Forsyth County Board of Registrations & Elections November 8, 2022 General Election and Special Election  Certification Meeting November 15, 2022 at 12:30 p.m. Voter Registrations & Elections Office 1201 Sawnee Drive Cumming, GA 30040  MINUTES  Present at the meeting: Barbara Luth, Chairman Joel Natt, Vice Chairman Carla Radzikinas, Secretary Dan Thalimer, Assistant Secretary Anita Tucker, Member Mandi Smith, Director  Jamain Whyce, Coordinator - Elections Equpmentarenouse Stephen Joyce, Coordinator- - Voter Registration and Absentee Bryce Wilson, Coordinator = Communications and Training  Carol Balcome, Assistant to the Director Karen Pachuta, Attorney, Jarrard & Davis Jerry Marinich, Vote Review Panel Allen Simon, Vote Review Panel Wilma Turner, Vote Review Panel Call Meeting to Order  I.  Chairman Luth called the meeting to order at 12:30 p.m.  II. III.  Pledge of Allegiance Adoption of Agenda  Secretary Radzikinas with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a motion to adopt the agenda as prepared by staff. Motion carried unanimously.  IV.  UOCAVA Ballot Report  Director Smith stated there were 12 UOCAVA ballots received by the deadline. Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Member Tucker made a motion to accept the 12 UOCAVA ballots and begin tabulating the ballots. Motion carried  unanimously.    Director Smith provided an absentee ballot update. She stated on Election Night there was a difference in ballots scanned as compared to voters marked of5 5 ballots. She reported there were two yellow oath envelopes that did not contain a ballot and three ballots were left in security envelopes. Director Smith said those three ballots will be scanned and tabulated today. Director Smith reported there were 10 absentee ballots that will be processed today because the voter submitted the cure by the deadline. Director Smith also reported there were 13 rejected absentee ballots because of an insufficient oath. She said one was a UOCAVA ballot. Director Smith said all voters were sent a letter and were contacted by phone and email if their contact information was available. These voters failed to submit the appropriate  cure form by the deadline. Review of Provisional Ballot(s)  V.  Director Smith presented the Board with the first set of provisional ballot voters. This is a list of 47 provisional ballots shown as #9-55 coded as Out of Precinct (OP). These are voters who are registered to vote in Forsyth County but who voted at a different polling location other than their assigned polling location after Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Member Tucker made a motion to accept and duplicate provisional ballots #9-55 based on staff recommendations. Motion carried unanimously. Staff started the process of duplicating these ballots.  5p.m. on Election Day.  Director Smith presented the board with the list of Challenged provisional ballots #1-7. Director Smith said none of the voters signed the residency affirmation as they were not in a position to affirm their address as registered as their residence address. She reported voters for ballots #1-6 provided a change of address form for a different in-county address. She said the voter for ballot #7 provided a change of address form for an out of county address. Member Tucker with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a Vice Chairman Natt asked Director Smith if the addresses provided changed the districts. Director Smith said the list shows the old and the new precinct and Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Secretary Radzikinas amended the motion to allow the voters to cast votes for the races in which they are eligible based on the precinct and combo for the address on the change of address Member Tucker asked Attorney Pachuta whether the National Voting Rights Act (NVRA) allows voters to vote at their old address if they change their  motion to accept ballots #1-6.  combos.  form.    address. Attorney Pachuta said they can vote at their old address within 30 days of changing their address. Vice Chairman Natt said NVRA is specific to Federal races. He said there should be concern regarding a state house race, a  school board race and a county commission race.  The motion to amend carried 4-1 with Member Tucker opposed. The main motion as amended carried unanimously.  Member Tucker with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a motion to accept the federal and state races for ballot #7. Motion carried Director Smith said the voter for ballot #8 is in a cancelled status due to a challenged voter hearing. The voter's record was cancelled in June after the BRE voted to cancel the record on June 7, 2022 pursuant to an O.C.G.A. 21-2- 229 challenged voter hearing. Director Smith said a voter registration application was submitted at the time of the provisional ballot and that address  unanimously.  on the change form is listed.  The voter for provisional ballot #8 addressed the board.  Member Tucker with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a motion to accept the ballot for voter #8. Motion carried unanimously. Director Smith stated #56 was an out of precinct provisional ballot cast at 7:40 a.m. on Election Day. She said the voter was advised of the rules that allowed av voter to vote out of precinct only after 5 p.m. but the voter chose to cast a Member Tucker with a second from Assistant Thalimer made a motion to reject Director Smith said the next group of ballots #57-60 are all out of precinct after 5p.m. but also completed a change of address from with a different in-county Member Tucker with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a motion to accept ballots #57-60 for the federal and statewide elections. Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to separate the votes on the four ballots. Motion carried unanimously.  provisional ballot.  ballot #56. Motion carried unanimously.  address.  Member Tucker withdrew her original motion.  Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to accept ballot #57 for federal, state and countywide races. Motion carried  unanimously.    Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to accept ballot #59 for federal, state and countywide races. Motion carried  accept ballot #58. Motion carried unanimously.  unanimously.  Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to accept ballot #60 for federal, state and countywide races. Motion carried  unanimously.  Director Smith said ballot #61 was cast as an Out of Precinct right at 7 p.m. and the voter is registered in Dawson County. She said the address provided on the Member Tucker with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to Director Smith said ballot #62 was from a poll worker whose name was inadvertently marked as voted during Advance Voting. Secretary Radzikinas with a second from Member Tucker made a motion to accept ballot #62. Motion carried unanimously. Director Smith presented ballots #63-67 listed as Photo Identification Required (PI). Director Smith said these voters did not have photo identification when they voted and needed to present photo identification to the office in order for their ballot to be counted. She stated none of these voters provided ID by the Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to reject ballots #63-67 because the voters did not provide ID before the deadline. Director Smith stated voters did provide photo ID before the deadline for ballots Member Tucker with a second from Vice Chairman Natt made a motion to Director Smith presented the list of PR ballots. She said these voters have a good faith belief they should be on the voter rolls but do not appear on the voter Member Tucker with second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a motion to handle the PR ballots one at a time. Motion carried unanimously. Director Smith said the voter for ballot #71 should be registered in Forsyth County but a clerical error was made on the street name and the voter was  change of address form is a different Dawson County address.  reject ballot #61. Motion carried unanimously.  deadline.  Motion carried unanimously.  #68-70.  accept ballots #68-70. Motion carried unanimously.  rolls.  taken by another county.    Member Tucker with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a Director Smith said for ballot #72 the voter said he had changed his registration to Forsyth County earlier this year. Another county processed an application with an earlier date of last contact and had the same clerical error on the street Member Tucker with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a Director Smith said ballot #73 had a similar issue with street names. She said another county took the registration in error and registered the voter at the Member Tucker with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a Director Smith reported the voter for ballot #74 was transferred in error to another county and was registered with the wrong street name. Member Tucker with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a motion to accept ballot #74. Motion carried unanimously Director Smith reported the voter for ballot #75 was transferred in error to Secretary Radzikinas with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a Director Smith said the voter for ballot #76 should be registered in Forsyth County but a clerical error was made on the street name and the voter was Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a Director Smith said for ballot #77 an older registration was processed in another county after a more current registration was processed in Forsyth Member Tucker with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a Director Smith shows no record of registration on the DDS or OLVR dashboard Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to  motion to accept ballot #71. Motion carried unanimously.  name.  motion to accept ballot #72. Motion carried unanimously.  wrong street name.  motion to accept ballot #73. Motion carried unanimously.  another county.  motion to accept ballot #75. Motion carried unanimously.  taken by another county.  motion to accept ballot #76. Motion carried unanimously.  County for the same voter.  motion to accept ballot #77. Motion carried unanimously.  for ballot #78.  reject ballot #78. Motion carried unanimously.    Director Smith said for ballot #79 the voter claims to have selected DDS MVC on 9/16/2022 to have her registration updated with the Secretary of State's Office. MVC shows the last update in 2019 in Fulton County. Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Member Tucker made a motion to accept ballot #79 for federal and state races only. Motion carried unanimously. Director Smith reported for ballot #80 the voter claimed to have registered to vote at the Post Road Library in June 2021. The library records show the voter declined to register to vote. Director Smith said there were no records on the Secretary Radzikinas with a second from Vice Chairman Natt made a motion to Member Tucker made a motion to amend the motion to accept ballot #80 for federal and state races only. There was no second to the motion. The original motion carried 4-1 with Member Tucker opposed.  DDS or OLVR dashboard. reject ballot #80.  Director Smith said the voter for ballot #81 has a pending-incomplete address registration in Fulton County. She also said the voter submitted an online registration here in Forsyth County on November 7, 2022. reject ballot #81. Motion carried unanimously.  Secretary Radzikinas with a second from Vice Chairman Natt made a motion to Director Smith said the voter for ballot #82 believe he had timely registered to vote in Forsyth County. Director Smith said there was an online registration Secretary Radzikinas with a second from Member Tucker made a motion to Director Smith said there was no record of registration for the voter of ballot Member Tucker with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a Director Smith said the voter of ballot #84 is not registered and there are no Secretary Radzikinas with a second from Member Tucker made a motion to Director Smith said the voter of ballot #85 reported she registered to vote at the Peachtree Corners Library. Director Smith said we have no records of  submitted November 8, 2022.  reject ballot #82. Motion carried unanimously.  #83.  motion to reject ballot #83. Motion carried unanimously.  records on our dashboards.  reject ballot #84. Motion carried unanimously.  registration on our dashboards.    Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to Director Smith said the next provisional ballots are all from Precinct 16. Director Smith reported ballots #86-90 are true out of precinct ballots. Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Secretary Thalimer made a motion to accept ballots #86-90: If the combos match accept the entire ballot and if they don'tmatch accept the federal and state races. Motion carried unanimously. Director Smith said the voter for ballot #91 said his wife is registered at the correct location and he should have been registered as well. Director Smith Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a Director Smith reported the voter for ballot #92 thought he registered at the Registrar's Office. She said there is no record of registration at our office or on Member Tucker with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a Vice Chairman Natt amended the motion to add countywide races. Motion  reject ballot #85. Motion carried unanimously.  said the voter submitted an address change form.  motion to accept ballot #91. Motion carried unanimously.  our dashboards.  motion to accept ballot #92 for federal and state races.  carried unanimously.  The main motion as amended carried unanimously.  Director Smith reported the reason section on the Out of Precinct Affidavit was Director Smith stated the poll worker wrote the same name on the outer envelope of the provisional ballot for ballots #93 and #94. Assistant Secretary Thalimer with a second from Member Tucker made a motion to accept ballots #93 and #94. Motion carried unanimously. Director Smith said the voter for ballot #95 said he changed his license when he moved to Cumming earlier this year. She said there is no record on our DDS or OLVR dashboard that the voter updated his voter registration when he Secretary Radzikinas with a second from Vice Chairman made a motion to Director Smith reported the reason section on the Out of Precinct Affidavit was  left blank for ballot #93.  moved here from another county.  reject ballot #95. Motion carried unanimously.  left blank for ballot #96.    Secretary Radzikinas with a second from Member Tucker made a motion to Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to recess at 1:44 p.m. for Director Smith to swear in the vote review panel. Motion  accept ballot #96. Motion carried unanimously.  carried unanimously.  Chairman Luth called the meeting back to order at 1:54 p.m. Processing of Provisional & UOCAVA Ballots Discussion of electronic poll books (Poll Pads)  VI. VII.  Staff continued the processing of provisional, absentee and UOCAVA ballots.  Director Smith reported the Secretary of State's Office has presented us with two opportunities. She said the cellular poll pads could be used during Advance Voting. Director Smith explained the current system used during Advance Voting: the laptops and poll pads do not talk to each other during Advance Voting and the new cellular poll pads will show all the voters in the state and no laptop will be needed. She also said it would reduce the amount of poll workers Director Smith said for the November 8 election this system was beta tested in 18 counties. She said the state has offered it to three more counties for the runoff and we are one of those three counties. She also said we were offered to change out the poll pads we use on election day for the cellular poll pads. Director Smith said the poll pads would work like we are used to them working the difference being that with cellular access the state as well as us could see Charmain Luth said she has talked to Director Smith several times regarding how staff feels about using the cellular poll pads. Director Smith said Advance Voting was a definite yes for her. She said she spoke with some other counties that used it in November and they had nothing but positive comments. Director Smith said she was on the fence about using the poll pads on Election Day. She said the state is going the implement the cellular poll pads for all counties Member Tucker asked Director Smith if we keep the new cellular poll pads. Director Smith said the Advance Voting poll pads come with a printer and for each voter record that is marked it stays on a printed roll. She said she chose to stay with the Advance Voting applications sO the printer tape can be audited Further discussion among the board occurred regarding the poll pads. Assistant Secretary Thalimer with a second from Member Tucker made a motion to follow the staff recommendation and use the cellular poll pads for  needed at the check-in station.  them almost in real time.  next year in February or March.  against the applications.  Advance Voting only.    Vice Chairman Natt said his party feels we should not change the components being currently used because changing equipment can change outcomes. He also said personally he feels there needs to be further checks and balances and he cannot support the change unless a full hand count audit is conducted Chairman Luth stated she would like to keep the Advance Voting applications The motion carried 3-2 with Vice Chairman Natt and Secretary Radzikinas Chairman Luth with a second from Vice Chairman Natt made a motion not to use the cellular poll pads on Election Day. Motion carried 4-1 with Member  post-election.  toa audit after the election.  opposed.  Tucker opposed.  VIII.  Discussion of December 6, 2022 General Election Runoff  Director Smith said preparations are underway and staff has worked hard to repack election supplies. She said we have 3200 rollover applicants for absentee ballots. Director Smith said there may be a need for additional poll worker training in order to bring on new poll workers to supplement the many workers who have indicated they are not able to work during the runoff.  IX.  Old Business  1. Discussion of the Forsyth County Board of Voter Registrations & The Board discussed the changes requested at the November 1, 2022 board meeting. Member Tucker asked Attorney Pachuta the timetable for the legislation. Attorney Pachuta said she would get the legislation to Attorney Jarrard to get on a Board of Commissioners' agenda and then it Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made ar motion to adopt the resolution as prepared by legal counsel. Motion Member Tucker stated the State Democratic Party of Georgia had dropped a lawsuit asking for voting on Saturday, November 26. She said there is Member Tucker with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made a Vice Chairman said there are plenty of lawsuits and some are irrelevant. He said you said yourself staff and poll workers are burnt out. Vice Chairman  Elections enabling legislation  would go to the local delegation.  carried unanimously.  conflict between laws.  motion to consider voting on Saturday, November 26.    Natt said we made a decision not knowing any possible changes in the law Member Tucker said college students will be in town and should be given an  in advance and we should not change that decision now.  opportunity to vote. The motion failed 2-3.  Secretary Radzikinas left the meeting.  2. Recap of November 8, 2022 General Election & Special Election Director Smith said everything went well and we had lots of positive feedback from the voters. Chairman Luth said staff did great.  3. Update on November 8, 2022 General Election risk limiting audit (RLA) Director Smith said notices have been posted and the audit will begin Thursday, November 17. She said the state has required the audit be Member Tucker asked Director Smith if there willl be a list of people observing. Director Smith said she is not required to have that information ahead of time and will get the information when observers arrive. She said all official monitors will have to wear badges while in the area where the Director Smith said our plan is to audit once sO we have met the state Vice Chairman Natt asked Director Smith how many poll workers we are bringing in for the audit. Director Smith said there will be 13 teams of two Member Tucker asked how members of the vote review panel will be in attendance. Director Smith said she asked for two from each party. Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Assistant Secretary Thalimer made ar motion to recess the certification meeting at 2:46 p.m. until absentee ballots are processed and convene the special called meeting. Motion  completed by end of day on Friday, November 18.  audit is taking place.  requirement and then count twice if we have time.  poll workers to start.  carried 4-0 with Secretary Radzikinas absent.  X.  Certification of Election Results  Chairman Luth called the meeting back to order at 4:48 p.m.  Chairman Luth and Vice Chairman Natt provided a review of the Official and  Complete Election Summary.    Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Member Tucker made a motion to accept the Certification Report and to transmit the report to the Secretary of State's Office. Motion carried 4-0 with Secretary Radzikinas absent.  XI.  Adjourn  Member Tucker with a second from Vice Chairman Natt made a motion to adjourn at 4:48 p.m. Motion carried 4-0 with Secretary Radzikinas absent.  The above and foregoing minutes are hereby certified as being correct and ordered  recorded. Today's Date:  December 13, 2022  Boek. ly Barbara Luth, Chairman  Vice Chairman ER  JoelE. Natt,  lila Bikykuas Carla Radzikinas, Secretary R21Z Daniel Thalimer, Assistant Secretary Tacbi Anita Tucker, Member