Montgomery County Board of Elections Meeting - November 7, 2025
Montgomery County Board of Elections Meeting - November 7, 2025
The Montgomery County Board of Elections held a meeting on November 7, 2025, to open the official tabulation of the municipal election results. The meeting was called to order by Chair Neil Makija, with Commissioners Winer and Cabello present. The board recognized the work of poll workers and the voter services team, noting an exceptional voter turnout.
Public Comments & Testimony
- No public comments were made.
Discussion Items
- Opening Remarks and Election Statistics: Chair Makija thanked poll workers and reported that approximately 307,000 people voted in the municipal election, representing about 50% turnout for Montgomery County. He noted this was a substantial increase from 225,000 voters four years ago, an increase of 75,000 voters. He attributed the smooth election to the voter services team. Commissioners Winer and Cabello also expressed gratitude for the volunteer poll workers and the successful, safe election.
- Swearing-In of Tabulation Workers: All individuals involved in the official tabulation were sworn in via an abbreviated oath, administered by the board. The oath included pledges to faithfully tabulate and record votes and to perform duties as required. Those who had not signed the official oath were directed to do so at the desk.
Key Outcomes
- Motion to Commence Tabulation: Commissioner Winer moved to commence the official tabulation, seconded by Commissioner Cabello. The board voted unanimously in favor (3-0).
- Meeting Adjournment: Commissioner Fellows moved to adjourn the meeting, seconded by Commissioner Winer. The motion carried unanimously.
Meeting Transcript
Okay, can everyone hear me? No. Welcome. I will call to order the November 7, 2025 meeting of the Montgomery County Board of Elections, Neil Makija, my colleagues, Mr. Winer, Mr. Cabello. I will ask our director of elections, Frank Dean, to lead us in the fledgling leaders. Okay, just uh for some brief opening comments. I want to thank everyone for your work. I know many of you are here tabulating, but you also serve as a poll workers. Can you raise your hand if you were a poll worker as well? Thank you for your service. We had an extraordinary election this year, perhaps the highest turnout that uh we've seen in modern history. I don't know how far you can be back for back to go. 50% of Montgomery County turned out to vote in a local election. You're gonna have the final tabulation, but it's around 307,000 people. Uh whereas four years ago it was 225,000 people. So 75,000 people voted in their local elections this year, and that's an extraordinary thing, and they did so largely without any major hiccups here in Montgomery County, thanks to our voter services team. So please give a round of applause for everyone in voter services. And uh I'll just I'll leave it there. Any comments from my colleagues? Good morning, everyone. How's everyone doing? Happy Friday. Thank you all for being here. Um always great to see volunteers uh stepping up to do this work. Um really proud of our um election voter services team, not elections team, our voter services team, and all the work that you all do. Uh this is what democracy looks like. Um really glad that we had another successful and safe election. So thank you for being here. As my colleagues, I want to thank you all for everything that you have done on for those that work polls on election day as well as being here. I know a majority of you like to come and for the donuts, and I completely understand that. But the the other part of what you do is so extremely process uh so important of the overall election process, and we couldn't continue to do what we're doing without you being here and you know, continuing this process over the next couple of days and getting us to a point where we're able to finalize the election certified results. And the good news is that once we get this all done in within the next two weeks or so, we rest up for about a month, and it starts all over again for the primary next year. So uh, and we look forward to seeing all you next year helping out and volunteering your time. So I can our voter services team did an amazing job as well. Uh we're working as the election board and as your uh Montgomery County Commissioners, we're really happy that uh majority of the day went very, very smooth, or most all the day went very smooth, minimal issues, uh you know, nothing that we you know, we didn't make the news, which like we saw in some other places, which is great. So that that again contributes to uh our amazing team here at Montgomery County. So again, thank you for everything that you're doing. Thank you. Are there any public comments? No public comments. Comments. So we will move on uh first to administer the oath. The most everyone should have signed the official oath when you walked in. If you have not, please do so at the desk. Uh but please stand up and this is an abbreviated version, so just repeat after me, and we'll swear you in. So raise your right hand, just say I, and then your and then your full name, I. I being duly affirmed according to law. Respectfully depose and say that I will faithfully and correctly.
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