Oconee County Board of Elections and Registrations Meeting 2/4/2020

Oconee County Board of Elections and Registrations Meeting 2/4/2020 at 10 Court Street – Board Room

The following includes brief notes taken by a Peanut Gallery volunteer as a public service only. Contact the Oconee County Board of Elections for questions or official information.
Agenda
Call to Order
Approval of January 7, 2020 MinutesIII.

Unfinished Business
Polling Site Updates
Candidate Qualifying
Municipal Intergovernmental Agreements to be amended Voting equipment

New Business
Election equipment demos
Poll worker training

Director’s Report
Registration Totals
Office Activities Attended Oconee County Republican meeting with Secretary Brad Raffensperger on Monday, January 27, 2020.

Upcoming Events
Qualifying Poll worker training
Public Comments

Notes from Volunteer Attendee about Polling location changes addressed in 2-4-20 Oconee County Board of Elections and Registrations Meeting
Polling place (or places) being moved – During the Oconee BOER meeting on 2/4/20 the board voted to move the Colham Ferry voting place out of the precinct and into the neighboring Antioch precinct based on concerns that if there ever was a lock down in the school it might be hard to get voting hours extended. Or if there were ever a protest, school might get nervous. The electrical inspection for this location yielded it could only hold 4 new machines vs the old 5. The precinct has 1,718 voters. The new location had already been picked and the public notice had been sent to the paper prior to vote as they said they could have had it removed before print on 2/6 if the board voted no.
1) The move is outside the precinct and 2.4 miles further to go for the those furthest out in the existing Colham Ferry precinct. The furthest voter now travels 11.3 miles to vote when it was 8.9 before.
2) As the move is to a building outside the Colham Ferry Precinct, there are 90 days of required notice. This puts the public notice of this move in the papers starting 2/6. This is before the March presidential primary and the precinct will not be moved until MAY primaries.

The timing of the notices by law create a confusing issue of alerting the public of a moved voting place for May, but alerting them RIGHT before a March primary when they still need to be at the OLD location.

Public comments about precinct move: J. Mornhinweg – whether intentional or not, precinct moves can cause voter suppression. My own precinct was moved in the fall. My new voter’s registration card did not arrive with my husband’s. It wasn’t until I looked through a pile of junk mail that I found it wedged into a coupon book by the mail carrier. The only reason I looked was because I go to meetings and expected it and because my husband had one. Because these cards are not 100% effective notification, I asked the board to assure me and the public that the Board would do their best to minimize voter suppression with the following suggestions:
1) Put signs at the Poplar Springs Church during the voting hours for the March Primary telling voters to STILL go to the Colham Ferry Location. Board agreed.
2) Put a sign on the exit door of Colham Ferry School on March primary day telling voters to go to the Poplar Springs Baptist Church for May and November votes. Yes- the board said they were planning to do this already.

Oconee County 3-20 Published in The Oconee Enterprise
Notice of Election Day Polling Location Change for Colham Ferry Precinct
Pursuant to O.C.G.A. 21-2-265, the Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration hereby notifies all voters assigned to the Colham Ferry Elementary School Precinct, located at 190 Colham Ferry Rd. Watkinsville, GA 30677, that the new Election Day Polling location will be Poplar Springs Baptist Church, located at 2700 Colham Ferry Rd., Watkinsville, GA 30677. This change will be effective May 19, 2020.
Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration at 10 Court Street, Watkinsville, GA 30677. Fran Leathers Director Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration 10 Court Street Watkinsville, GA 30677 706-769-3958