Georgia Election Board To Investigate 8 Counties

The Georgia State Election Board (SEB) voted 3-0 Monday to investigate eight counties that are allegedly dismissing challenges to voter eligibility without conducting a proper investigation.

Democrat-appointed SEB member Sara Tindall Ghazal voted alongside Republican-appointed members Janelle King and Dr. Jan Johnston to request the board’s executive director, Mike Coan, investigate whether Athens-Clarke, Bibb, Cobb, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett and Jackson counties are improperly dismissing challenges to thousands of voters’ eligibility. Coan is expected to deliver a report on his findings during the next board meeting, which is slated for October 8.

Member Rick Jeffares was not present and therefore did not vote. Chairman John Fervier also did not vote.

The board said it would invite county election officials to the October 8th meeting for further inquiry.

DeKalb County Republican Party Chairwoman Marci McCarthy in particular alleged during Monday’s meeting that the DeKalb County Board of Registration and Elections (BRE) has dismissed challenges to the voter rolls without proper investigation of the challenges.

McCarthy cited a lawsuit (of which the DeKalb County GOP is a co-plaintiff of) filed by William Henderson alleging approximately 5,000 challenges to voter eligibility that are broken down into three categories: voters registered at non-residential addresses, voters who have moved to a different jurisdiction and have voted in said jurisdiction but nonetheless remain registered in DeKalb County, and voters who have had no contact with election authorities for more than a decade. McCarthy says a bulk of the challenges fall into the third category.

Henderson filed the challenges in August, McCarthy said. McCarthy argued Monday that the county failed “to consider or determine” at its Sept. 12 meeting the challenges brought forward. The DeKalb County BRE did pass a motion during that meeting declaring it would not remove voters from the lists within 90 days of the election, citing federal statute, McCarthy said.

The 1993 National Voter and Registration Act (NVRA) says that states “shall complete, not later than 90 days prior to the date of a primary or general election for Federal office, any program the purpose of which is to systematically remove the names of ineligible voters from the official lists of eligible voters.”

State law, however, has a more narrow window of 45 days before the election.

“Any challenge of an elector within 45 days of a primary, run-off primary, election, or run-off election shall be postponed until the certification of such primary, election, or runoff is completed,” state law says.

Henderson’s challenges were first brought in August, well within the 45-day state window.

Another individual from DeKalb County, whose name could not be confirmed due to an audio issue, informed the SEB that he submitted more than 100 challenges to voters on the rolls. These challenges included individuals allegedly born in 1900, as well as at least one person born in 2012. The individual claimed the county dismissed his challenges and provided no reason for doing so.

Individuals from several other counties reported that they had also submitted voter roll challenges in their counties that have allegedly been ignored by their county boards in recent months.

McCarthy told the board on Monday that voters are being “disenfranchised” by alleged dirty voter rolls.

“We cannot have voters disenfranchised due to this negligence and the unlawful actions of DeKalb County,” McCarthy told the SEB on Monday. “Election laws are in place for a reason and they must be enforced consistently to maintain our public confidence in our elections.”

For more election news and updates, visit electionbriefing.com.