Cobb Plans In-Person Voting Procedures for Upcoming Elections 5-11-20

Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration Held a Board Meeting on 5-11-20 

Meeting Highlights from 5-11-20

Cobb Polling locations will practice social distancing by spacing machines and limiting people inside. Stylus and voting cards will be cleaned between each vote.

There is a backlog on the application process with a 1-2 day turnaround. The county has processed over 123,000 ballot applications and 12,000 ballots have been returned for the upcoming election. 

There are five in-person voting locations with hours from 8:00 am to 6:00 pm, reduced from 10 locations. Voting locations can be found here. 

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

These meetings are open to the public by Georgia law.

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Notes from Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration Meeting 5-11-20

Notes from this meeting were taken by an attendee. For more information, contact Cobb BOER at 770-528-2581. 

Minutes  from three meetings approved: 2/10/20, 3/13/20, and 3/26/20.

There will be 3 elections on June 9

1. Presidential Primary-If you voted back in March your vote is secure. You won’t need to vote a second time.
2. General Primary –EVERYBODY VOTES
3. Nonpartisan General Election

You can select a ballot when you vote in person(Democratic, Republican, Non-partisan)

If you select a party ballot, it will include the presidential primary race (if you haven’t already voted in March). If you have already voted in March, it will include the general primary race.

Fun Facts

1. We have processed over 123,000 ballot application
2. A little over 12000 ballots have been returned for the June 9 election

They’re coming in a bunch everyday and we are still holding on to about 16000 from the presidential primary in March.

In Person Voting

1. May 18 will start in person voting.
2. Wait time will be impacted by social distancing and sanitation procedures. We had to reduce the number of location and hours for advance voting
3. We anticipated opening 10 locations including the main office but we have reduced that to five with hours from 8am to 6pm and its because all of those locations we weren’t able to staff. A lot of those people were simply not comfortable working under those conditions.
4. Voters and equipment will be spaced out so everything is 6ft apart. There will be limited number of people in polling place so that we can comply with the CDC guidelines.
5. Poll workers will be supplied masks and gloves and we also will have sanitizer and cleaning spray for surfaces. Others are asked to PLEASE wear masks when voting in person. Each voter will receive a stylus and voting card will be cleaned between voters. We are also offering tissue as a low tech option that the voter can use to hold on to the voter.
6. We are also encouraging ABSENTEE BALLOT. They are available on the website to download. If not you can call and we will mail you one. Absentee ballots can be returned by mail, dropped off or hand delivered.
7. The signature on the Absentee Ballot oath has to match the one that is in the voter registration record. Voters will be contacted if there happens to be a mismatch. This will give voters the opportunity to cure the situation.

Backlog

Application Rate Process: 1 to 2 days turnaround. Some are problem ones but we work with the voter to correct the info. Some are elderly and disabled and we are having to make copies so that we will have their application for the rest of the election. Right now the backlog for the elderly and Disabled is about 8000. The staff was not issuing  first they were making copies . So now  we can make copies after we issue it. Other than that it’s a daily turn around. So we receive anywhere between 3000 to 4000 and it’s processed daily.

Question Will wearing a mask be enforced?

A: People can still vote without wearing masks but we encourage that voters wear them.

Additional Info

1. We can currently open ballots at 7am on election day if we advertise it. Must be monitored and sequestered. Lawyers are looking into making that even earlier with the volume of ballots that have to be opened up.
2. If you are looking at MVP and you’re seeing your ballot hasn’t been received AND the time frame doesn’t seem right, THEN you should call in and see what they delay is. IF you don’t receive your ballot after checking with us…..There is a cancel ballot affidavit and vote in person. If it so happens to be election day you can do it at the polling place.  

4 Ballot Dropbox Locations

1. South Cobb Government Center: 4700 Austell Road, Austell, GA 30106
2. East Cobb Government Center: 4400 Lower Roswell Road, Marietta, GA 30068
3. North Cobb Regional Library: 3535 Old 41 Hwy NW, Kennesaw, GA 30144
4. Main Office: 736 Whitlock Avenue, Marietta, GA 30064

Meeting Adjourned