Press "Enter" to skip to content

Chatham County Board of Elections Meeting 09/14/20

Meeting Highlights

  • Some board members cite multiple problems surrounding the hand recount
  • The county has a new equipment warehouse

Meeting is called to order

  • There is a discussion on the table about another precinct.
  • It is noted that it cannot be used for the election if approved 
  • What would happen if one of our locations says we can’t use them?
  • We would have to find an emergency site.

Approval of Minutes

  • Typo was found found where cache is spelled cash

Approved with adjusted spelling

Treasurer’s Report

  • The board is uncomfortable with approving this report as is.

Motion to Table

  • Tabled

House 163 recount using new system

  • Using a minimum of 3 people a recount team under the new system (county chose to use 4).
  • Vote choice announced by democratic appointee. 
  • Counters are not told their batch size prior to receiving it.
  • Once counted the results are announced to tally makers.
  • The biggest hurdle in this was early voting batches which were about 3000 per batch.
    • Because of this a  proper count was not obtained September 4th and had to be done at a later date.
  • Today we have an incomplete results list.
    • A one vote reduction was observed
  • Did we give daily tally counts to the county?
    • No
  • Was there a meeting about the results?
    • Yes
  • This is interesting as I have concerns about that. I heard the meeting was cancelled
  • We meet with the candidates. We did not, however, have further discussions.
  • One Member notes that there are major issues with planning and the chain of command.
  • Some board members disagree and state that they believe the county did well considering that this was uncharted territory. 
  • The board member disagrees and notes she saw many problems including a poll watcher told to leave during the recount. Notes they need to be more transparent.
  • I don’t believe a poll watcher was told to leave.
  • I have the video of them being told to.
  • The board now talks over her to move on
  • As of last week 106 New Poll Workers. 50 more will be trained this week
    • We are hiring more because staff is currently overwhelmed so the county is hiring extra poll workers.
  • Poll clerk training begins today.
  • 800-900 workers estimated
  • The county is currently reviewing intake and staffing numbers. We would like to recommend cleaners due t5o coronavirus and workers to service the lines. We also recommend workers to service parking lots.
  • The county is planning to send voter cards early to get ahead of the curve.
    • One member notes that there are several locations that were not changed which have issues she’s noted before.
  • How many poll workers and technicians do we need?
    • I do not have an exact number currently. I will be able to tell you within a day or so.
  • We need a team on hand to process ballots daily to get ahead during this election.
    • We also need to keep in mind that the election must be certified within 10 days.
  • When can we expect job criteria online?
  • It should already be there.
  • We need to have dedicated ballot watchers at each site because many do not know you have to SCAN your ballot after it is printed for your vote to be counted.
  • We need to encourage the public to get sample ballots through my voter page. 
    • We can’t now produce a composite ballot
  • Ballot mailing has not yet begun. It will start at the end of this week. 
  • The state is helping to ensure proofing goes more smoothly.
  • Currently reviewing inventory and number of voters and substituting equipment. 
    • There will be extra election processing stations. 
    • We will have a cache box to help us store information.
  • We got the keys to our new warehouse last week.
    • We are also requesting to hire a firm to handle our marketing
  • A board member noted that this should have been discussed with other members also obtaining bids. She regards this as reckless spending. Her concerns are not echoed by the board.
  • It is noted that this is $4,200.

Motion made to accept using the firm.

Passed 3-1

Meeting Adjourned


Did you know that the public can attend Board of Elections meetings? 

These meetings are open to the public by Georgia law. Feel free to take notes or record meetings. Read more here: Georgia Open Meetings Act.

Learn more about attending Board of Elections meetings as a Peanut Gallery Volunteer Monitor by attending our next training on the 4th Tues. of the month at 6pm. Sign up Here.

Be First to Comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

The Georgia Peanut Gallery is an initiative of the New Georgia Project.