OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

VoteCast Web Training Session for Racine City Council - September 2, 2026

Meeting Portal — Wednesday, September 2, 2026
BodyRacine, Wisconsin
SessionMeeting Portal
DateWednesday, September 2, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:55:49

Transcript — Verbatim
0:00

Get started.

0:02

Okay.

0:03

So welcome everyone.

0:05

This is the uh first votecast web training session.

0:10

Um this training session is designed to be focused on how to use your new votecast solution.

0:18

Um so votecast, kind of for those that maybe weren't involved in like the purchasing process or the sales process, just to kind of give you a little bit of a background.

0:29

Um votecast web is it's um I'd say multi-purpose solution.

0:34

Um but basically the the kind of the goal of vote cast web is it one allows for your members to uh vote via electronically.

0:45

Um so it allows for them to basically push buttons to motion and to vote digitally.

0:52

Um that information then is collected onto the clerk screen, which is basically kind of building a draft for the minutes.

0:59

Um and then it also connects with something called the vote cast display.

1:03

The vote cast display kind of follows the clerk screen and kind of like what the voting members are are doing, but it's basically it's a display that's designed to be um uh kind of put up or uh projected in the council chambers.

1:21

Um and it kind of follows and and tells kind of the public what's going on at the meeting.

1:27

Um, so let's say if the the like there's a motion on the floor on that vote cast display, it's gonna say like you know, motion on the floor, and then if we've got a mover and second or it would say that information as well as like how your members voted.

1:40

So it's kind of like keeping up with the the clerk screen.

1:44

And um what's great about the vote cast display is that one, it kind of allows for your public to you know have something to follow along in case they get lost during the meeting, or um, you know, maybe somebody has like um audio kind of impairments.

2:00

Um it allows for them to kind of get a visual, what's happening at the meeting.

2:06

Um so that's what we're gonna be going through today is how to use your new vote cast solution.

2:11

If you have any questions, feel free to just kind of jump in and and interject.

2:16

Um it is a lot of information, and I will say it's kind of gonna be a lot of like flipping between screens.

2:24

So we we're gonna be using three screens in total.

2:26

So we're gonna kind of be rotating between those screens.

2:30

Um, but what's gonna be very important is um, and this is kind of where a lot of customers kind of um maybe fall short a little bit, is that they don't practice.

2:40

So the important thing is that after you attend these training sessions that you are going in and practicing, um, especially because this is a live application, you know, it's not an application that you're kind of doing on your leisury time leisurely time.

2:56

It's an application that's kind of to be used in real time.

3:00

Um, you want to make sure that you go in and you practice.

3:03

So I always try to tell people it's like you're uh you're a performer in like a play or a movie, you know, actors and actresses, right?

3:11

They don't just go and stand up on stage, right?

3:14

And give their performance, they have to practice a number of times.

3:17

And the same thing is true with this application here.

3:21

So that's where kind of a lot of people I've noticed are kind of following falling short, to be honest, is they're not going in and practicing.

3:29

And so once they get to go live, right?

3:33

They haven't practiced, and so it's it's much more stressful than those that have you know practiced a number of of times.

3:41

So that's gonna be the important thing and the takeaway from these meetings is getting in, reserving some time to practice and uh uh run through the application.

3:53

Okay.

3:54

Um, like I said, if you have any questions, just jump in and and interject and and ask your your questions.

4:02

Um where we're gonna be starting though today is we're gonna be first starting with your media manager site.

4:10

Um media manager, you've probably seen Media Manager before, maybe you've dabbled in media manager.

4:16

Um that is a web-based application.

4:19

Oh, yeah.

4:20

So we also that's okay.

4:22

Everyone on here has worked regularly with the vote cast, the live manager, and this section.

4:29

Okay.

4:30

So you're probably okay to skip some of the basics.

4:32

Sorry, don't interrupt you, but we're all okay with those.

4:36

So I just don't know if there's anything new or different from what we were doing before when we pull up our agendas.

4:44

Now, are you guys using currently right now a solution called votecast classic?

4:51

Um, does that ring a bell at all to you?

4:54

It does not.

4:55

So it just says vote cast display.

4:58

Okay.

5:00

Um, but we do go in here and like publish our agendas and we export them up and we import them from the you know, the voting upstairs, and then we do take them live during the meeting.

5:09

So we do do all of those things already.

5:12

Okay.

5:12

I'm just not sure what the difference is between our old technology and what's new as far as like electronic voting and the look of how it's gonna look when we get up there.

5:23

But like this section of the neighbor scene decorus, we all we all are in here relatively often.

5:31

Okay, okay, perfect.

5:32

I don't know if that's helpful or not, but it's very helpful because some people have never used vote cast before at all.

5:38

So like everything is kind of brand new to them.

5:40

It sounds like for you, it's gonna be for the clerks, it's gonna be a new interface um that you're gonna be using.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Technology and Innovation████████████████████████████████████████████44%
Procedural█████████████████████████████29%
Public Engagement██████████████████████████26%
Disability Rights█1%
Summary of Proceedings

VoteCast Web Training Session for Racine City Council - September 2, 2026

This meeting was a training session led by a Granicus representative to introduce the new VoteCast Web electronic voting system for the Racine City Council. Attendees included clerks and IT staff (Connor, Tara, Sam). The training covered system setup, voting procedures, speaker management, and scheduling for future practice sessions.

Discussion Items

  • Overview of VoteCast Web: The system replaces VoteCast Classic, is web-based, and allows remote access. It integrates with Media Manager, Live Manager Web, and LegiSlate (formerly iLegislate).
  • Media Manager Settings: Key settings include enabling voting (must be checked per meeting), selecting the new Live Cast encoder, and options for showing live votes and live tally (recommended to uncheck to avoid influencing votes).
  • Voting Profiles: Customizable voting options (yes, no, abstain, absent, etc.) can be created per profile (e.g., per meeting body).
  • Live Manager Web (Clerk Screen): Provides a preview of the live stream, agenda, action menu, and meeting metrics. Only one designated person should use this application at a time to avoid errors.
  • LegiSlate (Member Voting Interface): Council members log in via a web URL (cityofracine.granicus.com/legislate) with their existing Media Manager credentials. They can join the meeting before the clerk starts, view the agenda, and vote.
  • Pre-Meeting Preparation: Clerks can add speakers (with placeholders if names unknown), track attendance via roll call, mark the meeting chair (who has extra powers like calling votes), and add items on the fly.
  • Voting Process: The clerk timestamps agenda items, records motions (mover, seconder), selects motion type (approve, amend, table, etc.), and initiates voting. The member screen shows the active item and allows motion/amendment. The system supports consent agenda block voting and handling substitute motions/amendments.
  • Speaker Management: Speakers are queued in the speakers tab. The clerk starts the timer (default 3 minutes, can add 30 seconds or change to 1/5 minutes). The chair can call or clear speakers. The speaker timer turns yellow under 30 seconds and red under 5 seconds.
  • Pause Feature: Pauses both the live broadcast and recording, showing a pause screen to the public. The video preview has a 30-45 second delay; clerks should not rely on it for timing.
  • Text Expansions/Hotkeys: Clerks can create shorthand shortcuts for frequently used notes (e.g., "MA" + Ctrl+Space expands to meeting adjournment text).
  • Post-Meeting: Timestamps, notes, and votes are imported back into Legistar for cleanup and finalization. The video uploads and can be edited.

Key Outcomes

  • Next Training Session: A mock meeting practice will be held on September 29, 2026, from 9:00 to 11:00 AM in the council chambers to allow hands-on practice with the system.
  • Legistar Training: Additional training on Legistar will be scheduled after the VoteCast training is complete.
  • Action Items:
    • The clerk (Tara) will pre-populate speaker placeholders (Speaker 1 through 10) for each meeting.
    • IT (Connor) will set the default encoder in Legistar to the new Live Cast encoder and ensure all council member accounts have proper permissions.
    • Council members will need a mandatory training session before using remote participation; passwords expire every 180 days.
    • Feature requests were noted: auto-check "enable voting" per meeting, custom speaker time options, and auto-check voter status when marking a member present.
  • Important Reminders:
    • Do not close the Live Manager tab during a meeting to avoid losing data.
    • Uncheck "show live votes" to prevent vote swaying.
    • Practice using the system before going live.
  • The trainer will send a meeting summary and recording to all participants.

Meeting Transcript

Get started. Okay. So welcome everyone. This is the uh first votecast web training session. Um this training session is designed to be focused on how to use your new votecast solution. Um so votecast, kind of for those that maybe weren't involved in like the purchasing process or the sales process, just to kind of give you a little bit of a background. Um votecast web is it's um I'd say multi-purpose solution. Um but basically the the kind of the goal of vote cast web is it one allows for your members to uh vote via electronically. Um so it allows for them to basically push buttons to motion and to vote digitally. Um that information then is collected onto the clerk screen, which is basically kind of building a draft for the minutes. Um and then it also connects with something called the vote cast display. The vote cast display kind of follows the clerk screen and kind of like what the voting members are are doing, but it's basically it's a display that's designed to be um uh kind of put up or uh projected in the council chambers. Um and it kind of follows and and tells kind of the public what's going on at the meeting. Um, so let's say if the the like there's a motion on the floor on that vote cast display, it's gonna say like you know, motion on the floor, and then if we've got a mover and second or it would say that information as well as like how your members voted. So it's kind of like keeping up with the the clerk screen. And um what's great about the vote cast display is that one, it kind of allows for your public to you know have something to follow along in case they get lost during the meeting, or um, you know, maybe somebody has like um audio kind of impairments. Um it allows for them to kind of get a visual, what's happening at the meeting. Um so that's what we're gonna be going through today is how to use your new vote cast solution. If you have any questions, feel free to just kind of jump in and and interject. Um it is a lot of information, and I will say it's kind of gonna be a lot of like flipping between screens. So we we're gonna be using three screens in total. So we're gonna kind of be rotating between those screens. Um, but what's gonna be very important is um, and this is kind of where a lot of customers kind of um maybe fall short a little bit, is that they don't practice. So the important thing is that after you attend these training sessions that you are going in and practicing, um, especially because this is a live application, you know, it's not an application that you're kind of doing on your leisury time leisurely time. It's an application that's kind of to be used in real time. Um, you want to make sure that you go in and you practice. So I always try to tell people it's like you're uh you're a performer in like a play or a movie, you know, actors and actresses, right? They don't just go and stand up on stage, right? And give their performance, they have to practice a number of times. And the same thing is true with this application here. So that's where kind of a lot of people I've noticed are kind of following falling short, to be honest, is they're not going in and practicing. And so once they get to go live, right? They haven't practiced, and so it's it's much more stressful than those that have you know practiced a number of of times. So that's gonna be the important thing and the takeaway from these meetings is getting in, reserving some time to practice and uh uh run through the application. Okay. Um, like I said, if you have any questions, just jump in and and interject and and ask your your questions. Um where we're gonna be starting though today is we're gonna be first starting with your media manager site. Um media manager, you've probably seen Media Manager before, maybe you've dabbled in media manager. Um that is a web-based application. Oh, yeah. So we also that's okay. Everyone on here has worked regularly with the vote cast, the live manager, and this section. Okay. So you're probably okay to skip some of the basics. Sorry, don't interrupt you, but we're all okay with those. So I just don't know if there's anything new or different from what we were doing before when we pull up our agendas. Now, are you guys using currently right now a solution called votecast classic? Um, does that ring a bell at all to you? It does not. So it just says vote cast display.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
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