DeKalb County Board of Registration and Elections Meeting – March 16, 2026
DeKalb County Board of Registration and Elections Meeting – March 16, 2026
The DeKalb County Board of Registration and Elections met on March 16, 2026, at 5:00 PM to certify the March 10 special election, set early voting hours for the April 7 runoff, and decide on ballot questions for the primary. The board also received a legislative update and heard public comments.
Consent Calendar
- Agenda: Approved with a change to add item 5C (decision on ballot questions). Unanimous.
- Minutes: Approved unanimously.
Public Comments & Testimony
- Cheryl Dudley (resident of unincorporated DeKalb, historian): Quoted President Johnson’s 1965 voting rights speech, urging the board to uphold equal access to voting and criticizing mass voter roll purges.
- Michael Beach (poll manager): Praised the new online training for poll workers and thanked the board for engagement at the state capitol. Expressed concern about SB 214 (in-person absentee voting) and urged continued pressure to keep it sensible.
- Beth Ann Phillman (activist): Thanked staff for finding an early voting location between Tucker Library and Memorial Drive. Requested regular voter registration updates at each meeting and suggested pop-up early voting sites at college campuses, citing Fulton County’s example.
Discussion Items
- Certification of March 10 Special Election: Director Smith presented the post-election report. Total registered voters in the district: 18,047 active (over 20,000 including inactive). Ballots cast: 1,658 (9.19% turnout). Election day: 799 votes; early voting: 841; absentee by mail: 18. No in-person provisional ballots. Three provisional absentee ballots were cured; one rejected absentee was cured. Six polling locations on election day with 43 poll workers. The board certified the election unanimously.
- Early Voting Times and Locations for April 7 Special Election Runoff: Staff recommended three locations: Memorial Drive, Read and Trotty Library, and New Bethel AME Church, with Monday through Thursday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. (Friday is a state holiday). Staff noted low weekend turnout in the previous election (e.g., Memorial Drive had 19 voters in the first week, cost per voter $460). Board member Swift proposed adding weekend voting, consistent with past practice. After discussion, the board voted unanimously to approve early voting from March 28 through April 2, including Saturday March 28 (9 a.m. – 6 p.m.) and Sunday March 29 (12 p.m. – 5 p.m.), in addition to Monday–Thursday hours.
- Ballot Questions:
- Democratic Party: Four questions submitted. Approved as a slate unanimously.
- Republican Party: Three questions submitted. Legal counsel advised that question three — “Did you know that the Georgia Republican Party adopted a resolution that stated in part that Brad Raffensperger does not have the faith and confidence of the Georgia Republican Party?” — violated state law (OCGA 21-2-413(d) and 21-2-414(a)) and the board’s enabling legislation (2003 Ga. Laws 4200 §12) prohibiting electioneering and commentary on the ballot. The board voted unanimously to approve questions one and two and reject question three.
- Legislative Update: Legal counsel reported that SB 568 (hand count of ballots) failed to pass crossover; SB 214 (in-person absentee voting) passed but may become an omnibus bill. Other bills that did not pass: SB 573 (nonpartisan DA elections), SR 838 (constitutional amendment on citizenship and ID). House Resolution 2251 (nonpartisan election of probate judges) passed and may be placed on the November ballot if approved by the Senate.
Key Outcomes
- Certified the March 10 special election results (unanimous).
- Approved early voting for the April 7 runoff: three locations, Monday–Thursday 7 a.m.–7 p.m., plus Saturday March 28 (9–6) and Sunday March 29 (12–5) (unanimous).
- Approved Democratic Party ballot questions (unanimous).
- Approved Republican Party ballot questions one and two; rejected question three (unanimous).
- No executive session needed; meeting adjourned after board comments.
Meeting Transcript
Welcome everyone. Thank you for braving the rain to be out here. I'm calling this meeting of the DeCab County Board of Registration and Elections to order. I'll ask for the clerk to call the roll. Good afternoon, board members. When I call your name, please respond by saying here. Vasuavi Rahman. Here. Travis Bowden. Here. Gil Lee. Here. Dele Lohman. Here. Carly Swift. Here. We have a quorum. Thank you. Next, I'll ask for a motion to approve the agenda with one change. So moved. Second. I'll announce a change. Um the change that I'm asking for is uh for an item to be added as 5C, so under items for decision. Added decision on ballot questions. And so moved. Second. All right. All in favor. Aye. Aye. All right, that's unanimous. I'll entertain a motion to approve the minutes. So moved. Second. Second. All in favor. Aye. All right. We'll move on to public comment. We have three in person. Any online comments today? Okay. So three in person is it. First, we have Cheryl Dudley. Public comment may be made in person or by submitting any email of one printed page or less at a minimum of 12 fonts. So elections public CCMT at DeCab County GA.gov, which must be received between 35 and five minutes before the schedule 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 in minutes. The DeCab Board of Registration and Elections reserves the right at the board's sole discretion to add your email into the record or minutes without reading any of it into the broadcast, or read all or a portion of your email into the record or minutes. I'll put the comment must be limited to two minutes.
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