Pat Hayden, a permanent auxiliary member of the Harrisonburg City Electoral Board, told the board during public comment on Jan. 13 that she was alarmed by behavior at several early‑voting precincts during the November election and urged better training and backup for officers of election.

Hayden said one instance involved a large, noisy group arriving together — people wearing matching T‑shirts associated with Church World Services — and that only two of the group actually voted. She said the noise and crowding hampered precinct operations and that on a previous occasion an individual had to be asked to leave and authorities called. "I just think in the future that we need to be really aware that we need to have more education with the CAP personnel, possibly appoint a chief during that time frame that could have...more training and backup," Hayden said.

The board and Director of Elections Mark (last name not specified) responded that greeters can be designated to ask incoming groups whether they are all present to vote, and that the office will work on clarifying greeter duties. A board member who said they had worked with Church World Services described the organization’s precinct visits as part of orientation for newly arrived refugees and said the visits were likely intended as demonstrations rather than attempts to vote.

Hayden also raised two additional concerns: the lack of a representative from each major party observing the hand count of ballots, and repeated placement of opposing candidates' signs directly in front of one another at polling sites. On hand‑counted ballots she said, "there needs to be a representative from each party there to witness what is written on that ballot," adding that she had noticed mistakes while observing and believed they were unintentional. Election staff agreed that party observers should be present when ballots are manually processed.

On signage, Hayden said volunteers from different campaigns sometimes placed signs immediately in front of one another and reported hearing a volunteer remark, "I'm not here to be kind." Board members and staff said they would address the complaint with party leadership and reminded precinct greeters and chiefs to monitor sign placement and voter‑area conduct.

The board did not take formal action on these public comments but directed staff to incorporate the concerns into training and precinct procedures ahead of 2025 elections. Director Mark said he appreciated the report and asked that precinct chiefs notify the office as soon as incidents occur so staff can follow up with parties involved.

The rest of the meeting moved into routine reports and closed session items; no new precinct rules were adopted on Jan. 13.

Details noted at the meeting may lead to procedural changes for greeter duties, observer presence during hand counts, and training materials for handling large groups and signage disputes at polling places.