[NFBV-Potomac-Announce] Potomac Chapter meeting Minutes, March 2026

[John Halverson]

Hello Friends and Colleagues,

Please find attached and below, minutes for our March 2026chapter meeting.

John Halverson, Corresponding Secretary Potomac Chapter

POTOMAC CHAPTER
NATIONAL FEDERATION OF THE BLIND
MARCH 11, 2026 MEETING MINUTES

Our meeting was called to order by President Orozco at approximately 7:10 with ten members in person and unfortunately, though our Zoom connection appeared stable from the church, virtual participants could not be heard; this has never happened before and we will try to find a solution so it won't happen again.

Alyssa Myers, Deputy Director of Elections, Office of Voter Registration and Elections for Arlington County, described the process by which the Virginia voting machine implementation is determined by the state board of elections. The new machines, likely not available by the April 21 special election and August 4 primary, will require a card for activation by the poll worker. For voters using the audio ballot marking component, you have the option of using your own headphones and the screen can be turned off for complete privacy but the speaking rate cannot be adjusted.

The absentee ballot is unique because of its inner envelope which election staff check for completeness to include the voter's signature, address and other information. if something is missing, the voter is contacted by email to fix her or his  ballot documentation.

During our discussion of electronic ballot returns, we learned email ballots cannot be run through the scanner based on federal mailing requirements and the bar code has no other purpose other than verifying the voter's registration.

Patty Droppers, who arranged for this presentation, will be contacted when the new Arlington County voting machines are available for demonstration.

Tracy Soforenko moved and Patty Droppers seconded approval of the February minutes which were emailed; the motion passed unanimously.

Our treasurer was not able to be at the meeting so John Halverson will contact him to obtain most recent reports for consideration at our April meeting.

Julie announced that our chapter board had met recently and one of the recommendations needing chapter approval was that Sandy Halverson serve as our chapter membership chair; Patty Droppers moved and LeRoy Hansen seconded the motion which passed unanimously.

Committees were discussed; John Halverson will chair our legislative committee with LeRoy Hansen and Larry Povinelli; Gary Moore will chair fundraising with Frank Riley and Sean McMahon; community projects will be chaired by Patty Droppers with Frankie Morgan and Gary Moore; and membership, chaired by Sandy Halverson with Frankie Morgan, and Larry Povinelli. We look forward to monthly updates from our committee chairs for an exciting year or chapter activities.

Our next affiliate board meeting will take place Saturday, May 2, in Richmond with location address coming soon. April 15 is the deadline to apply for the McDonald Fellowship or the Kenneth Jernigan national program financial scholarships for first-time national convention attendees. Our third Silver Bells program for seniors will take place in Richmond from May 14-17. We were encouraged to make national convention hotel reservations though our headquarters hotel room block is sold out; our national website convention page provides additional overflow hotel reservation information.

Our state convention will take place from October 22-25, 2026 at the Crowne-Plaza Dulles located in Herndon. We will be notified when to make our hotel reservations and convention registration.

John Halverson stated our book club is going well, discussions are  lively and all are welcome.

Ameenah Ghoston from our Fairfax Chapter will be joining us in April to talk about our Journey Through Blindness Zoom meetings.

NFBV President Soforenko informed us that Lyon Village Community House where we have hosted several chapter events, has increased their facility rental to $400 with a mandatory $200 cleaning fee and a $500 deposit.

There being no further business, our meeting was adjourned at 8:38 p.m.

Respectfully submitted,
Sandy Halverson
Recording Secretary


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