourn
Lauren Ebersol made a motion to adjourn. Seconded by Adam Franz. Passed unanimously.