Forsyth County Board of Voter Registrations & Elections Forsyth County Voter Registrations & Elections Office Regular Monthly Meeting October 1, 2024: at 9 a.m. 1201 Sawnee Drive Cumming, Georgia 30040 MINUTES Present at the meeting: Barbara Luth, Chairman Joel Natt, Vice Chairman Carla Radzikinas, Secretary Dan Thalimer, Member Mandi Smith, Director Carol Balcome, Assistant to the Director Karen Pachuta, Jarrard & Davis Absent from the meeting: Anita Tucker, Assistant Secretary 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 with a second from Member Thalimer made a motion to adopt the agenda as published. Motion carried 4-0 with Assistant Secretary Tucker absent. IV. Adoption of Minutes A. Regular meeting of September 3, 2024 Secretary Radzikinas with a second from Member Thalimer made a motion to adopt the minutes as prepared by staff. Motion carried 4-0 with Assistant Secretary Tucker absent. B. Special called meeting of September 16, 2024 Secretary Radzikinas with a second from Chairman Luth made a motion to adopt the minutes as prepared by staff. Motion carried 4-0 with Assistant Secretary Tucker absent. V. Public Comments The following persons addressed the board: Stephan Bartelski Claudine Destino Debbie Stair Linda Hendrix Edward Murray, Jr. VI. Old Business A. Discussion of November 5, 2024 General Election and Special Elections 1. Logic and Accuracy Testing Director Smith reported all the Advance Voting equipment has been tested and the equipment for 21 of the 29 Election Day precincts has been tested with no issues to report. 2. Early opening of absentee ballots Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Member Thalimer made a motion the early opening of absentee ballots should start no earlier than 9 a.m. on Saturday, November 2, 2024. Motion carried 4-0 with Assistant Secretary Tucker absent. 3. Early tabulation of absentee ballots on Election Day Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to start the early tabulation of absentee ballots on Election Day no earlier than 7a.m. Motion carried 4-0 with Assistant Secretary Tucker absent. 4. Risk Limiting Audit Director Smith stated the Secretary of State's Office will determine the second race to audit post-election. B. Discussion of SEB rule changes* The following persons addressed the board: Jan Crook-Hill Linda Hendrix Attorney Pachuta briefly reviewed the recently adopted SEB rules. Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Chairman Luth made a motion to set a special called meeting to be in compliance with the recently approved SEB rule on Friday, November 8, 2024 at 1 p.m. Motion carried 4-0 with Assistant Secretary Tucker absent. VII. New Business Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Chairman Luth made a motion to amend the agenda to add New Business A regarding a recently received challenge. Motion carried 4-0 with Assistant Secretary Tucker absent. Added to Agenda: A. Set hearing date for a challenge pursuant to O.C.G.A. 21-2-229 received September 23, 2024 with one name on the list Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Member Thalimer made a motion to set the hearing date for Tuesday, December 10, 2024. Motion carried 4-0 with Assistant Secretary Tucker absent. VII. Director's Report Director Smith presented the Director's Report. Voter Registrations & Elections Department Director's Report October 01, 2024 Board Members Board Member Barbara Luth Joel E. Natt Anita Tucker Carla Radzikinas Dan Thalimer House Bill 837 was not passed during the 2024 legislative session. Additional legislation to clarify the term start and end date of the BRE members will need to be considered during the next legislative session. 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 staff/positions: 11 full-time (0 unfilled) and 5part-time (1 unfilled). On Tuesday, September. 24, the Board of Commissioner's (BOC) approved ai time sensitive request to post two full-time Voter Registrations & Elections Specialist positions. These two positions are approved in the departments 2025 budget. This means the department now has 131 full-time positions and 6 part-time Legislation pending/approved bills)/Change to Election Code/State Election Board (SEB) The SEB held a meeting September 20, 2024 which continued on September 23. Several additional rules were approved in this meeting. The BRE has been provided with a copy of the approved rules in today's positions. meeting. Election Information November 5, 2024 General Election and Special Elections Special Elections SPLOSTIX The BRE held a special called meeting on July 29, 2024 to call the special election. The BRE will held a special called meeting on July 22, 2024 to call the special election. The BRE held a special called meeting on August 2, 20241 to call the special election. School district ad valorem tax homestead exemption (HB717) Redevelopment Powers Logic & Accuracy testing of the election equipment: start date is set for Friday, September 13, 2024. We are currently reviewing the ballot proofs and it is not known when we will have the ballot Advance Voting schedule (as was voted on by the BRE at their 06/06/23 BRE meeting) Elections Office, Hampton Park Library, Sharon Springs Park, Midway Park package. Voter Registration deadline: October 7, 2024 Week 1: 10/15-10/18, Tue-F (Monday, 10/14is is a state holiday - Columbus Day) Saturday: 10/19 Week: 2: 10/21-10/25, M-F Saturday: 10/26 NO' Voting: Sunday, 10/27 Week: 3: 10/28-11/01, M-F Monday to Friday: 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday & Sunday: 8 a.m. to 5p p.m. Sunday: 10/20 (Elections Office ONLY) Voting hours: Absentee Ballot drop box days, hours and' location (as was voted on byt the BRE at their 07/02/24 To follow the same schedule (voting days and hours) as set for Advance Voting Location: Elections Office, 1201 Sawnee Drive, Cumming, 30040 Timeline for submitting absentee ballot applications (for civilian voters): Mailing ballots: Monday, October 71 through October 25 BRE meeting) August 19 through October 25 Timeline fori issuing absentee ballots for military and overseas voters per the UOCAVAA Act Starts no earlier than Tuesday, September 17 (49 days prior to Election Day) and no later than Saturday, September 21, 2024 (45 days prior to Election Day) Last day to issue ballots to civilian and VOCAVA voters: Friday, October 25 Early opening of absentee ballots To be set by the BRE Certification ofe election resuits: Tuesday, November 12, 2024 along with the regular monthly meeting of the BRE1 to immediately follow public comments (as was voted on byt the BRE at their 07/02/24 BRE Deadline to certify the election results is Tuesday, November 12, 2024 by! 5:00 p.m. meeting) Monday, November 11 is' Veteran's Day and is a county holiday Risk limiting audit (RLA) as required per GAI Election Code Thursday, November 14 through Friday, November 15 Candidate Qualifying Polling Places and Precincts and Redistricting Department of Parks and Recreation Ethics Reporting/Candidate Qualifying 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. 2024 CCDR 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-Election Year Personal Finance Disclosure Statements (PFDS) are financial reports for the previous calendar year. PFDSs do not have a grace period. 2024PFDS Filing Period: Election Year 2024 PFDS Filing Period: Non-Election Year Open Records Request(s)(ORR) #r received b/w 09/01/2024 - 09/30/2024 January 1, 2024- -1 15 days after the day the candidate qualifies to run for office January 1, 2024- -July 1, 2024 Number in parenthesis indicates the number. from the same month last year 7_(5) 39 51 109 48 2024 Cumulative 2023 Cumulative 2022 Cumulative 2021 Cumulative Budget. / Finance Voter Registration Voter Registration Statistics by Status: As of October 1,2024 Countywide Total registered voters: 183,006(177,902) 165,925(165,300) 17,081 (12,602) 4,674 (4,204) 4,193 (3,904) Active voters: Inactive voters: Active voters: City of Cumming Total registered 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 ofs state Not verified Voter requested Notes: 481 (300) 1123 386 228 14 495 332 0 332 131 80 13 0 0 Not available 35 0 0 3 Pending msinymompleelmored information No Activity for 2 General Election cycles **An MOC report is not currently available in GARVIS. Voter Registration Activities Staff continue to process voter registration applications and perform routine list maintenance activities. They are doing an awesome job keeping up with the high volume ofr requests coming in! To date, our office has processed over 5,260 absentee ballot applications (this includes elderly/disabled rollover applications and UOCAVA applications). We are grateful for the assistance of poll workers with this process! Twenty-two voted absentee ballots have been returned and accepted. Avoter challenge pursuant to O.C.G.A. 21-2-2: submitted by Stansilaw Debczynski was received by email on Sunday, September 22, 2024. The BRE will discuss setting a hearing date during today's meeting. Voter Challenges Election Equipment. / Supplies Routine charging and inventory of touchscreens and printers has been suspended in preparation of the upcoming election. Our office received the new watermarked ballot paper on September 6, 2024. Our office received the ballot project package on Tuesday, September 17, 2024. The programming of the project to the server, system prechecks, and programming of peripheral devices has been completed. Logic and Accuracy (L&A) testing of the election equipment to be used during the November 05, 2024, General Election and Special Elections began on Friday, September 19, 2024. As of Monday, September 30, 2024, testing on the equipment to be deployed to all four Advance Voting locations and 21 oft the 29 Election Day The SOS announced during the end-of-summer training that a new vendor, Enhanced Voting, has been selected for Election Night Reporting (ENR). The Secretary of State hosted a 'dress rehearsal" of the new election night reporting system starting on Thursday, September 26. The testing with the SOS and Enhanced locations is complete with no issues to report. Voting is ongoing. S&T/Software/Hardware Building Update Disaster Recovery Training/Outreach Five New Poll Worker Preview Sessions were held in September. There were 104 attendees and 102 Scheduled poll worker training for the upcoming election began in September and continues through the expressed an interest in continuing the process to become a poll worker. end of the week. Number of Sessions Total Hours Number of Attendees Management General Election Election Equipment Total Training 5 15 89 Training 7 17.5 366 Training 2(5 remaining) 7 53 14(5) 39.5 508 Staffi isi in the process of scheduling makeup training sessions for those who were unable to attend. Staff is preparing the poll worker assignment: schedule. As of today, all: 29 Election Day Poll Manager positions are filled. Advance Voting and Election Day Poll Management assignments have been Staff continues to prepare the assignment: schedule for all poll clerks during Advance Voting and Election communicated to poll workers and adjustments are being made as needed. Calendar for Poll Worker and Outreach Upcoming Events Day. Communications Department web page views: 16,895 Press releases issued: 1 Social media posts: 8 Billboard messages: 0 Calendar of Upcoming Events regarding events that fall on holidays) 2024 Election Dates (dates calculated internally; SOS has posted with some outstanding questions March48-CandidatQuallyangfortne-May2024GemerasPamayandAonparisan-General Election March-12-Presidental-Preference-Prmary May:21:Genera-PAay-8-Nemparisan-Genera-Electon June18-Genera-PAmay-Runo# November 5: General Election & Special Elections December 3: General Election Runoff 2024 November11 November 12 November 12 Veteran's Day; county holiday; offices closed BRE regular monthly meeting Election certification November 288 &29 Thanksgiving; county holiday; offices closed December 10 BRE regular monthly meeting December 24 &25 Christmas; county holiday; offices closed 2025 Election Dates (dates calculated internally based on HB 1312 2024 legislation) Tuesday, June 17,2025: Special Primary fori the Public Service Commission (PSC) District 2 and 3 Candidate Qualifying: week of March 31, 2025 (11th week prior to the special primary; Advance Voting: Tuesday, 05/27-Friday, 06/13/25 (no voting on Monday, 05/26/25 in duration-2 % days) observance of Memorial Day! holiday) Tuesday, July 15, 2025: possible Primary Runoff date, if needed Tuesday, November 4, 2025: City of Cumming Municipal General Election Mayor, City Council Post 1 (Crane) and Post 2( (Evans) Tuesday, November 4, 2025: Special Election for PSC, District 2 and 3 Tuesday, December 2, 2025: General Election Runoff date, if needed Advance' Voting: Tuesday, 10/14-Friday, 10/31/25 (no voting on Monday, 10/13/25 due to the state observed Columbus Day holiday) Respectfully Submitted, Mandi Smith Director, Voter Registrations & Elections IX. Recess Regular Meeting Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Member Thalimer made a motion to recess at 9:55 a.m. and to enter into Executive Session at 10 a.m. X. Executive Session (if needed) Chairman Luth called the meeting back to order at 10:40 a.m. Vice Chairman Natt stated there were no votes or actions taken. XI. Adjournment Secretary Radzikinas with a second from Vice Chairman Natt made a motion to adjourn at 10:41 a.m. Motion carried 4-0 with Assistant Secretary Tucker absent. *Public comments allowed specific to agenda item The above and foregoing minutes are hereby certified as being correct and ordered recorded. Today's Date: November 12, 2024 Absent Barbara Luth, Chairman > doel E. Natt, Vice Chairman Caik Bhiybes Carla Radzikinas, Secretary Alle Anita Tucker, Assistant Secretary Absent Dan Thalimer, Member