Good afternoon and welcome to the February 12th regularly scheduled meeting of the DeCab County Board of Registration and Elections.

Can I get the roll call, please?

Good afternoon, board members.

When I call your name, please respond by saying here.

Vasu Abirahman.

Travis Bowden.

Here.

Gail Lee.

Here.

De Le Loman.

Here.

Carly Swift.

Here.

Madam Chair, we have a quorum.

Thank you.

Can I get a motion to approve the agenda?

So moved.

Okay.

Second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Aye.

Great.

Um, and can we get a motion to approve the January 8th, 2026 uh regularly scheduled meeting minutes?

So moved.

Second.

Okay.

All in favor.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Okay.

Thank you.

Now we will have public comment.

Public comments may be made in person or by submitting an email of one printed page or less in a minimum of 12 fonts, elections public CCMT at DeCab County GA.gov, which must be received between 35 and 5 minutes before the scheduled start of the meeting.

The body of your email must include your first and last name.

By submitting an email for public comment, you agree to have your name and email broadcast on Ustream and entered into the record or minutes.

The DeCab Board of Registration and Elections reserves the right at the board's sole discretion to add your email to the record or minutes without reading any evidence of the broadcast, or to read all or a portion of your email and to the record or minutes.

All public comments will be limited to two minutes.

Abrasive, profane, derogatory language, holding up signs, clapping, yelling, standing, laying the aisles to show support or opposition to a speaker will not be prohibited, but a show of hands or quietly standing in place will be permitted to show support or opposition to a speaker's position.

Thank you.

Is the the timer gonna count going to count down?

Okay.

Look at us.

Moving into the 21st entry.

Okay, so uh I'll just call uh I'm gonna call you guys in groups.

So the first three um Michael Beach, Janet Grant, Betsy Shockleford.

Well I'm waiting for this countdown.

This is spiffy.

Um two comments.

One is I've already this Michael Beach from a poll manager here in Decatur.

Um hearing from employees.

We need a policy and guidance about if ICE shows up at our polls.

I'm already being asked about it.

And so we really do need something to be able to say in how we're supposed to respond.

The others have been at the state houses.

I know some of you have this week.

Uh payload paper ballots are coming.

I hope there's a plan because it sure seems like people are resisting the fact that this is so late in February that we're still going to have this happen.

And so are we prepared?

I would like that guidance since training is starting.

Thanks.

Thank you.

My name is Janet Grant.

I'm a resident of DeCab County, and I serve as an area poll manager.

I'm here to both thank you and to encourage advocacy on an issue currently being considered in this legislative session.

Um, the positive election operational changes since I got involved as a poll manager in 2020 cannot be overemphasized.

With the support of this board, the county commission, departmental leadership changes, and investment and staffing and equipment.

Our election system is unrecognizable from 2020.

And I'm also happy to see that there's no resting on our laurels.

Continuous improvement is a commitment that's being delivered for the voters in DeCab County and should give all voters confidence in our elections.

Just this year, a very sophisticated online poll worker training system is being rolled out.

And it's excellent.

I'm 40% done, and I've got 100% so far.

Um, and it's gonna take training to a whole new level here in DeCab.

Thanks to the board for the support of the department as they pursue continuous improvement.

However, this exciting new training system would have would have to be almost immediately scrapped if some of the changes being contemplated in the General Assembly pass.

The legislature is grappling with the looming QR code removal deadline of July 1st, 2026 that was passed in House Bill 189.

I'm sure you'll hear in your legislative update.

I'm sure you'll hear in your legislative update the latest proposal would make an emergency move to handmark paper ballots this year on election day with hand counting proposed for early voting sites.

Even if these changes made sense, implementing them during a major election year is irresponsible.

I'm aware that both Cobb and Fulton County Election Boards have passed resolutions asking the legislature to move that date back to 2027.

This would give time for a rational vetting of the options, secure appropriations to fund the change, and time for counties to responsibly operationalize changes in an off-cycle year.

So I strongly encourage this board to also weigh in and issue a similar resolution.

Thank you.

I am very concerned about the 26 elections.

Trump's unhinged attacks on elections, including at Fulton County, have left us fearing for democracy and the vote.

Additionally, the Republicans in the legislature box them into a corner by doing nothing to implement Senate Bill 189 to forbid barcodes and are now scrambling to scotch tape together an ill-thought-out fix.

Again, like Fulton County, the BRE should resolve to delay implementation to 27.

This is an obvious fix, but like most things, politics occur in almost every venture, and we know that there's a certain amount of leadership in the Georgia General Assembly that is utterly opposed to any kind of moving the date out, but it's appears that that's the only sensible solution to this dilemma.

Thank you.

All right, our next group, uh Cheryl Dudley, Kendra Bogowski, and then we will have the online comments afterwards, after that.

Good afternoon.

Cheryl Dudley, uh, DeCab resident and voter activist.

Um board.

Again, I thank you for again the work that you do to ensure that voters are secure and safe in this county, but I also implore you and it to ensure that you can protect all the voters and our safety and security of poll managers again when the current form of ICE, which is really not what ICE was designed to do, can be kept out.

No, they can't be kept out of DeCab County.

Um, again, people saw that with the DeCab Commission, but as I mentioned in two of the meetings that I went to with my Dr.

Bolton in the seventh commission, there please please come up with plans and encourage the DeCab Police Department, Captain Delito knows my name now, to make plans to keep us all safe.

Um it's been very evident is being used by the current administration and the people that work with the current administration to intimidate voters.

Um lady in one of those meetings turned out to be a poll manager.

She was like, What am I gonna do when ICE comes in?

So again, please come up with that.

Georgia, again, if you don't think this is the most important state in the whole United States for an election, it is the only state where a Democratic Senator OSSOff is running, and this administration will do everything it can to make sure that he does not win, and uh a whole lot of other people too.

So again, um I know you all do what you can do under the law.

It's a pity that you, in some ways that this state can't be a lot like other states, and actually pass laws that prevent third parties from being able to take voters off of rolls.

Um, also provide civil remedies and criminal remedies when voters are intimidated and strengthen the certification laws.

It's a pity that unfortunately thank you.

Thank you.

And thank you for letting me speak.

Good afternoon, Chair and members of the DeCab Board of Voter Registrations and Elections.

My name is Dr.

Kendra Bogowski.

I reside in unincorporated DeCab and I'm a chair of the DeCab County Republican Party.

On January 12th, 2026, I emailed each of you a copy of Voter GA's December 30th, 2025 letter to county election supervisors detailing grave vulnerabilities in the Dominion Democracy Suite 5.5A voting system based on an emergency petition to the elections assistance commission and a federal lawsuit filed by several Georgia organizations and voters.

In summary, unrefuted expert testimony from 2024 cases shows the Dominion Voting System Democracy Suite 5.5A never met EAC standards with poor encryption key protection under outdated VIPS rules.

These systems are interconnected worldwide by a shared X509 certificate, allowing results to be altered in minutes.

This is akin to choosing to store your cryptocurrency on a platform with the password on the home page.

In today's technological climate, it is unreasonable to assume that unauthorized users have not taken advantage of the system currently in use, especially considering one can purchase t-shirts with the Dominion passwords on it from Amazon.com.

In fact, forensic analysis found 3,000 modified files and uncertified compiler, internet access and remote dominion interventions in 2020 and 2021 elections.

As we are all aware, our system also uses unverifiable QR codes, which will soon violate SB 189 after June 2026.

Executive Order 14248 calls to revoke such certifications and foreign components found in the systems also fail federal guidelines.

Secretary Ravensberger wants us to ignore these facts, but perhaps Stacey Abrams wasn't wrong to question Georgia's results.

Thank you.

Thank you so much.

Madam Chair and members of the board, two public comments have we received to be read into the record.

Seventy Samsung, DeCab County resident.

Dear board members, my husband and I have voted in DeCab County for decades.

We are always impressed with the friendliness and helpfulness of the poll workers.

Thanks for making voting in DeCAB easy and pleasant.

Please continue to support a large number of early voting sites across the county.

We always vote early, and many of our friends do too.

Please consider expanding the number of days and hours for early voting, commensurate with your resources.

I think we all become aware of reports that the federal government will attempt to make voting more challenging this year.

Please do your best to coordinate with state and local officials so that all eligible persons continue to be able to exercise their constitutional right to vote.

Thank you.

Second and final online comment from Carla Boudot, DeCAB County resident.

I appreciate the large number and geographic spread of early voting locations and hope changes to polling locations as some schools due to construction will be appropriately communicated to affected voters in a timely manner.

I am concerned about bills currently under draft and or consideration in the Georgia Assembly that attempt to comply with SB 189 from the previous legislative session.

No action was taken last year, and now there is a scramble to come up with poorly thought-out measures that would cost time and money to counties.

This would increase competence in the elections process by implementing a new process in a straightforward and transparent process with time for adequate testing and manageable calls.

Thank you, everyone who provided comments today.

Thank you, Madam Chair.

In your packets, uh beginning on page five, you will find the template for the director's report and the numbers for registration.

So with that, I'll just review the registration updates as of February 10th, which is when this uh report was uh published.

Um there were 564,506 registered voters.

What's on the screen is effective as it as of today, and I'll read those two, but we always have the two sets to compare.

A total of 488,508 were active as of the 10th, and 75,998 inactive.

Total applications as of February 10th was 6,531 of those 6,531 applications left, 5,615 were driver services or DDF, DDS, 10 for the online voter registration or Oliver, 12 my voter page, MVP, and 733 handwritten.

Manual voter registration cancellations for 2025 totaled 4,089.

And monthly from December to January, the totals were, and these these are the numbers from February 10th, 796.

What you're seeing on the slide are updates as of today.

And so as of today we had 565,014 total registered voters in DeCab County, of which 489,102 were active, 75,912 inactive.

We will also just review the numbers of 4,157 applications were reported today as being left to process, of which 3,788 were DDS, 21 were Oliver, 29 from my voter page, 319 handwritten applications, and manual registrations as for the month of January to today, February was 577.

So subtract the on the report 796 or 577 from 796, and you'll see the number processed in December.

Okay.

And so I also just want to mention the returned mail processing.

Confirmation notices as of today, 2,794 returned confirmation notices were 11, and then letters not totaled 971.

And so from that exercise performed by registration staff members, 3,140 voter registrations were canceled in that activity.

So I just want to make sure that you're seeing what I'm seeing on my report.

Okay.

And so we did have a pension election.

For those that are on our county emails, you notice that our department facilitates the county pension board's election.

And so on Monday we did uh facilitate that election and were able to create the project.

We tested the equipment and prepared the supplies for the election.

Um I think we staffed five sites around the county so that uh eligible voters in the umployee and retiree uh delegation could vote for that seat.

And so that was facilitated without a hitch, and the results were forwarded to the pension board.

We are also gearing up now for House District 94's special election.

As we mentioned in last meeting, in the last meeting, they'll the election will be held this month in March, and so we found since the last meeting that it will be held on March 10th, and so um we will begin early voting for that March 10th election on Monday, February 16th, and early voting will run through March 6.

Uh as we mentioned at the last meeting, um, we have three early voting locations, and um election day there will be six election day polling locations.

And so please we want you to check your registration your voter registration information to determine if you're eligible to vote in this election, and if so, um you know, make a plan to vote, whether it's early via absentee by mail and or in person.

So please check your voter registration for that.

Um there is a copy of the sample ballot for this election on the screen and in your packets as well, and so that's what you have there.

I will move on to the qualifying for the primary uh general primary election.

Qualifying for local candidates will take place in our office Monday, March 2nd till noon on Friday, March 6th.

And so we will be qualifying the local candidates, um, judge of the state court, county commissioners, county board of education, and the soil and water conservation supervisor.

So we're looking forward to also a candidate workshop that will facilitate for those who may be interested in running for an office in DeCab County, and that uh flyer is uh displayed right now, and we've also uh submitted that in other forms of communication for our residents to consider.

So please register for this via the QR code that is included online, and um we'd be glad for you to join us for this informative workshop.

Our warehouse began testing, and this is I'm jumping back to our March 10th special election.

LA testing began on Monday and concluded, and so we are ready to deliver the equipment for our early voting locations, and so I'm excited to report that as well.

I want to look at the budget document that starts on page six in your packets.

What you have here is the requested uh budget for um fiscal year 2026.

Um you will see that we requested 14,987,034, a little less than 15 million, just shy of 15 million.

Uh recommended uh by the finance department was a little less, which is 14,842,034.

They uh reduced the capital outlays.

If you look there, you'll see that we requested 150,000.

It was reduced by 145,000.

And so when you look at the actuals from 2023 and 2024, you'll see that you know there was a jump in 2024 because that was the presidential election year.

We actually had three elections because we had the March presidential preference primary, which was a statewide election, which you know we opened all precincts, we had an ample uh amount of early voting locations as well.

Um, and we then had the primary as well as the general.

Um in 2025, we had two, you know, elections.

And so this year we have a special election, right?

But we are only opening uh limited amount of locations, and so the budget will accommodate the special election.

Uh we are still waiting to hear back regarding the reconciled amount that we actually spent last year, but if you recall from last month's uh budget packet, we were hanging right around eight million dollars.

So as I mentioned, um we've done a really good job of managing the costs to facilitate elections efficiently in the CAP County.

In the past, we've asked for four million more than we've actually spent because we didn't know what that year was going to look like.

I think we have a handle on our elections in terms of the cost associated with facilitating them, and I'm comfortable with the 14 million dollar uh request.

However, I am presenting it today because if the board believes that we need to request an additional amount for an you know an activity, now is the time to get that request in because the board of commissioners will be voting to adopt the budget within the next week or so, and so I'm happy to answer questions around the budget.

Um but I just also want to mention the that um you know the activities that are going on in our communications um department are robust.

Uh they are executing their efforts with high impact and precision through multi-channel um avenues, they're taking that approach.

Uh we are leveraging um, you know, uh ads spaces.

We are waiting for the delivery of our mobile unit, and we're committed to refining the approach and maximizing outreach as we move forward in communicating our voters around how, when, and where to vote, and we look you know to the possibility of legislative changes that will have a public facing impact and will incorporate that messaging as well.

And so I say that because I do want the board to consider the budget that we've requested and um have a discussion around that um today.

And with that, uh that that concludes my updates.

Thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

That was a substantive update.

Um, I will start with Ms.

Lee and we can go around.

Are we focused on the budget or the the entire thing?

The entire report.

The entire report.

Okay.

Well, let's start with the budget.

Um I am concerned about the capital outweighs.

Uh DeCab County recently purchased this building, and I was thinking that maybe there are needs that the you have that need to be taken care of and structural changes or something.

And I was just wondering about $5,000.

Yeah, that's that's a good question.

So the capital outlays that we include in that are more related to our um equipment and elections software like software, computer software, and so we will go back to them for that, but in terms of the building and the cost to renovate and what have you, that will not be a part of our budget.

That's a part of the general funds, and we and the administration would be responsible for making the extensive updates.

I have not heard uh a timeline as to when renovations will be beginning and I don't think that they all begin this year during a major election because they understand that we will be very busy and will need every inch of the space that we're occupying right now.

So we didn't um plan like I said to renovate anything this year, but that capital budget would belong to another area, and it may be facilities, but it's not us.

Okay, yeah.

That's good.

And um the retirement services has taken a jump, and I was wondering why.

Yep, and so that um line item, of course, is determined by finance, and it's based on the number of staff and the fringe around the full-time equivalent, the full-time employees.

It jumped because we hired more people last year, and so the projections are um reflected and reflective of the number of staff we now have.

So I mentioned how we were able to save money and temporary services because we hired, we've almost over doubled the number of FTEs that we had when I came on board.

So each year um we've added additional staff, and so we're at 30 one, I believe, full-time.

people last year and so the projections are um reflected and reflective of the number of staff we now have so I mentioned how we were able to save money in temporary services because we hired we've almost over doubled the number of FTEs that we had when I came on board so each year um we've added additional staff and so we are at 30 one I believe full time um and last year we I think hired at least four um and two of those were management level positions and so the retirement services is based on salaries and the number of staff that we have thank you um see that was my other questions oh yeah uh when you finalize the the 2025 budget I appreciate getting a copy of that oh yes I mentioned in the last meeting that that will probably happen in March and I will share that with the board then okay um then on the statistics that you give us at the beginning um I appreciate the fact that you've gone you've put the monthly removals in there however it doesn't uh give us the oversight tool that we really need um as the legislature has set up uh a process several processes to feed back into the voter rolls and we don't have any way to know if they're really happening um we had a felon who was applying for a position on you know to be on the ballot and it may have been a inabration or there may have been a failure in the system and so if we had the categories broken down of the different processes they're supposed to be coming in reports every month from the through the secretary of state's office we could see if there is a breakdown when someone leaves a job that has responsibility to provide a report they may not tell the re the next person that they need to do this responsibility and so the system can break down and would never know it.

I think it's it would be very useful to have a listing by month of the the previous months people that self-reported then the deceased and you know in two 2024 was it yeah 2024 I had a list of deceased that I submitted and some of them had been deceased for a number of years and then some of them were more recent uh deceased but several months old so the Secretary of state is supposed to be giving us a list of those every month and they should be removed every month so uh it'd be nice to see if the processes are working and then there's the the courts are supposed to be giving us every month uh a list of any mental incompetence um they probably won't be very many of those but still we need to know if that system's working and if someone shows up for jury duty and says oh I can't be on the jury because I'm a I'm not a citizen the courts are supposed to report that too and that's a monthly report um and then there's duplications be nice to know how many of those are we being removed and then the secretary of state of course does this list maintenance and that's gonna be a big number so it'd be I thought it would be very nice if we could have a listing of those um broken down by category for the the you know the previous month and then the year to date beside it so we could see over time how it's working and if it's working and uh I would ask if my fellow board members are interested in participating in that oversight I'm not I think the the reports as given are appropriate but happy to provide others with the opportunity to speak Mr.

B so take a look at the budget and it's it's a pretty straightforward you know well presented budget no no issues there.

Um, you know, and I understand that you know, obviously you're gonna spend more in an election year versus a non-election year, and I think that's you know, reflected there.

Um one question.

Uh the requested FY26 is roughly $60,000 higher than the recommended FY26.

And I'm just curious, what um should you know, should the requested amount be granted, um, what would that extra sixty thousand dollars uh go to?

So remember I mentioned that the reduction was in the capital outlays.

So these we have three um cost centers.

So our communications division, which consists of training, uh public affairs and community outreach is 2922.

Our operations, which is elections registration and the warehouse, um is the 2920, and 2910 is administration.

So that 145,000 dollars is um the sum total of all of the three cost centers request.

And so 60,000 of that was for computers and software for that division.

Okay, yeah, yeah.

So I just was curious about it because I just want um, you know, I was curious if it was more of a um you know per rated expenditure, which it sounds like it is, um, rather than you know, an engagement of a vendor or something like that.

So that's what I was curious about.

Okay, that was my question.

Thank you.

Ms.

Lee, were you finished with your comments?

Uh yes, okay.

Until we get to the centers.

Okay, great.

Mr.

Bowden, that was it?

Okay.

Uh we'll go to Ms.

Lohmann.

Smith.

Thank you.

Um the only question that I had was on the uh capital outlay, which you answered.

And um, I just wanted to um state since we were going around on this, that I am good with the level of detail of the registration report that we get.

Um, and I would not want to increase the amount of um labor and resources that the department has to invest on top of that.

So I'm I'm fine with what we get.

I think it's very detailed and thorough.

Um, but that's it for me.

Thank you.

Mr.

Albrahman.

100% agree with what uh Ms.

Lohmann just said right now.

I believe we get enough detail here and appreciate the work that goes into it.

Also appreciate um how much better the budgeting process has gotten in this department um year after year, um, especially during your tenure.

So hats off to you and the rest of the staff.

Thank you.

I do have a question related to the budget.

Um as has been raised already, there is um legislation that uh effectively is going to require um a change to QR codes.

So I want to know are the budget are there any budget contingencies planned for in this budget?

And I I'm assuming the yeah, so that's the oh so um so first are there any are the are there budget contingencies in the in this existing budget in the event so with um as it relates to some of the newer um legislation that is um being uh considered now we are evaluating you know the impacts and um we've have some preliminary numbers um that you know uh were not included in our budget request.

Um there, you know, if some you know, particularly one in particular um bill if that is passed in in a in this session, uh it will be a burden financially.

And so we would have we have not included that, and I don't know that we know enough yet to include you know, to project accurately, because um we just don't know what you know to expect and and I don't want to put you on the spot because you you've already that was a um a good explanation, but I would be interested in knowing generally are we talking about six figures?

Are we talking about seven figures?

Um estimate we had was j uh between five and seven million dollars.

That's helpful.

Okay.

So that's not included in this current budget, obviously, in the event that some of this legislation were to pass, there is the potential that uh it could cost us seven figures, five to seven million.

Um so that's helpful, um, I think for us to know.

Um I had a question about the budget outlay as well.

I I did have one more question on outreach.

That um okay, so the outreach budget for 2024 when we had another statewide federal election was 2.6 million.

Is there a reason why it it isn't the the requested budget for 26 is not um aligned in the two millions, whether is there a reason for a decrease from 24 because this is also a statewide election year.

Yes, okay.

I believe that those that included expenses for um electronics, like um, I'm sorry.

Uh the 2024 budget for the comms.

I know that we looked at that budget, and I believe I didn't I said electronics, I didn't mean electronics.

I believe that some of that was paid to vendors instead of coming out of professional services.

Um, but I need to double check that.

I worked with the deputy directors.

We they did do a fine, you know, with a fine-tooth comb comparisons line item by line item, and um felt that what was uh you know offered to me was adequate.

Um right off the bat.

I I can't remember what the two million dollars was uh spent on in 2024.

Um I can't I know that some of that was professional other professional services, so that's not just outreach.

It wasn't just um that's a part of the temps, that's training, that was um some I believe that there was some equipment cost in there as well.

Okay, I yeah, and and you said that you are okay with the the the recommended budget, the that the the you know hundred or so thousand is that something that I guess do we need to advocate to get the budget up to the requested amount.

So if you see and now it's all coming back had a moment.

So what we did for in 2024 was we included profession other professional services in the uh communications instead of come including it under administration or the admin, the 2910.

And so you'll see a shift there where in 2024 we budgeted eight million.

We are now budgeting eleven million.

So the contracts and for other professional services, such as the communication, the vendor, communications vendor, um, and other uh professional services will come out of the 11 million.

Okay.

But I guess, but do you want any additional advocacy on getting this closer to the requested amount, or we we believe the recommended amount is sufficient?

Well, I think that we can get we can definitely get the 145,000 dollars added back.

Um and I'll just make that you know uh phone call that's not a problem.

Okay, and I had intensive, I mean, plan to do that.

They're essentially saying advocacy is needed, but you got it.

Got it.

Yeah, happy to have it if you want, yes.

I think as well.

I I think I think we should we've done a really you've done a good job of at accurately and adequately budgeting for the needs of the county, and so I would hate to have you need us need to go back at some point for additional funds that we could have budgeted.

I can do that.

Okay.

Any other questions from the board?

No, okay.

All right, let's move on to the legislative update.

Okay, good good evening, board members.

Um, as you will recall, this has become uh practice of ours when the um general assembly is in session to provide you with a um brief summary of the different bills that the general assembly is considering that are related to election matters.

Um you probably know that the um legislative session started in early January, so we're just getting going.

It will go through um April 2nd is the last day of the session.

So right now, as far as I'm aware, um, there hasn't been a whole lot of activity yet on election related bills.

Um back up a little bit.

You you also probably will know that um this is the second year of a two-year legislative session, so that bills that were introduced last year are still alive and can be considered throughout this year.

If they're not passed this year, they will fall off and have to be reintroduced again.

So that's where we're at right now.

There's a whole bunch of election bills that I can go through with you this morning that have um that are pending right now.

There's not been any action on them yet, but as the session goes on, obviously I would expect to have a lot of more action on them.

And um you're aware that um I can read you some uh summaries of them right now that they are very likely to change um and be amended as the session goes progresses.

So um with that, let me just sort of go through what we have pending now.

I've not done a deep dive on any of these yet because there's not been a lot of actions on them.

Like I said, as the session goes on, I will try to watch these and and report back to you monthly about what's going on with them.

So the first bill that I have is House Bill 215, and that's the voter list integrity act.

That is pending the House Government Affairs Committee, and that legislation prohibits the Secretary of State, election superintendent or any other state entity entity from joining or participating in any multi-state voter list maintenance organization that contacts unregistered vote individuals with intent to register them or shared vote voter data, except for the purpose of removing deceased duplicate and otherwise ineligible voters.

I think that's the one involving Eric.

Um House Bill 502.

Um that's the bill involving preferential treatment for of voters accompanied by children.

It's on election day.

Um if you have a child that's under the age of two, you can go uh directly to one of the um voting stations that is also pending in a House Government Affairs Committee.

House Bill 604.

Um that involves a manual ballot recount.

It is a pending in the um House Government Affairs Committee, and that bill allows for manually recounting all ballots cast within a county or city.

Um I haven't heard a lot about that one.

We may hear more about that one.

Um House Bill 633.

Um expands the people who are allowed to request absence ballots.

You realize right now I think it's family members, and there's a list of people this would add um caregivers to that list of people who can uh request absentee ballots.

That's pending before the House Government Affairs Committee.

House Bill 1108.

Um that's involves handmarked and hand-counted paper ballot requirements pending before House Government Affairs.

Um, and it moves the duty for supplying election equipment from the Secretary of State to the state election board.

Um it requires that equipment be procured from American company and incapable from being accessed remotely.

It requires the use of handmarked ballot paper ballots and tabulation and a publicly recorded hand count, and it removes the role of rulemaking concerning elections from the Secretary of State and gives it to the state election board.

Um House Resolution 251.

Um this involves um nonpartisan elections for probate judges.

It's uh proposes a constitutional amendment that would appear on the ballot um to allow nonpartisan election of probate judges.

We have a couple similar um House Bill 14 would allow local communities to choose um to have nonpartisan elections of district attorneys and solicitor generals.

Um Senate Bill 15 would do the same for um governing authorities for board of commissioners, so that would allow non partisan elections.

Um both of those are pending in the Senate Ethics Committee.

Uh Senate Bill 214.

Passed the Senate last year, and it is pending now in the House Government Affairs Committee.

It requires registered voters show requires that if a registered voter shows up at their designated polling place on election day or during early voting at an approved location and possesses proper ID.

They have had a right to they have a right to vote using a special absentee ballot.

The ballot shall be placed by the voter in a secure bill box.

And the superintendent has to provide all these sufficient ballots.

This one actually is one that was briefly scheduled for a hearing and then was canceled.

So I would watch this one and um as the session goes on.

Senate Bill 274, which would allow for same-day registration and voting.

Um that is pending in Senate Elect Ethics Committee.

And finally, Senate Bill 42.

Um would essentially move municipal elections to even number years unless there was a local law that required it.

Um in specific jurisdictions.

So those are what are pending now.

If you have any questions, but as I said, I will try to monitor these and give you updates as the session goes on.

Thank you so much.

Any questions?

Seeing none, thank you.

Okay.

Let's move in to items for decision.

Okay.

So as with most um years, uh, during the summer, we have some polling place changes due to school construction or other um limited availability issues.

So eight schools will be unavailable over the summer.

Um, and we have a plan in place to move those sites temporarily.

And what you have beginning on slide 12 are um the changes that staff proposes for um the summer.

Okay, so cross keys high and woodward.

There you see that the current polling place is cross keys high, and the proposed polling place is Woodward Elementary School, and the change in distance is a reduction of about 0.04 miles, and the number of voters uh will all of those would be the same.

So they all would move.

On page 13, you'll see the Ashford Park Alum location.

Um the again Ashwood Park Elementary School is will be temporarily closed, and uh the proposed uh polling place uh relocation is to John Lewis Elementary School, and uh there's a change in an additional uh point one four miles, and six thousand six hundred and eighty-five voters will be moved to and it's an the other there's another precinct in that location, and that is Dresden on slide fourteen.

Um champion theme middle, so stone mountain combined, and that's construction is at champion theme middle school, and temporary move uh will be to currently combined Stone Mountain Alum, Stone Mountain Champion, and Stone Mountain Precincts to St.

Michael's and all angels at Pascal Episcopal Church.

The distance change is.59 miles, and that number of voters impacted is 5,559.

Slide 15 again, due to the building construction at Winbrook Ellum.

We would temporarily move the Wenbrook LM precinct to Stevenson High.

And that's again, all of these were for May and up the potential June runoff.

The distance change here is 0.67 miles, and the number of impacted voters is 7,028.

Slide 16 shows Idlewood Ellum, which would uh we would temporarily move Idlewood elementary school precinct to Stone Mountain Middle School.

The distance change is 0.32 miles, affected voters 4,838.

Cantler Murphy Cantler Alum is on slide 17.

The proposal is to uh move those voters by uh to Arabia Mountain High School, which is a distance change of 0.13 miles, and the impacted voter total is 3,635 and last no, not last, almost second to last.

Sagamore Hills LM on slide 18 temporary move would be to outlet community church.

It's a distance change of 0.58 miles, and the total voters impacted is 5,826 and last is on play uh slide 19, and that's ref uh Kingsley Elementary, and the proposed is to move the Kingsley Allen precinct to Kingswood United Methodist Church, and there are two other uh precincts at that proposed location.

The distance change for the Kingsley Alum precinct is 0.56 miles, and the total voters that will be at that location after the move is 5,97 changes.

Okay, thank you very much uh for that comprehensive explanation.

Um we can start with Ms.

Lee.

Are there any questions?

Can I assume you will be giving notice to everybody?

Yes, we will send um letters as and as well as precinct cards, I believe to the voters well in advance of the election.

So as soon as the board votes and um approves these sites, we will begin to prepare communications.

Signage will be placed at each of the um locations to let them know where the new location is as well.

Um, and then we will also be able to um use other communication methods to reach these individual voters that will be impacted.

Okay, and and then uh there are some, there's a few that have more than one precinct there.

Uh is there any chance of overload or no?

They looked, they that was a consideration when they um proposed the locations, so we made sure that we were under the maximum amount per precinct, and we will staff accordingly.

Thank you, Mr.

Bowden.

No questions.

I think this covers up Ms.

Lohmann do you have any questions?

No questions, Ms.

Arborman.

Um I'm just curious.

Um, I'm an advocate for ending runoffs in Georgia or at least decreasing the chances of them happening.

I'm wondering how many of these changes were necessitated by the the June 16th runoff.

Um that would not have had to happen if we just had the May 19th date.

All of them.

Oh wow, all of them.

That's a good data point.

Yeah.

Thank you.

Um, I just have a quick question.

You answered the communication, so we'll have large signs at all of at the old location and the new location.

And um this is gonna hearken back to one of our former board members.

I do want to ask you about parking access and and ability for handicapped um individuals specifically at some of the elementary schools.

Are the is the voting going to be close to um an entrance?

Can you talk through with did you guys look at those things with these locations?

Yes, the staff assess the sites, they're um making sure that we are communicating with the administration so they understand the number of um 88 spaces we are required to have and um they are amenable to you know work with us and they have reconfirmed their commitment to do so.

And also just to confirm and for the public's knowledge, we're limited in the types of locations and places that we can go.

So I assume that these what these the places identified were the only options geographically in that in the area.

Yes, and that provision is more so for early voting, I believe that you're referring to, but even still, it's really hard to find um a facility that will accommodate voting on election day.

Um the CAP County doesn't have a plethora of options that you know are ADA compliant, um, that have ample parking that have that meet the requirements for um the electrical capacity that we you know need to operate the machines.

Um so we do our best, and right now the schools are our um best options for election day.

Thank you.

Um okay, seeing no questions.

Can we get a motion to approve motion to approve temporary polling place changes for the May primary and June runoff?

Second.

All in favor?

Aye.

Great.

Okay, let's move to the early voting sites for the May 19th general primary.

Thank you.

It's page 20 in our in your packets, um, you will have the proposed um locations, dates, and times uh for the May uh primary election, and we staff is recommending 20 early voting locations for May.

And um you will notice I think a few new locations um that would be added to uh our complement of uh sites and um but the distribution which is on 21 uh slide uh page 2021 shows again how we evenly distribute it's a nice uh cover for all areas of the county, and so we're asking your um approval to proceed with the 20 sites that are listed here and the proposed uh dates which we are proposing April 27th to May 15th, which is the full period allowed for early voting, and sticking with our 7 a.m.

to 7 p.m.

weekdays, two Saturdays from 9 a.m.

to 6 p.m.

and Sundays uh not noon to 5 p.m.

Okay.

I'm gonna start to my left with Mr.

Arbor Rahman.

Well no questions for me.

Okay, Ms.

Loman.

No questions?

No questions.

Okay, Miss Lee.

Of course I have questions.

Um the new Bethel sits out there all by itself.

Um six and a half miles from the nearest one.

Um is there any thought of putting something else in there in the area, or is there no turnout?

There's a there weren't any other options.

So I believe um have we ever had anything in that area?

No, there we haven't found anything that would now this is early voting, and Chair Um Swift mentioned there are limitations, and so for early voting, the site has to be either an election day site uh as well as an early voting, you know, to be an early voting site, or it could be owned uh or um leased by a government.

So there that limits the type of locations that uh we could have you have churches there, right?

Churches that are election day sites.

Yes, I see.

Okay.

And there is a cluster on the other side of the neighborhood church, the Bessie Burnham and uh Greater Piney.

And the whole group is just three miles long.

I'm just wondering why the heavy cluster.

Yep.

So the board in the past requested those Bessie and neighborhood church are in the city of Atlanta.

And so when you look at the turnout that we've had over the last few years, Bessie Brenham is one of our top four five in terms of turnout.

And so having a second site close to Bessie is, I think it's a great idea, and we offer it.

When we don't, someone on the board typically ask why it's not on the proposal.

So at least one person, maybe two, um, often.

And so, but it is a popular site, the neighborhood church.

But I will mention that we the they did not have the sanctuary available this May.

So voting will take place on the third floor, but there is an elevator that goes to the third floor.

And so we voted in that location before, but it is the smaller um location, the smaller room.

Yeah.

Okay, thank you.

Oh, I just want to ask a question about the the area that um Miss Lee highlighted.

Isn't it also an industrial area?

That's why they we there usually isn't that's the other issue.

It's very industrial, so they they can't find that's a good point.

And um, I know I've been supportive of as many locations as we can have, and so I appreciate that we have 20 um for people in the city of Atlanta portion of the county.

Um, you know, it's a small but mighty crew, and we they would also like to be able to vote.

So um I think that's how we ended up with those um cluster.

But okay.

That being said, unless there are any other questions, are there any questions about the times?

Are we good with times?

Okay, madam chair, yes.

Ma'ammy recognized yes.

Uh just wanted to um to add as well that within um that part of the city of Atlanta, a lot of it is is more walkable than many parts of Ticab County.

Uh, and so the while the distance of you know a couple miles is not great when you're driving, it definitely is when you're walking.

And so um that's another consideration for those locations.

Thank you.

Okay.

All right.

With that being said, uh, can we get a motion to approve our the um proposed early voting locations time and times for the May 19 general primary election?

Um I would like to uh propose that we approve the early voting locations and times.

Second all in favor?

Aye, aye.

Great.

Okay, we have the Georgia Soul and Water Conservation Commission election.

Yes, maybe in your packets beginning on page 22, I believe, um, you'll find the memorandum of agreement uh between the Georgia Soil and Water Conservation Commission and the election superintendent of the county.

Um we're asking for the board's approval to give me authorization to enter into an agreement with the commission in a form that is approved by the county attorney.

Okay.

Are there any questions?

Okay, no questions seeing none.

Um can we get a motion to provide to make that make out that authorization for the director?

So moved.

Okay.

Second.

All right, all in favor.

Aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Okay, great.

Is there a need for executive session?

No ma'am.

Thank you.

Okay, with that, we will have board comments.

I'm gonna start with Ms.

Lohmann because I I do know that she has to leave.

So do you have any comments?

Thank you, madam chair.

Uh, just wanted to um per usual thank um the director and the team for uh keeping us up to date and for doing a great job of managing our elections uh and all the work that leads up to it.

I also wanted to just uh emphasize to um our visitors and anybody who happens to be watching the meeting the uh importance of making sure that we speak accurately and thoughtfully about uh the times that we're in.

I hear a lot of people talking about the administration canceling elections.

Um, and it scares people and creates a narrative that may uh encourage people to not show up and participate.

Um at present, the federal government does not have the authority to simply outright cancel elections.

Uh and anyone who attempts that is going to be met with a great deal of resistance from this county, and I'm sure plenty of others who are uh very dedicated to protecting our citizens' right to vote.

So I just would encourage uh all of us to remind folks that elections are run at the state and county level, and that we will be continuing to protect their right to vote and make sure that they can participate as much as we can.

So thank you for that.

And I'm gonna go ahead and sign off.

Thank you.

I will start to my left.

Thank you to the director, um, our legal team and all our hardworking staff.

Um, it's not easy having a special election coming up.

So thank you for all the work that you're putting into that.

Um hope everything goes well.

Yeah, we're in a tough situation in Georgia.

I just wanted to recognize it, echo some of the sentiments that um board member Lohman just mentioned.

Um shocking, even the ridiculousness that this state uh is having to deal with right now.

Um definitely wanted to recognize how difficult um things have been on the Fulton Board of Elections, on their department, um, on their commission, on their legal team.

Um, there are a lot of outstanding questions about um why this was even authorized and and what happens now.

Um, and then the legislation that's being proposed.

Um I'm hoping the most onerous provision um is is dead.

I I wanted to shout out a lot of people in this room for showing up to the Capitol that Monday, right before that hearing got canceled.

Um, I know there's a couple of us board members who are were also there.

Um that was gonna be one long public comment period.

So maybe that's what the the chair thought as well over there.

Um I have a strong opinion on this QR code thing, uh, and I want to be really precise in my speaking here.

I I don't believe there's any material difference between having a QR code used on these current ballots and not that there is much more of a difference between handmark paper ballots and our carnage system, but just the removal of QR codes, it sort of it just it just kind of offends me when actual policy is made off of a lack of technical rigor and an understanding of the process.

And I think that provision in particular um screams a lack of real technical understanding.

Um I'm happy to talk about this offline with folks, with any of you here.

Um I think I think it's not very logical.

Um, so I do hope.

I know a couple of other boards have passed some resolutions um as one of the public commenters mentioned um to ask for the legislature to push the date, the effective date of um the QR code provision a year.

That is exactly what should happen at the very least, at the very least.

Um, and if that doesn't happen, I think the legislature should go with the most narrowly tailored solution here, um, whether that's optical character recognition at the county level or or something else.

Um, but but I am offended as a Georgia Tech graduate at just the lack of the lack of technical rigor, I think that um underlies that specific provision.

And I just hope that the legislature, the federal government, everybody just gets off our backs.

All right, Mr.

Baden.

Tough act to follow.

Um obviously this is a historic election this year.

We're all aware of it.

Um, you know, I won't belabor the points that are made by some of the other individuals here, but you know, the fight for secure elections, you know, election integrity and election security are crucial.

And um, you know, a lot of that comes from engagement.

A lot of that comes from seeing what's going on with our elections.

A lot of that comes from people that are engaged like yourself.

So thank you very much for attending.

Uh no matter your stance, we appreciate you coming and showing up today in person.

Uh if anybody's watching at home, this is a nearly packed room.

So that's very impressive.

I've been going to a lot of government meetings uh all my career, and I very rarely see a room this full.

Uh, but thank you all for attending, and I look forward to seeing you next month.

Thank you.

Ms.

Lee.

Well, I would like to thank the staff and the director uh for finding all these polling places and uh moving people around.

It's quite an undertaking.

Um and also I want to thank the people that brought up the concern about ice at the polls.

I think that is a valid concern of a lot of people.

And so uh I hope we will be addressing that.

And that's all.

Thanks.

Thank you, everyone.

I I actually don't want to belabor this.

I appreciate all of our, I'm gonna echo everything that everyone has said.

Thank you to the public for being here.

I also want to thank our staff, our legal team um as always for providing excellent support.

And just to remind everybody that I am old enough to remember when elections were not were at when when running the elections were really not a partisan um effort.

And I really just hope we can get back to that because um it's unfortunate that we have to deal with um policy uh being made by fiat, and um hopefully um as we learn more about how much it'll cost to implement um some of uh these um policy decisions made at the legislative at the legislature, um folks will understand that that we need to be a little more thoughtful about how we think about elections, how we operationalize them.

Um so with that, I'm gonna get off my soapbox and ask for a motion to adjourn.

So moved.

Second.

Thanks.

All in favor.