Forsyth County Board of Voter Registrations & Elections  Regular Monthly Meeting July 11, 2023 at9 a.m. 1201 Sawnee Drive Cumming, Georgia 30040  Forsyth County Voter Registrations & Elections Office  MINUTES  Present at the meeting: Joel Natt, Vice Chairman Carla Radzikinas, Secretary Dan Thalimer, Assistant Secretary Anita Tucker, Member Mandi Smith, Director  Stephen Joyce, Coordinator - Voter Registration and Absentee Bryce Wilson, Coordinator - Communications and Training Jamain Whyce Coordinator Elections EqupmentWarehouse  Carol Balcome, Assistant to the Director Ken Jarrard, Jarrard & Davis Absent from the meeting: Barbara Luth, Chairman  I.  Call Meeting to Order  Vice Chairman Natt called the meeting to order at 9 a.m.  II.  Pledge of Allegiance III. Adoption of Agenda  Member Tucker with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a motion to adopt the agenda as published. Motion carried 4-0 with Chairman  Luth absent. IV. Adoption of Minutes  A. Regular meeting of June 6, 2023    Member Tucker with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a motion to adopt the minutes as prepared by staff. Motion carried 4-0 with  Chairman Luth absent.  V. Old Business  A. Parks and Recreation Architectural Design Liaison update There were no updates from Secretary Radzikinas or Director Smith. B. Discussion of evaluation of precinct and polling places  Director Smith stated on precincts and polling places for the 2024 election cycle staff is doing some additional research sO there is no update at this time. She said there are some changes that need to be made to the municipal precinct lines for the City of Cumming. There have been two parcels annexed into the City that will affect five voters. These voters are currently in the 16-Otwell precinct and will be moved into the 07-Cumming Director Smith said she will prepare the legal notice with the precinct lines changes and will run it twice in the newspaper. She said the board will vote on the precinct line changes at the September 5, 2023 regular Vice Chairman Natt asked Director Smith if the City was aware of the deadlines for annexations in regard to precinct lines. Director Smith said they were aware of the deadlines and they can continue to annex but we would not be able to meet the deadlines for advertising to amend the precinct lines prior to their general election in November. Assistant Secretary Thalimer with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to approve the calendar for the legal notice and board approval of the change in the City of Cumming precinct lines. Motion Director Smith reported City Clerk Honea said the City of Cumming was receptive to a discussion regarding possible changes to the City of Cumming Advance Voting location for the 2023 Municipal General Election and to possible changes for Election Days in 2024. Director Smith said one option is to conduct Advance Voting for the November 7, 2023 Municipal General Election at the Elections Office instead of City Hall. Regarding Election Day during the 2024 election  precinct.  meeting.  carried 4-0 with Chairman Luth absent.  cycle, Director Smith proposed the following:    Option 1: continue to hold Election Day voting for the 07-Cumming precinct at City Hall. Need to review the plan for voter parking. Option 2: relocate the Election Day polling place from City Hall to the Cumming Recreation and Parks facility on Pilgrim Mill Road. Option 3: divide the 07-Cumming precinct into two precincts. One precinct tov vote at Cumming City Hall and the other precinct to vote at Cumming Director Smith stated no changes to the IGA would be needed to Director Smith said she will be attending the Cumming City Council meeting on Tuesday, July 18, 2023 to be available for discussion when the council discusses these proposed changes. Vice Chairman Natt asked Member Tucker said she did not like the option to split the 07-Cumming  Recreation and Parks.  implement any of the proposed changes.  that Chairman Luth also attend the meeting.  precinct into two precincts. C.D Discussion of 2024 budget  Director Smith reported she had attended the last Finance Committee Meeting finalizing the 2024 budget. Director Smith reported there were no changes made toi the operating expenses and she was assured we would get the resources needed for poll workers to run the elections. Vice Chairman Natt asked how Finance came up with the amount of income from qualifying fees. Director Smith stated she budgeted a lower  number, but the number was increased by Finance.  VI. New Business  A. Discussion of Board of Registrations & Elections Bylaws  Director Smith stated she had provided the board an original version of the bylaws and a red-lined version that added language regarding the Board of Registrations and Elections legislation that was approved during the Member Tucker asked attorney Jarrard if we should include in the bylaws procedures if the Director is out of the office for an extended period. She  2023 legislative session.  said she has read bylaws from other counties.    Attorney Jarrard said the bylaws are an organizational document for the board and not usually staff. He said his initial reaction is that it should not go in the bylaws, but he would be open to reviewing other county bylaws. Vice Chairman Natt stated when this board was created in 1987, Forsyth and some other counties had their board chair and superintendent as their Director Smith asked Attorney Jarrard if there could be procedures for the board separate from the bylaws. Attorney Jarrard said yes there can be Member Tucker asked if the bylaws will be put on the website once approved. Director Smith said they currently not on the website but will be Assistant Secretary Thalimer with a second from Member Tucker made a motion for Director Smith to make any necessary changes to the bylaws and publish on next month's agenda for a vote. Motion carried 4-0 with  director.  separate procedures.  put on the website once approved.  Chairman Luth absent.  VII. Director's Report  Director Smith and staff presented the Director's Report.  Voter Registrations & Elections Department  Director's Report July 11, 2023  Board Members  House Bill 776 seeking to amend local law amendments regarding the Forsyth County BRE was passed by both the House and the Senate in the 2023 session. HB 776 (Act 319) was signed by the Governor on May 3, 2023. This legislation does not change the current term end/start dates for BRE members. The new start dates will be June 30, 2027 and June 30, 2029, respectively. This legislation becomes effective on July 1, 2023. Changes in BRE pay will be reflected in the July 14, 2023 paycheck. House Bill 837 was dropped on March 27, 2023 to amend the provisions relating to the start and end date of BRE members as it was set in HB 776. HB 837 will come before Judge Weeks-Marisko will be administering the oaths of office to Vice Chairman Natt  the General Assembly in next year's session. and Member Tucker at the September 5, 2023 meeting.  Board Member Barbara Luth Joel E. Natt  Party Chief Registrar & Chairperson Republican  Took Office 4/2/2019 7/1/2021 2/3/2015 9/1/2019  Current  Current 6/30/2025 8/31/2023  Term Start Term End    Anita Tucker Dan Thalimer  Democratic Democratic  3/1/2022* 9/1/2019 4/4/2016 9/1/2021 9/1/2021 9/1/2021  8/31/2023 8/31/2025 8/31/2025  Carla Radzikinas Republican *Filled the unexpired term of Randy Ingram  Staff  Current filled statt/positions: 11 full-time (0 unfilled) and 8 part-time (0 unfilled). Legislation pending/approved bills)/Change to Election Code/State Election The SEB (State Election Board) held their June 20 and June 21, 2023 meetings. The summary from these meetings are not posted as of. July 3, 2023. The SEB calendar lists August 1, 2023 as their next meeting dates. The public notice and agenda have not been posted as of July 3, 2023. The Director attended a regional meeting with other county election officials and two SEB members on Thursday, June 15 in Rabun County. The topics of discussion were recent legislation and the impacts on election offices throughout  Board (SEB)  the state. Election Information  2023 possible Election Dates (from the SOS comprehensive calendar)  March 21: Special Election to fill a vacancy and/or propose a question*  April 18: Special Election Runoff** June 20: Special Election to fill a vacancy" July 18: Special Election Runoff** September 19: Special Election to fill a vacancy" October 17: Special Election Runoff** Municipal General Election  August 21 through August 23: Candidate Qualifying for the City of Cumming  November 7: General Election / Special Election*  December 5: General Election Runoff/Special Election Runof**  *Special Election, ifneeded **Runoff, ifneeded  2024 Election Dates (dates calculated internally; SOS has posted with some outstanding questions regarding events that fall on holidays) March 4-8: Candidate Qualifying for the May 2024 General Primary March 12: Presidential Preference Primary May 21: General Primary June 18: General Primary Runoff November 5: General Election December 3: General Election Runoff  Polling Places and Precincts  Polling place visits and mock election equipment setups continued during the month of June. Staff visited Big Creek Elementary school to review the setup and use of the facility for the possible June 2024 General Primary Runoff. Staff continue to research the    possibility of adding polling places and/or amending existing precinct lines. Proposed changes to municipal precinct lines for the City of Cumming were presented to the BRE  int today's meeting.  Ethics Reporting/Candidate Qualifying  Campaign Contribution Disclosure Reports (CCDR) for local elected officials were due on June 30, 2023. There is a 5-day grace period for filing a CCDR. Personal Financial Disclosure Reports (PFDS) were due on July 1, 2023. There is no grace period for filing Open Records Request(s) (ORR) Number in parenthesis indicates the number  a PFDS.  from the same month last year  #r received b/w 06/01 - 06/30/2023 3 (3)  2023 Cumulative 2022 Cumulative 2021 Cumulative Budget/Finance Voter Registration  20 109 48  The Director attended a Finance Committee meeting on June 14, 2024. The Committee assured the Director that all departmental needs will be met in 2024. The transition in statewide voter registration systems from ENet to GARVIS continues. Staff continue to process some voter registration applications. Staff is primarily processing in-county address/name/other changes. Based on several issues staff continues to process a minimal amount of new and transfer voter registration applications. The Secretary of State (SOS) releases updates to the system regularly and staff communicates issues we encounter. SOS has also conducted Q&A Webinar sessions that provide county election officials a timeline for expected updates to GARVIS on a regular basis. Procedures are being updated to reflect the layout and workflow of GARVIS. Some List Maintenance activities continued during the month of June. The SOS notified county election officials on Friday, June 7 of their plans to conduct list maintenance activities byi issuing confirmation notices to voters for no activity through two general elections (NGE) and for no contact. The SOS reports their target date for mailing NGE notices is the week of July 24 and the target date for issuing no contact notices is  the week of July 31.  Voter Registration Statistics by Status: As of June 30, 2023  Countywide Total registered voters:  177,350 (173,485) 164,562 (160,710) 12,788 (12,775) 4,033 3,763 270  Active voters: Inactive voters: Active voters: Inactive voters:  City of Cumming Total registered voters:    Pending voters Total: Pending age Pending verification Pending 40-day clock Pending 26-month clock Challenged voters Total: Felon Voter challenge Cancelled voters Total: Deceased Felon Hearing Mentally Incompetent Moved out of county Moved out of state Not verified Voter requested Notes: Update.  62 13 6 26 17 290 54 236 269 142 0 127 0 ** 0 0 0 0  No Activity for 2 General Election cycles  List maintenance activities resumed in the month of April as the SOS has made additional updates to GARViS. More detail is provided in the Voter Registration  **Statistics not included as we are not currently able to produce the reports needed to generate these statistics. The SOS team has provided regular updates with all county offices on the improvements being made to GARVIS. Improvements on all reports has  been identified on the "Up & Coming/ennancements to GARViS.  Election Equpment/Supples  Routine charging and inventory oft the touchscreens and printers are in progress. Any pieces of election equipment identified needing possible repairs or additional attention willl be handled accordingly upon the completion of the charging/nventory process. Charging and inventory of ballot scanners and UPS units will be conducted next.  Poll Pads (160) have been updated with the following: iPados operating system version 16.5. Poll Pad Application 3.4.  The state of Georgia has certified the above updates for the 2023 election cycle. SEB  183-1-12-.14 S&T/Software/Hardware Building Update Disaster Recovery Training/Outreach    Preparations for outreach activities are finalized. Staff has plans to setup a table at various events and are available to attend other events in the future. New Poll Worker Preview Sessions are to begin in July. Our office is working on a poll worker manual in addition to planning and updating our training for the upcoming  elections. July 13 July 26 August 3 August 9 August 10 August 18 August 24 September 7 September 12 September 20 September 25  Calendar for Poll Worker and Outreach Upcoming Events  Outreach Event at Central Park Recreation Center New Poll Worker Preview Session New Poll Worker Preview Session New Poll Worker Preview Sessions Outreach Event with Forsyth County Libraries Outreach Event with Senior Services New Poll Worker Preview Sessions New Poll Worker Preview Sessions New Poll Worker Preview Sessions New Poll Worker Preview Sessions New Poll Worker Preview Sessions  Calendar of Upcoming Events  August 1 August 21-23: Election September 4 September 5 September 5 October 3 November 7 November 10 November 14 December 5  Board Meeting  Candidate Qualifying for the City of Cumming Municipal General  Labor Day; county holiday; offices closed  Board Meeting Board Meeting Election Day Board Meeting Board Meeting  Swearing in of Vice Chairman Natt and Member Tucker Veteran's Day; county holiday; offices closed  November 23 &24 Thanksgiving; county holiday; offices closed December 25 &26 Christmas; county holiday; offices closed  Respectfully Submitted, Mandi Smith  Director, Voter Registrations and Elections  Member Tucker asked Coordinator Whyce if the Secretary of State's Office had been here to conduct their health check. Coordinator Whyce said they were here last week and conducted part of the health check and will return by the end of the month to complete the remainder of the health check. Vice Chairman Natt asked Director Smith if there was an update from the state on the UPS batteries. Director Smith said the ball is in the state's court  and there are no updates.    Vice Chairman Natt asked Director Smith if staff had considered church family days for outreach events. Director Smith said she would definitely look into Member Tucker asked if people were signed up for the poll worker preview sessions. Coordinator Wilson stated 15 had signed up for the July 26 session  that for future outreach.  and others had signed up for future sessions.  VIII. Recess Regular Meeting IX. Executive Session (if needed)  There was no need for an Executive Session.  X. Adjournment  Assistant Secretary Thalimer with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to adjourn at 9:40 a.m. Motion carried 4-0 with Chairman  Luth absent.  The above and foregoing minutes are hereby certified as being correct and ordered  recorded. Today's Date: BBs Barbara Luth, Chairman Dicnet atend meting Joel E. Natt, Vice Chairman hllhn Radzikinas, Secretary BI76 Thalimer, Assistant Secretary Anita Tucker, Member AIh  August 1, 2023 Ltll  Carla  Daniel