Forsyth County Board of Voter Registrations & Elections Regular Monthly Meeting February 4, 2025 at9 a.m. Forsyth County Voter Registrations & Elections Office 1201 Sawnee Drive Cumming, Georgia 30040 MINUTES Present at the meeting: Barbara Luth, Chairman Joel Natt, Vice Chairman Anita Tucker, Secretary Carla Radzikinas, Assistant Secretary Mandi Smith, Director Carol Balcome, Assistant to the Director Jill Swain, Supervisor, Voter Registration & Absentee Bryce Wilson, Supervisor, Communications & Training Jamain Whyce, Supervisor, Elections Equipment & Warehouse Karen Pachuta, Jarrard & Davis I. Call Meeting to Order 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 Secretary Tucker made a motion to adopt the agenda as published. Motion carried unanimously. IV. Adoption of Minutes A. Regular meeting of January 7, 2025 Secretary Tucker with a second from Assistant Secretary Radzikinas made a motion to adopt the minutes as prepared by staff. Motion carried unanimously- V. Public Comments There were no public comments. VI. Old Business A. June 17, 2025 Special Primary Election and possible July 15, 2025 Runoff Director Smith reported staff has made contact with all the polling locations. She said Sharon Springs Park will not be available starting this year. Director Smith said she was researching alternative locations but does not have a recommendation at this time. Secretary Tucker asked Director Smith to make sure there are signs in advance at Sharon Springs Park indicating it is no longer a voting location. She also asked that all early voting locations have the dates and times of early voting posted at each location since the hours are slightly different from last year. B. November 4, 2025 General Elections Director Smith said she had a discussion with the Cumming City Clerk regarding Advance Voting for their municipal election. She said the Clerk did not think it would be an issue with the county handling their Advance Voting at our locations and would follow up with additional City staff. Vice Chairman Natt asked Director Smith to provide the Board at the next meeting the number of City of Cumming registered voters in 2022 and 2024 who voted at Advance Voting locations other than the Elections Office. VII. New Business There was no New Business. VIII. Director's Report Director Smith and staff presented the Director's Report. Voter Registrations & Elections Department Director's Report February 4, 2025 Board Members 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. Board Party Took Office Current Current Member Term Start Term End Barbara Luth Chief Registrar & 04/02/2019* 07/01/2021 06/30/2025 Chairperson Joel E. Natt Republican 02/03/2015* 09/01/2023 06/30/2027 Anita Tucker Democratic 03/01/2022* 09/01/2023 06/30/2027 Carla Radzikinas Republican 04/04/2016* 09/01/2021 08/31/2025 Vacant** Democratic 08/31/2025 **Dan Thalimer submitted his official resignation on November 14, 2024. It was officially accepted by the Board of Commissioner's during their November 21, 2024 meeting. Steps are underway to fill the vacant position. *Filled the unexpired term of outgoing member Staff Current filled staff/positions: 11 full-time (2 unfilled) and 6 part-time (0 unfilled). Legislation pending/approved bills/Change to Election Code/State Election Board (SEB) A small number of bills relating to elections have been dropped to date: HB 40 - SOS shall serve as chairperson of the SEB; SB 14 - non-partisan election of district attorneys; SB 15 - nonpartisan elections for county governing authorities; SB 16 - would modify the restriction banning those in the bail bonding business from serving as a member of the county governing authority; HB 215 would effectively remove the SOS's participation in the ERIC program and prohibit participation in similar programs. Election Information 2025 Election Dates (dates calculated internally based on HB 1312 2024 legislation) Tuesday,June 17, 2025: Special Primary for the Public Service Commissioner (PSC) District 2 and 3 , Candidate Qualifying: April 1 through April 3, 2025 (11th week prior to the special primary; duration=2 % days) o Advance Voting: Tuesday, 05/27-Friday, 06/13/25 (no voting on Monday, 05/26/25 in 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) Candidate Qualifying: week of August 18 (minimum of 3 days) Tuesday, November 4, 2025: General Election for PSC, District 2 and 3 Advance Voting: Tuesday, 10/14-Friday, 10/31/25 (no voting on Monday, 10/13/25 due to the state observed Columbus Day holiday) Tuesday, December 2, 2025: General Election Runoff date, if needed Candidate Qualifying Candidate qualifying for the Public Service Commission Districts 2 and 3 has been set for April 1 (9:00 a.m.) through April 3, 2025 (noon). Qualifying for these contests will take place with the Secretary of State's Office. Candidate qualifying for the City of Cumming Municipal General Election has been set for Monday, August 18 through Wednesday, August 20, 2025. Qualifying hours are from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. daily. Pursuant to O.C.G.A. 21-2-131 (a)(1), qualifying fees were set by the City Council at their January 21, 2025 meeting. There are three contests up for election in 2025: Mayor, City Council Post 1 (Crane) and City Council Post 2 (Evans). Qualifying for these contests will take place with the Cumming City Clerk. Polling Places and Precincts and Redistricting All polling places have been notified of the 2025 election calendar. Staff are awaiting responses from all locations to confirm their availability for all elections in 2025. Staff are currently reviewing annexations that have taken place by the City of Cumming since 2023. The City of Cumming voting precinct lines will need to be updated prior to their November General Election to accommodate any changes that have occurred. Department of Parks and Recreation Ethics Reporting / Candidate Qualifying Campaign Contribution Disclosure Reports (CCDR): Reports due following the State Ethics Commission's schedule. In 2025, candidates and elected officials will follow the Non-Election Year schedule. 2025 CCDR Due Dates: Non-Election Year June 30 five-business day grace period December 31 five-business day grace period 2025 PFDS Filing Period: Non-Election Year January 1, 2025 July 1, 2025 Personal Finance Disclosure Statements (PFDS) are financial reports for the previous calendar year. PFDSS do not have a grace period. Open Records Request(s) (ORR) Number in parenthesis indicates the number from the same month last year # received b/w 01/01/2025 - 01/31/2025 2 (7) 2025 Cumulative 2 2024 Cumulative 55 2023 Cumulative 51 2022 Cumulative 109 2021 Cumulative 48 Budget / Finance Voter Registration Voter Registration Statistics by Status: As of February 3, 2025 Countywide Total registered voters: 186,385 (178,428) Active voters: 171,657161,474) Inactive voters: 14,728 (16,954) City of Cumming Total registered voters: 4,893 (4,333) Active voters: 4,488 (3,873) Inactive voters: 405 (460) Pending voters Total: 606 Pending age 164 Pending verification 21 Pending missing/incomplete/incorrect information 81 Pending citizenship 340 Challenged voters Total: 0 Felon 0 Voter challenge 0 Cancelled voters Total: 154 Deceased 90 Felon 24 Hearing 0 Mentally Incompetent 0 Moved out of county Not available Moved out of state 39 No Activity for 2 General Election cycles 0 Not verified 0 Voter requested 1 Notes: **An MOC report is not currently available in GARViS. Voter Registration Activities The majority of the accumulation of voter registration applications to be processed post deadline were processed as of last week. There are a few outstanding applications that require letters/more attention and those are currently being addressed. Routine voter registration processing and list maintenance activities are ongoing. Voter Challenges The voter challenge hearing pursuant to O.C.G.A. 21-2-229 submitted by Stansilaw Debczynski on Sunday, September 22, 2024 remains postponed pending additional communication with the challenger. To date, the challenger has not responded to follow up emails from this office. In the December 2024 regular monthly meeting, the BRE voted to set the date for those voter challenges that were submitted pursuant to O.C.G.A. 21-2-230 for the November 2024 General Election and were upheld by the BRE for March 4, 2025. Those challenges will be considered by the BRE pursuant to O.C.G.A. 21-2-229 at their March meeting. Additionally, the BRE voted to set the date for any voter challenges submitted by February 7, 2025 for March 4, 2025, Election Equipment / Supplies Routine charging and inventory of the touchscreens and printers are complete. Routine charging and inventory of ballot scanners, UPS units, and Poll Pads are ongoing. The SOS office is currently working through the budget for hardware maintenance of the election equipment with the legislature and will have more information once the process is complete. The SOS office is currently completing the first half of the UPS replacement project, with plans to begin the second half tentatively scheduled for after July 2025. 5&T/Software/Hardware Building Update The generator for the building is currently not operational. According to Public Facilities they are currently waiting on quotes for the repairs to the radiator. They will keep us posted regarding the timeline of the repairs. Public Facilities has been advised of the 2025 election calendar. Disaster Recovery Training/Outreach All active poll workers received the 2025 Poll Worker Interest Form to gauge interest in working during 2025, 2026, or if they would like to be removed from the poll worker list. As of January 31, 507 poll workers have responded: 471 plan to continue to serve as a poll worker in future elections and 36 asked to be removed from the list. Two staff members attended the EMS Fundamental Training presented by the SOS Center for Elections Systems on January 31. Staff is in the process of reviewing supplies and training materials for the 2025 election cycle. Calendar for Poll Worker and Outreach Upcoming Events Communications Department web page views: 1,374 Press releases issued: 0 Social media posts: 0 Billboard messages: 0 Calendar of Upcoming Events 2025 March 4 BRE regular monthly meeting April 1 BRE regular monthly meeting May 6 BRE regular monthly meeting May 26 Memorial Day; county holiday; offices closed June 3 BRE regular monthly meeting (meeting to be held in CMR at Admin Bldg) June 17 Special General Primary Election Day July 1 BRE regular monthly meeting July 4 Independence Day; county holiday; offices closed July 15 Special General Primary Runoff Election Day, if needed August 5 BRE regular monthly meeting September 1 Labor Day; county holiday; offices closed September 2 BRE regular monthly meeting October 7 BRE regular monthly meeting November 4 General Election Election Day November 10 BRE regular monthly meeting (Monday) November 11 Veteran's Day; county holiday; offices closed November 27 & 28 Thanksgiving: county holiday; offices closed December 2 General Election Runoff Election Day, if needed December 8 BRE regular monthly meeting (Monday) 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) There was no Executive Session needed. XI. Adjournment Vice Chairman Natt with a second from Secretary Tucker made a motion to adjourn at 9:20 a.m. Motion carried unanimously. The above and foregoing minutes are hereby certified as being correct and ordered recorded. Today's Date: March 4, 2025 Bri Barbara Luth, Chairman Joel E. Natt, Vice Chairman Tcha Anita Tucker, Secretary Carla Radzikinas, Assistant Secretary