Forsyth County Board of Voter Registrations & Elections Regular Monthly Meeting and Certification of the election results for the November 7, 2023 City of Cumming Municipal General Election Forsyth County Voter Registrations & Elections Office  November 14, 2023 at 9 a.m. 1201 Sawnee Drive Cumming, Georgia 30040  MINUTES  Barbara Luth, Chairman 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 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  Vice Chairman Natt requested New Business B - Gwinnett County be added Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to adopt the agenda as amended. Motion carried unanimously.  to the agenda.  IV. Certification of November 7, 2023 City of Cumming Municipal General  Election  A. Absentee Ballot Report  Director Smith stated there were ten absentee ballots requested and issued. She said there were eight absentee ballots returned and tabulated  on Election Night. 1.  UOCAVA Ballot Report    Director Smith reported there were no UOCAVA ballots issued for  this election.  B. Review of Provisional Ballot(s)  Director Smith reported there were no provisional ballots issued for this  election.  C.F Processing of Provisional & UOCAVA Ballots  There were no absentee or provisional ballots to process for certification.  D. Certification of Election Results  Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a motion to certify the November 7, 2023 City of Cumming Municipal General Election results as recorded with 506 total ballots cast  with the following:  City Council, Post 3, Oran Joey Cochran (I) - 420 votes City Council, Post 4, Christopher Light () - 418 votes City Council, Post 5, Susie Charles-Carr - 333 votes City Council, Post 5, Linda Ledbetter (I) - 170 votes  Motion carried unanimously.  V. Adoption of Minutes  A. Regular meeting of October 3, 2023  Assistant Secretary Thalimer with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to adopt the minutes as prepared by staff. Motion carried  unanimously.  B. Called meeting of November 7, 2023  Assistant Secretary Thalimer with a second from Vice Chairman Natt made a motion to adopt the minutes as prepared by staff. Motion carried  unanimously.  VI. Old Business  A. Parks and Recreation Architectural Design Liaison update  Secretary Radzikinas stated the Parks & Recreation Department projects are generally now handled by the Capital Projects Department. She said    the Capital Projects Director will give Director Smith monthly updates that going forward will be included in the Director's Report. This Old Business  item will be removed from future agendas. Discussion included in New Business A.  B. Discussion of evaluation of precinct and polling places  VII. New Business  A. Consideration of changes to precinctand polling places starting with Director Smith presented the Board with an updated PowerPoint that had been previously presented to the Board of Commissioners (BOC). The  the 2024 election cycle  highlights of the presentation are as follows:  Concord Baptist Church (27-Concord) is no longer able to serve as a Hope Fellowship (proposed 51-Matt; retired 27-Concord) can serve as Browns Bridge Church (proposed 50-Browns Bridge) can serve as a Relocation of polling place from Cumming City Hall to Cumming Proposed changes increase the number of Election Day polling places Proposed changes remove 2 current polling places and add 3 new Approximately 37,000 registered voters will be reassigned to a different Director Smith stated these proposed precinct line changes do not change Vice Chairman Natt asked Director Smith if the proposed change in precinct lines will reduce the number of combos. Director Smith said it will Director Smith said a press release regarding the precinct and polling place changes was sent out by Communications and the information and Director Smith said the proposed change in polling locations will come before the BRE for a vote on December 5 and the precinct line changes  polling place ap polling place polling place  Recreation & Parks Department Event Center  from 28 to 29 polling places  Election Day precinct/polling place any districts or voter representation.  eliminate two combos in the 07-Cumming precinct.  ap public input opportunity is on our webpage.    will be voted on by the BOC on December 7. She said once the changes have been approved it will take a couple of weeks to enter the changes in the statewide voter registration system. She also said every affected voter Vice Chairman Natt requested a report from staff at next month's meeting regarding the impact of the changes on equipment and poll worker  will get a new precinct card.  headcount. New Item Added: B. Gwinnett County  Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Member Tucker made a motion to formally send condolences to their Gwinnett County peers regarding the loss of one of their board members. Motion carried unanimously.  VIII. Director's Report  Director Smith and staff presented the Director's Report.  Voter Registrations & Elections Department  Director's Report November 14, 2023  Board Members  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 Vice Chairman Natt and Member Tucker were sworn in for their next term at last month's  the General Assembly in the 2024 session.  BRE meeting. Board Member Barbara Luth Joel E. Natt Anita Tucker Dan Thalimer  Party  Took Office  Current  Current  Term Start Term End  Chief Registrar & Chairperson Republican Democratic Democratic  04/02/2019* 07/01/2021 06/30/2025 02/03/2015* 09/01/2023 06/30/2027 03/01/2022* 09/01/2023 06/30/2027 04/04/2016* 09/01/2021 08/31/2025 09/01/2021 09/01/2021 08/31/2025  Carla Radzikinas Republican *Filled the unexpired term of outgoing member  Staff interns.  Current filled staff/positions: 11 full-time (0 unfilled), 6 part-time (2 unfilled) and 3    Legislation pending/approved bills)/Change to Election Code/State Election The next SEB meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, December 5, 2023. 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  Board (SEB) Election Information  November' 7, 2023 City of Cumming Municipal General Election  The City of Cumming Municipal General Election took place on Tuesday, November 7, 2023. Cumming City Hall was open for voting on Election Day from No provisional ballots were cast during Advance Voting, during absentee by mail balloting or on Election Day. There are no outstanding absentee ballot cures. Ballots cast: 8 absentee by mail, 357 during Advance Voting, and 141 ballots cast Certification of the election results takes place today during this meeting. Note: the deadline to validate provisional ballots and to cure absentee ballots per O.C.G.A. 21-2-386 and 2-2-419 was Friday, November 10, 2023. Due to the Veteran's Day holiday on Friday, November 10, 2023 these deadlines are moved by operation of law to Monday, November 13, 2023. The deadline to certify the election per O.C.G.A. 21-2-493 is Monday, November 13. Because of provisional ballot validation and absentee ballot curing extensions make the certification deadline impossible to meet, the deadline for counties to certify election results is also extended by 24 hours to Tuesday, November 14, 223 at 5 p.m. by operation oflaw. This change is at the direction of the Attorney General's office and the SOS  7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.  on Election Day.  office.  Polling Places and Precincts  The proposed precinct and polling place changes effective starting with the 2024 election cycle have been finalized. The proposed changes were reviewed with the Board of Commissioner's (BOC) on October 24, 2023. The changes will be discussed in today's BRE meeting. The legal notice of the proposed changes was published in the Forsyth County News on November 1 and November 8. A public input form is posted on our website and will be available until December 4. The BRE will vote oni the proposed polling place changes on December 5 and the BOC will vote on the proposed precinct line changes on December 7, 2023. Asummary of the proposed changes is as follows:  A portion of the voters currently assigned to the 04-Chestatee precinct will be  reassigned to the proposed new precinct of 50-Browns Bridge.    Ap portion of the voters currently assigned to the 05-Coal Mountain precinct will be reassigned to either 16-Otwell precinct or to the proposed new precinct of 50- AP portion of the voters currently assigned to 06-Crossroads precinct will be reassigned to either 05-Coal Mountain precinct, 42-Keith Bridge precinct, or to the A portion of the voters currently assigned to 07-Cumming precinct will be reassigned to either 16-Otwell precinct or 43-Lakeland precinct. The polling place for the 07-Cumming precinct will relocate from Cumming City Hall located at 100 Main St, 30040 to Cumming Recreation & Parks Facility Event Center located at A portion of the voters currently assigned to the 16-Otwell precinct will be reassigned to either 07-Cumming precinct, 44-Lanier precinct, or to the proposed The precinct name 27-Concord" will be retired, and Concord Baptist Church located at 6905 Concord Rd, 30028 will no longer serve as an Election Day polling place. The voters currently assigned to the 27-Concord precinct will be reassigned to 05-Coal Mountain precinct, 06-Crossroads precinct, or the proposed new Ap portion of the voters currently assigned to the 42-Keith Bridge precinct will be A portion of the voters currently assigned to the 44-Lanier precinct will be The proposed new precinct of 51-Matt will be created by reassigning voters from the current 27-Concord precinct. The polling place for the proposed new precinct The proposed new precinct of 50-Browns Bridge will be created by reassigning voters from the following current precincts: 04-Chestatee, 05-Coal Mountain, 06- Crossroads, 16-Otwell, 42-Keith Bridge and 44-Lanier. The polling place for the proposed new precinct of 50-Browns Bridge is Browns Bridge Church located at The proposed changes will increase the number of Election Day polling places The proposed changes will remove two current polling places and add three new The proposed changes will reassign approximately 37,000 of Forsyth County's more than 177,000 registered voters to a different Election Day precinct/polling  Browns Bridge.  proposed new precinct of 50-Browns Bridge.  437 Pilgrim Mill Rd, 30040.  new precinct of 50-Browns Bridge.  precinct of 51-Matt.  reassigned to the proposed new precinct of 50-Browns Bridge. reassigned to the proposed new precinct of 50-Browns Bridge. of51-Matt is Hope Fellowship located at 6230 Matt Hwy, 30028.  3860 Browns Bridge Rd, 30041.  from 28 to 29. polling places. place.  Estimated breakdown by precinctofvoters impacted by proposed changes Current! Precinct Proposed Precinct  Estimated Total    04 Chestatee 05 Coall Mountain 160twell 050 Coal Mountain 501 Browns Bridge 06 Crossroads 060 Crossroads 06 Crossroads 07Cumming 070 Cumming 160 Otwell 160twell 160 Otwell 270 Concord 27Concord 27Concord 42 Keith Bridge 441 Lanier 07Cumming*  50 Browns Bridge 05Coall Mountain 421 Keith Bridge 501 Browns Bridge 160 Otwell 43L Lakeland 441 Lanier 07 Cumming 501 Browns Bridge 05Coal Mountain 06 Crossroads 51Matt 501 Browns Bridge 501 Browns Bridge 07 Cumming*  877 3738 1606 775 1181 39 1032 522 255 4238 2512 2823 1806 7404 852 1610 6193 37463  Estimatedi number ofr registered votersi impacted byproposed precinct andj polling place changes *Thep precinct willr not changei fort the voters already assignedt to 07-Cumming. however, thep polling placet willo change.  Polling place visits and mock election equipment setups continued during the month of October. Staff visited Hope Fellowship Church and Lanier United Methodist Church to review the setup for use of the facilities as an Election Day polling place during the 2024  Election Cycle.  Ethics Reporting /Candidate Qualifying  Open Records Request(s) (ORR) Number in parenthesis indicates the number  from the same month last year  #re received b/w 10/01 - 10/31/2023 6 (13)  2023 Cumulative 2022 Cumulative 2021 Cumulative Budget/Finance Voter Registration  46 109 48  All voter registration applications that met the October 10, 2023 deadline were entered into GARVIS. Voter Registration activities will resume later this month after certification  of elections that occurred on November 7, 2023.    As discussed in last month's BRE meeting, our office mailed confirmation notices on September 28, 2023 to 4,327 Forsyth County voters due to National Change of Address (NCOA). There are two types of NCOA confirmation notices: moved out of county and moved out of state (2,279 Out of County, 2,048 Out of State). The NCOA clock is set to expire on Friday, November 17, 2023. Voters who have not responded to this notice by the expiration date will be moved from active to inactive status. The voters on these lists will not be removed from the voter rolls. Any updated activity such as completing a voter registration application, voting, or responding to the confirmation notice will update the On September 11, approximately 2,154 voters were mailed a Cross State Confirmation Notice. These voters have had more recent contact with a voter registration office or Department of Driver Services in another ERIC (Election Registration Information Center) participating state. On October 21, 2023, approximately 1,598 voters were moved to inactive status because of not responding to the Cross State confirmation notice.  voter's record to active status.  Voter Registration Statistics by Status: As of October 31, 2023  Countywide Total registered voters:  177,642 (176,314) 163,442 (161,967) 14,200 (14,347) 4,223 3,879 344 194 143 27 14 10 365 0 365 1099 102 177 0 0 **350 469 2537 0 1  Active voters: Inactive voters: Active voters: Inactive 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:  City of Cumming Total registered voters:  No Activity for 2 General Election cycles    **MOC Totals are as of October 30, 2023. MOC Report is currently generated by SOS  office, not County Staff. Election Equipment/Supplies  Routine charging and inventory of the touchscreens and printers are in progress. The two pieces of equipment that required additional attention referenced in last month's meeting have undergone the necessary repairs and were returned to our office on October 26 after having undergone the required acceptance testing by the SOS.  S&TISoftware/Hardware Building Update  The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) assessment of our facility was conducted on October 18. Two members of DHS conducted the assessment and were hosted by  the Director and Board Member Tucker.  Disaster Recovery Training/Outreach  Training poll workers for the 2023 City of Cumming Municipal General Election was completed on Tuesday, October 10, 2023. Two Election Fundamentals Training and two 42 poll workers worked during the 2023 City of Cumming Municipal General Election Four virtual Deputy Registrar Training sessions were held for high school teachers to On Friday, October 20, Director Smith and Coordinator Wilson spoke at a Youth On Saturday, October 21, Director Smith, Coordinator Wilson and two office staff members attended Trunk or Treat hosted by the Forsyth County Fire Department. On Tuesday, October 31, all staff participated in the first annual pumpkin carving contest On Wednesday, November 8 and Monday, November 13, Director Smith and Coordinator Wilson spoke at a Teen Advisory Board session at the Post Road and Cumming Library. On Thursday, November 9, Director Smith, Coordinator Wilson, and two office staff members attended a Defensive Driving class hosted by Forsyth County. Staff continue to work on planning and training for the upcoming elections. The Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials (GAVREO) annual training for the 2024 election cycle is scheduled for December 10 through December 13, 2023. The Director and two Coordinators plan to attend in person; BRE members plan  Management Trainings were held. during Advance Voting and on Election Day.  become deputized as Deputy Registrars for their respective schools.  Leadership Forsyth meeting.  hosted by the County. Our pumpkin submission was awesome.  to attend in person or virtually.  Calendar for Poll Worker and Outreach Upcoming Events  Calendar of Upcoming Events  November 14 November 14 December 5 December 5  Board Meeting Board Meeting Board Meeting  Election certification for 11/07/23 Municipal General Election  November 23 &24 Thanksgiving; county holiday; offices closed    December 25 &2 26 Christmas; county holiday; offices closed  2024 January 1 January 15 May 27 July 4 September 2 November 11  New Year's Day; county holiday; offices closed Martin Luther King Jr Day; county holiday; offices closed Memorial Day; county holiday; offices closed Independence Day; county holiday; offices closed Labor Day; county holiday; offices closed Veteran's Day; county holiday; offices closed  November 28 &29 Thanksgiving; county holiday; offices closed December 24 &25 Christmas; county holiday; offices closed  Respectfully Submitted, Mandi Smith  Director, Voter Registrations and Elections  Member Tucker asked Director Smith if the schools need any assistance with their voter registration drives. Director Smith said our office provides their designees with the required Deputy Registrar training. They are trained that April is designated as the time to hold voter registration drives in schools, but they can certainly hold them any time. Additionally, most registrations at Vice Chairman Natt asked Director Smith if we will continue to host the Democratic and Republican party for qualifying since our room will be used for Advance Voting in March. Director Smith said she still plans to offer to host qualifying for both parties in a smaller area of the room.  schools are now submitted electronically.  IX. Recess Regular Meeting  Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to recess the regular meeting at 9:47 a.m. to enter into Executive Session to  discuss pending litigation. Motion carried unanimously.  X. Executive Session (if needed)  Chairman Luth called the Executive Session to order at 9:47 a.m. Executive Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Chairman Luth made a motion to resume the regular meeting at 10:20 a.m. Motion carried unanimously. Vice Chairman Natt stated no votes or decisions by the Board were made  Session was adjourned at 10:20 a.m.  during Executive Session.  XI. Adjournment    Vice Chairman Natt and the rest of the Board expressed their gratitude to Stephen Joyce for all of his hard work while in employed in the Voter Registrations & Elections Office and wished him well in his new endeavor in Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Member Tucker made a motion to  Gwinnett County.  adjourn at 10:27 a.m. Motion carried unanimously.  The above and foregoing minutes are hereby certified as being correct and ordered  recorded. Today's Date: Bales L h Aooent Barbara Luth, Chairman Joel E. Natt, Vice Chairman  Cah higbws Carla Radzikinas, Secretary 1BT0 Daniel Thalimer, Assistant Secretary Cblsbr Anita Tucker, Member  December 5, 2023  hmatiw