1. ROLL CALL
Karli Swift, Chair – not present
Vasu Abhiraman, Vice Chair – not present
Nancy Jester, Acting Chair – present
Susan Motter – present
Tony Lewis – present
2. APPROVAL OF AGENDA
Approved 3 – 0
3. APPROVAL OF MINUTES for June 24, 2024 Scheduled Meeting
Approved 3 – 0
4. PUBLIC COMMENTS
Gail Lee: claims a recent study found that, nationally,10% of all non-citizens are registered to vote. She claims Georgia DL don’t indicate whether the person is a permanent non citizen or a citizen. She advocates poll workers should make permanent non-citizens provide additional ID such as passports or vote provisionally. (Lee doesn’t say how poll workers would know whether a person is a permanent non-citizen or a citizen, since driver’s license look just like any citizens’ driver’s licenses.)
Bill Henderson: oRers to work for DeKalb Board of Elections for free to make updates to the voter database. He says he can supply a resume, sign oaths and NDAs, and be deputized.
5. ITEMS FOR DISCUSSION
A. Director’s Report (p. 4 of packet)
Director Keish Smith explains that DeKalb has Absentee Ballots and in-person BMD printouts that are sometimes one card (one page) and sometimes two cards (two pages), and this complicates simple discussions about “counting ballots” or “matching the number of ballots to the number of voters.”
The in-person votes themselves are preserved in the ICP (Precinct Scanners) and the Absentee votes are captured in the ICCs (Central scanners) and are unaRected by the number of sheets of paper.
Director Smith enumerates the number of voter registration updates and numbers of current voters:
Registered 578,675
Active 498,544
Inactive 80,131
Smith mentioned the oRice is working on including a Doraville annexation question on the November ballot, and the warehouse is conducting equipment maintenance. The Elections oRice is setting up an in-house print shop and has hired staR for it. They have hired a new deputy director to oversee communications, public aRairs and training and are advertising for several other positions. They are acquiring new oRice space and renovating existing spaces.
The department is working within its budget, although most of the budget will be spent in the fall for the General Election.
In August they will begin training people to train poll workers. Poll worker training should be completed by 9/28. There will be supplemental “Learning Management” material for those workers.
Mid-August DeKalb will have their “Exellence in Elections” training for staR, legal partners and state partners. Also in August will be a regional GAVREO conference where they will discuss best practices and share information.
DeKalb is training voter registrars and arranging voter registration events at MARTA station, colleges and universities. These should be publicized on their website. In August or September they, along with Truist Bank, will have “Banking Essentials” event for staR and the general public.
Lewis asks if Director Smith can get the information she just mentioned to BRE members in writing.
Motter agrees it is a lot of information and suggests Dir. Smith adopt a standard template covering voter roll processing that can be updated each month. She appreciates the detail of the budget and sees the department is staying within budget.
Jester concurs that the budget is in good shape and commends the Board of Commissioners for increasing funding for elections. But she wonders if $14 million will really be enough for the Fall election and says she would support Dir. Smith requesting more funds.
Jester says Dir. Smith should provide a report that breaks down the number of voters, number of cards (sheets of ballot paper), and related issues. She notes that in the recent primary, voters who chose an “Independent” ballot had just one card whereas those with party ballots had two cards. She says the director should make a diagram so the public can understand, for transparency.
Director Smith says the Fall ballot should be short for everyone, but that the number of cards is unrelated to tabulation of votes.
6. ITEMS FOR DECISION
A. Special Election || Doraville Annexation (p. 7)
Motter moves to call special elections to present questions to certain DeKalb County voters relating to the proposed annexation of unincorporated territory into the city of Doraville as set forth in SB 558 and SB 560.
Smith notes the election notice will appear in the Champion (legal organ) 7/25/24, 10/24/24, and 10/31/24 and on the ballot for the 11/5/24 election.
Passes 3 – 0
7. EXECUTIVE SESSION
NA
8. BOARD COMMENTS
Motter and Jester thank staR, county attorneys, stakeholders, and the public.
9. ADJOURNMENT
*These meeting notes were prepared by a volunteer
These meetings are open to the public by Georgia law.
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