Forsyth County Board of Voter Registrations & Elections Forsyth County Voter Registrations & Elections Office  Regular Monthly Meeting April 2, 2024at9a a.m. 1201 Sawnee Drive Cumming, Georgia 30040 MINUTES  Present at the meeting: Barbara Luth, Chairman Joel Natt, Vice Chairman Carla Radzikinas, Secretary Anita Tucker, Assistant Secretary Dan Thalimer, Member Mandi Smith, Director Carol Balcome, Assistant to the Director Karen Pachuta, Jarrard & Davis Call Meeting to Order  I.  Chairman Luth called the meeting to order at 9 a.m.  II.  Pledge of Allegiance III. Adoption of Agenda  Secretary Radzikinas with a second from Member Thalimer made a motion to adopt  the agenda as published. Motion carried unanimously.  IV. Adoption of Minutes  A. Regular meeting of March 5, 2024  Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Assistant Secretary Tucker made a motion to adopt the minutes as prepared by staff. Motion carried unanimously.  B. Called meeting of March 12, 2024  Assistant Secretary Tucker with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to adopt the minutes as prepared by staff. Motion carried unanimously.  C. Called meeting of March 18, 2024  Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to adopt the minutes as prepared by staff. Motion carried unanimously.    V. Public Comments  The following persons addressed the Board:  Frank Schneider Anita Erickson Deborah Stair James Hendrix Linda Hendrix  (all speakers were Forsyth County residents)  VI. Old Business  A. Recap of March 12, 2024 Presidential Preference Primary  Director Smith reported she is finishing the reconciliation reports and is moving Assistant Secretary Tucker asked Director Smith if any challenged voter tried to Vice Chairman Natt asked Director Smith if she would provide him the cost of the PPP. Assistant Secretary Tucker asked the Director to also include  on with her preparations for the next election. vote in the PPP. Director Smith stated they did not.  uncompensated overtime in her costs.  B. 2025 Budget  Director Smith stated the deadline to submit the 2025 budget is April 10. She also said we will present the budget to the Budget Finance Team on April 29. Vice Chairman Natt asked Director Smith if she will be including in the budget the two countywide elections next year for the Public Service Commission. Director Smith stated she was planning to include these elections in the 2025 budget. A discussion from the board followed regarding poll worker compensation. C. Discussion of May 21, 2024 General Primary. and NonPartisan General  Election  1. Logic and Accuracy testing  Director Smith said the notice to begin logic and accuracy testing of the equipment to be used in the election ran in this past weekend's edition of the Forsyth County News. She said the ballot proofing process is complete but we do not have the ballot to begin testing. We are scheduled to start testing on Friday, April 5 contingent upon receiving the ballot    package. Staff may begin testing this weekend or Monday depending on  when our office receives the ballot package. 2. Early opening of absentee ballots  Director Smith said she wanted to keep this item on the agenda for a future decision. She said the early opening of the absentee ballots went well for the PPP and she would like to open absentee ballots as early as is appropriate for the May 21 General Primary and Nonpartisan General  Election.  3. Risk Limiting Audit  Director Smith said with certification of the election being held one day later she anticipates the audit will take place May 30 and 31. Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Member Thalimer made a motion that per 0.C.6.A21-2-498 any ballot type cast in the election, i.e., ballots cast during Advance Voting, on Election Day, absentee by mail, UOCAVA or provisional that are not included in the statewide audit will be supplementally audited at the discretion of the BRE. Member Tucker stated it will be an unofficial audit. Motion carried unanimously.  VII. New Business  There was no New Business.  VIII. Director's Report  Director Smith presented the Director's Report.  Voter Registrations & Elections Department  Director's Report April 2, 2024  Board Members readers. Board Member Barbara Luth Joel E. Natt Anita Tucker Carla Radzikinas Dan Thalimer  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. The status of HB 837 as of April 1, 2024 continues to be: House second  Party Chief Registrar & Chairperson Republican Democratic Republican Democratic  Took Office Current 04/02/2019* 07/01/2021 02/03/2015* 09/01/2023 03/01/2022* 09/01/2023 04/04/2016* 09/01/2021 09/01/2021 09/01/2021  Current Term End 06/30/2025 06/30/2027 06/30/2027 08/31/2025 08/31/2025  Term Start    *Filled the unexpired term of outgoing member  Staff  Current filled staft/positions: 91 full-time (2 unfilled), 4 part-time (4 unfilled) and 3i interns. Legislation pending/approved bills)/Change to Election Code/State Election Board (SEB) Multiple pieces ofl legislation regarding elections passed ini this year's legislative session.  The next SEB meeting date has not been announced.  Election Information  May 21, 2024 General Primary and NonPartisan General Election  Logic & Accuracy testing of the election equipment: starting April 5, 2024 Advance Voting schedule (as was voted on by the BRE int the 06/06/23 BRE meeting)  Voter Registration deadline: April 22, 2024 Elections Office ONLY  Week 1:04/29/-05/03, M-F Saturday: 05/04 Sunday: 05/05 Week 2: 05/06-05/10, M-F Saturday: 05/11 NO Voting: Sunday, 05/12 Week 3: 05/13-05/17, M-F M-F: 8. a.m. to 6p p.m. Sat/Sun: 8 a.m. to 5p p.m. Absentee Ballot drop box days, hours and location Forsyth County Elections Office March 41 through May 10  Elections Office, Hampton Park Library, Sharon Springs Park, Midway Park  Voting hours:  Same days and hours as the Advance Voting days and hours. Timeline for submitting absentee ballot applications (for civilian voters): Mailing ballots: Monday, April 221 through Friday, May 10  Timeline fori issuing absentee ballots for military and overseas voters per the VOCAVAA Act  No earlier than April 2 (49 days prior to Election Day) and no later than April 6, 2024 (45 days  prior to Election Day  Early opening of absentee ballots: to be discussed at at future meeting Certification of election results: Tuesday, May 28, 2024 9:00 a.m. at the Forsyth County Elections Office Risk limiting audit (RLA) as required per GA Election Code  May 301 through May 31  Candidate Qualifying  Candidate Qualifying for the May 21, 2024 General Primary & Nonpartisan General Election and for Independent candidates for the November 5, 2024 General Election took place between Monday, March 4 and Friday, March 8, 2024. Both the Democratic and Republican Parties manned a table at our facility and  conducted candidate qualifying at the Elections Office.    Qualified candidates statistics + qualifying fees allotted to the Department:  5candidates qualified with the Democratic Party 16candidates qualified with the Republican Party  $1671.76 o $11,969.87 $8626.48 $252.00  2candidates qualified with the Elections Office for nonpartisan contests  1candidate submitted thei first set of paperwork to qualify as an Independent candidate for the  November General Election ballot  Nomination petitions can bet filed with the Elections Office between June 24 and July 9, 2024  Total candidate qualifying fees allotted to Elections department: $22,520.11  Polling Places and Precincts and' Redistricting  The March Presidential Preference Primary (PPP) was the first election where voters voted at the new polling places on Election Day. Outreach efforts will continue for each election this year to educate voters on the changes. The May 21 General Primary & Nonpartisan General Election will be thei first election voters will: see  the change in U.S. Congressional district (from 06 to 07) on their ballot.  Department of Parks and Recreation Building were complete in time for the PPP. Ethics Reporting /Candidate Qualifying  We are grateful to all involved persons for ensuring the renovations at Sawnee Mountain Park Community  Campaign Contribution Disclosure Reports (CCDR) Candidates and elected officials who qualified for a local contest during this year's candidate qualifying period, March 4 - 8, 2024, are classified as 'being in. their election year." Those in their election year will follow the State Ethics Commission Election Year schedule. Elected officials who did not qualify to run for an office in 2024 are in their non-election year and will follow  the State Ethics Commission Non-Election Year schedule.  2024CCDR Due Dates: Election Year  January 31 April 30 June 30 September 30 October 25 December 31 June 30 December 31  five-business day grace period five-business day grace period. five-business day grace period five-business day grace period. five-business day grace period five-business day grace period. five-business day grace period five-business day grace period.  2024 CCDR Due Dates: Non-flection.Year  Personal Finance Disclosure Statements (PFDS) are financials reports for the previous calendar year. PFDSS  do not have a grace period. 2024 PEDS Filing Period: Election Year 2024 PEDS Filing Perlodi.Non-lection/ear  January 1,2024-1 15 days after the dayt the candidate qualifies to run for office    January 1,2024-July1,2024  Open Records Request(s)(ORR) #r received b/w 03/01/2024 - 03/31/2024  Number in parenthesis indicates the number. from  thes same month last year 2 (8) 10 51 109 48  2024 Cumulative 2023 Cumulative 2022 Cumulative 2021 Cumulative Budget/Finance 29, 2024. Voter Registration  The 2025 budget kickoff meeting is scheduled for March 14. The deadline to submit budget requests is April 10. Our department is currently on the calendar to present our budget to the budget committee on April  Voter Registration Statistics by Status: As of April 1, 2024  Countywide Total registered voters:  178,283 (177,305) 161,739 (163,899) 16,544( (13,406) 4,391 3,941 450 249 131 50 28 40 44 44 0 107 82 3 0 0 Not available 22 0 0 0  Active voters: Inactive voters: Active voters: Inactive voters: Pending voters Total: Pending age Pending verification Pending citizenship 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:  City of Cumming Total registered voters:  Pending msinymnompete/mored information  No Activity for 2 General Election cycles  **An MOC report is not currently available in GARViS.  Election Equpment/Supplies    Routine charging and inventory of touchscreens and printers are in progress. Routine charging of ballot Logic and Accuracy (L&A) testing of the election equipment to be used ini the May 21, 2024 General Primary and Nonpartisan General Election is scheduled to begin on April 5, 2024. Public Notice of L&A testing was published in the Forsyth County News the weekend of March 30 and has been posted to our department's  scanners and UPS units are ongoing.  website.  54TSofiwarelMardware Building Update Disaster Recovery Training/Outreach Training (01/10- - 03/28)  Poll worker statistics for March 12, 2024 Presidential Preference Primary:  291 total training sessions 97.5 hours spent in training 1357 seats filled during training Advance Voting and Election Day  412 poll workers attended at least one training session  731 positions filled during Advance Voting between 311 number of poll workers  292 poll workers worked on Election Day  One one-on-one training session was held for an assistant manager.  Two poll management recap sessions were held with poll management to hear feedback on their  experience.  Abig' Thank you!" to all the people who served as a poll worker during the PPP!! oft the State oft the County address on Thursday, March 29, 2024.  The Director and Communications Supervisor manned at table during the 'coffee and conversations' portion We are actively recruiting poll workers fort the May General Primary and Nonpartisan General Election. Outreach days have been scheduled for the next 2 weeks with assistance from poll management. Training dates are being finalized and will be: sent to the BRE by the end oft the week.  Calendar for Poll Worker and Outreach Upcoming Events  Communications  Information about the upcoming election will continue to be posted to our department website. The Communications Department will continue to push content through their social media platforms to inform voters of the upcoming election. Updates to our billboard postings continue through the election cycle to  highlight Advance Voting and Election Day voting.  Calendar of Upcoming Events events that fall on holidays) Election  2024 Election Dates (dates calculated internally; SOS has posted with some outstanding questions regarding March 4-8: Candidate Qualifying for the May 2024 General Primary and Nonpartisan General  March 12: Presidential Preference Primary    May 21: General Primary & Nonpartisan General Election June 18: General Primary Runoff November 5: General Election & Special Election December 3: General Election Runoff  2024 May 7 May 27 June 4 July 2 July4 4 August 6 September 2 September3 October1 November 11 November 12 December 10  BRE regular monthly meeting Memorial Day; county holiday; offices closed BRE regular monthly meeting BRE regular monthly meeting Independence Day; county holiday; offices closed BRE regular monthly meeting Labor Day; county holiday; offices closed BRE regular monthly meeting BRE regular monthly meeting Veteran's Day; county holiday; offices closed BRE regular monthly meeting BRE regular monthly meeting  November 28 &29 Thanksgiving; county holiday; offices closed December 24&25 Christmas; county holiday; offices closed  Respectfully Submitted, Mandi Smith  Director, Voter Registrations & Elections IX. Recess Regular Meeting X. Executive Session (if needed)  No Executive Session was needed.  XI. Adjournment  Member Thalimer with a second from Assistant Secretary Tucker made a motion to  adjourn at 9:32 a.m. Motion carried unanimously.  The above and foregoing minutes are hereby certified as being correct and ordered recorded.  Today's Date:  May 7, 2024  Blal Barbara Luth, Chairman a    Ciu Badzikas Carla Radzikinas, Secretary ATb 87  Assistant Secretary  Dan Thalimer, Member