[0:00] Let's go this way.
[0:30] Good evening everyone. Seeing as it is
[0:33] 5:00 p.m. I can go ahead and call the
[0:35] meeting to order. Uh first item on the
[0:37] agenda is of course the pledge of
[0:38] allegiance. So if everyone would please
[0:40] rise and refer to the flag
[0:48] of the United States of America to the
[0:52] standy.
[1:02] Thank you.
[1:04] Next item on the agenda is the approval
[1:06] of the agenda itself. And I would accept
[1:08] a motion.
[1:09] » Mr. Chair, I make a motion that we
[1:11] accept the agenda as written.
[1:13] » A motion has been made. I'll go ahead
[1:15] and second that motion. Motion and
[1:16] second been given. Um I'll go ahead and
[1:19] call if there's no discussion. All in
[1:22] favor signify by saying I.
[1:23] » I. Motion carries unanimously.
[1:26] Um seeing uh as it is the February uh
[1:30] meeting of our even numbered years, our
[1:33] bylaws as they currently stand um
[1:36] require uh the board to conduct
[1:38] elections of our board officers and so
[1:40] um so at this time um I guess we could
[1:44] accept motions.
[1:47] Uh Mr. Chair, I make a motion that uh
[1:50] our chair
[1:53] motion has been made. I'll go ahead and
[1:55] second that. Um
[1:59] any discussion?
[2:01] Yeah. Um seeing no further discussion,
[2:04] all in favor signify by saying I.
[2:06] » I.
[2:06] » I.
[2:08] Thank you very much.
[2:12] And next item of course the vice chair
[2:14] position. Um I would go ahead and take
[2:17] uh my privilege and right as chairman to
[2:20] make a motion to appoint uh my colleague
[2:22] member Alexander as vice chair.
[2:26] motion and second been made. Uh seeing
[2:29] no uh further discussion.
[2:33] Yep. No one on my left over here. Um I
[2:36] guess we can go ahead and call the vote.
[2:37] All in favor signify by saying I.
[2:39] » I.
[2:44] I said it before we started the meeting,
[2:45] but sometimes it feels like bush casting
[2:47] a sundance kit up here.
[2:50] Next item on the agenda is of course our
[2:52] public comments. will be given a five
[2:55] minute. Excuse me. Director Garrett
[2:57] seems to be grabbing my attention.
[2:58] » Yes, if we could have a couple of
[3:00] minutes. We're having technical
[3:02] difficulties and since we do our public
[3:04] comments verbatim with the recording,
[3:06] can we have a couple of seconds to
[3:08] figure that out, please?
[3:09] » Sure. Absolutely. Yeah. Thank you for
[3:10] that flag. Um, I'll say, you know, as
[3:15] technology becomes almost indispensable
[3:17] to us all the time, it's wonderful when
[3:20] it works. Um, so just bear with us on
[3:23] this one. Um, I'll tell you actually as
[3:24] far as technological updates go, we do
[3:26] have, uh, one small update I wanted to
[3:28] publicize further. Um, the, uh, FE
[3:31] county government has updated its
[3:33] website. Should be a lot more user
[3:34] friendly now. Um, much more approachable
[3:37] and accessible to get through
[3:38] everything. Of course, we will be listed
[3:40] as one of the departments there on the
[3:42] website itself. So, if you ever want to
[3:43] reach uh, the election department, board
[3:45] of elections here, all our information
[3:46] is on the faccounta.gov
[3:49] website uh, under elections. Um, we've
[3:52] got our public notices there and in fact
[3:53] we will actually uh be discussing one of
[3:56] those public notices a little bit later
[3:57] in this meeting as far as a polling
[4:00] location proposal. Um, but just wanted
[4:03] to again echo that that uh website has
[4:07] been updated. It should be more
[4:08] approachable and thank you to Kyle, our
[4:10] clerk here who does a lot of work on our
[4:12] website. Make sure all our eyes are
[4:14] dotted and our tees are crossed. But as
[4:16] far as that, I guess that could conclude
[4:18] most of my filler at this moment.
[4:24] Great turnout. Thank you.
[4:27] » Absolutely. You know, typically we
[4:28] probably have no more than five folks
[4:30] come out to our meetings. Um you know,
[4:32] it's we're always thankful to have these
[4:35] larger turnouts because we do want to be
[4:37] as responsive to the public as possible.
[4:39] You know, while we do have our uh email
[4:42] addresses, our phone numbers up there on
[4:43] the website, at the end of the day,
[4:44] being face to face is a lot better. I
[4:46] know that firsthand. I was in school for
[4:48] a lot of co um so I I saw that we lost a
[4:50] lot of the you know relations and our
[4:52] success so in those so thank you for all
[4:55] coming out and uh we can look forward to
[4:57] you know using our technology and
[4:58] everybody having their voice heard
[5:00] during our public comment period but our
[5:02] responsiveness is really our strength so
[5:04] please we can't be responsive if you
[5:05] don't request
[5:10] » We're just going to take a risk it says
[5:12] it's recording is just not streaming um
[5:14] Jenny's still working on it We will I
[5:17] will try to record on my phone so at
[5:19] least we'll have our minutes so we can
[5:22] move forward with the meeting.
[5:25] » With that we can go ahead and proceed to
[5:27] public comments. Um speakers will be
[5:29] given a fivem minute maximum time limit
[5:31] to speak before the board of elections
[5:33] about various topics, issues and
[5:34] concerns. Speakers must direct comments
[5:36] to the board and responses are reserved
[5:38] at the direction of the board. Um I
[5:40] guess just another clarification, we
[5:42] will have this meeting recorded. It will
[5:43] be on the county's Vimeo page. We might
[5:45] just the streaming capability right now,
[5:47] but I guess that's a huge benefit of
[5:49] having a lot of folks in the audience
[5:50] here that we do have the public here
[5:53] present as well. Um, so with that, I
[5:55] could go ahead and welcome anyone up to
[5:56] the podium. Um, please state your name,
[5:58] uh, your county residency and, uh, begin
[6:01] your public comments.
[6:14] Good evening. My name is Marilyn Napton
[6:17] and I live at 705 Grand Teton Circle
[6:20] here in Fagville.
[6:22] And um my question is what is the plan
[6:25] for the um ballot drop off boxes for F
[6:30] County
[6:31] for this coming election?
[6:40] » Ma'am, the public comment period will be
[6:42] uh responses are reserved at our
[6:43] direction. So feel free to all your
[6:45] comments and then if we see fit, we
[6:47] could respond to anything that you bring
[6:48] up.
[7:04] » My only comments are expansion of of
[7:08] hours for voting.
[7:11] I just think we should have done this
[7:13] years ago.
[7:14] » You quickly state your name in your
[7:15] county res.
[7:16] » Oh, yeah. Yeah.
[7:18] Zach knows me, but the others probably
[7:21] don't. I'm Jack Bernard. I'm a resident
[7:23] of Peach Tree City and I've been a
[7:25] resident for 11 years.
[7:28] I'm also,
[7:30] frankly, I've been in both parties and
[7:33] held elected office.
[7:36] as a county commissioner, another county
[7:38] for a couple terms.
[7:42] What what disturbs me
[7:45] in terms of
[7:47] the trend in our country is the trend to
[7:54] lessen participation
[7:57] in voting
[7:59] and that lessens participation in our
[8:02] government. It lessens support for our
[8:04] government and That's especially true.
[8:08] I'll just be very blunt. It's especially
[8:09] true with some people now trying to
[8:13] lessen the participation of uh
[8:16] minorities, of the elderly, of the
[8:19] infirm and so on. What whatever we can
[8:23] do to increase participation, we should
[8:26] do. Uh I was very disappointed with your
[8:30] predecessors the last time I did this
[8:33] years ago. uh they really weren't open
[8:37] to opening uh voting on Sundays for
[8:41] instance, which that's a natural to me.
[8:45] Why not vote on Sundays? Uh but anything
[8:48] we can do to increase voter
[8:50] participation, we should be doing.
[8:52] Anything we can do to make our elections
[8:56] uh continue to be fair and equitable, we
[8:59] should be doing, including uh coming up
[9:03] with vote tally as possible and issuing
[9:06] that publicly
[9:08] totally for that.
[9:10] We should be doing things in a
[9:12] bipartisan manner. Both parties and I've
[9:15] been in both parties and both parties
[9:17] should agree on we need to have free and
[9:20] fair elections and once the election is
[9:22] done we should all accept the
[9:24] consequences positive or negative of
[9:27] those elections. That's about it. Thank
[9:30] you.
[9:37] Thank you.
[9:38] » Good evening. Uh, my name is Anna
[9:40] Richards. I live at 290 Virginia
[9:42] Highlands here in Fville and I'm a new
[9:45] resident to Georgia coming from North
[9:48] Carolina this summer where I was an
[9:51] elected official. I was a county
[9:53] commissioner there. Um, so I'm
[9:55] interested obviously in
[9:58] my government, my politics, my
[10:00] community, and um, in understanding
[10:04] Fet County, which I'm just tipping my
[10:06] toe in. Um, first thing I understand is
[10:10] that you're considering whether or not
[10:11] to certify
[10:14] uh, on Friday or Monday. Monday, I
[10:17] think, is the statutory requirement.
[10:20] And so I'm hoping that you would go for
[10:21] Friday so that something
[10:26] unplanned happens or you need to do
[10:29] anything, you would not be pushed up
[10:31] against the statutory deadline of
[10:34] Monday. And so I would urge you to
[10:38] certify at the earliest possible date so
[10:41] that um we can make sure that every
[10:45] vote is counted and that everyone gets
[10:48] an opportunity to have their voice.
[10:50] That's the first point. Secondly, um I
[10:55] heard other gentlemen talk about Sunday
[10:57] voting. It's my understanding that we
[10:58] current that there currently is Sunday
[11:00] voting and the consideration is whether
[11:03] or not to continue that. And I'm just
[11:05] urging you again, our objective should
[11:08] be participation. It was it's always
[11:11] amazing to me when we hear about other
[11:13] countries and how they get 80 90% of
[11:16] their population to vote. And we
[11:19] struggle in this country to get um even
[11:24] half our vote registered voters to vote.
[11:26] And a lot of people work shifts um and
[11:30] you know I don't know what your family
[11:32] background is but um you know initially
[11:35] my ancestors were not allowed to vote.
[11:37] Women weren't allowed to vote and unless
[11:39] you were a a land owner here in America
[11:43] you weren't able to vote either. So over
[11:47] the course of history, we have expanded
[11:49] as we should to create this more perfect
[11:51] union and this democracy. And I would
[11:53] just hope that in Faget County where I
[11:56] now live that our goal is to increase
[12:00] the opportunity to vote and that that
[12:02] would include Sunday voting and expanded
[12:06] hours. I don't know if that's something
[12:07] you're considering, but I think we
[12:10] should be trying to find ways to include
[12:12] as opposed to exclude voters. So, thank
[12:16] you very much.
[12:19] » Thank you. Welcome to FE County. Glad to
[12:21] have
[12:26] » Marilyn Napton again. Um, I was thinking
[12:29] there might be a back and forth with my
[12:31] uh concern about the uh Dropbox, but I
[12:34] just wanted to I feel it's a very
[12:37] important part of the voting process. I
[12:40] know the last two elections.
[12:43] The dropbox was put in the
[12:47] um
[12:49] office and only available during office
[12:53] hours, which to me didn't make much
[12:55] sense. But um we do have several people
[12:58] in our county that work multiple jobs
[13:03] are not available during hours or
[13:06] possibly Saturday or Sunday or whatever.
[13:10] Um we might have the um early voting and
[13:14] I just feel it's really important that
[13:17] we have a drop box available for those
[13:19] absentee ballots. Thank you.
[13:24] » Thank you.
[13:30] Any additional public comments?
[13:39] One more.
[13:42] Please state your name, your county
[13:44] reser.
[13:46] » Hey, I'm Justin Owens. I'm in Beachree
[13:50] City.
[13:52] And I guess uh I had a question that you
[13:55] could address
[13:57] all the comments. Um is there like
[14:02] can do as a county like um to expand
[14:07] access to absentee ballots or is that
[14:10] tied up in the state? Thank you.
[14:25] » Okay, thank you all. Um just I'm going
[14:28] to tackle a few things that were brought
[14:29] up. Um, as far as uh ballot boxes, um,
[14:35] apologies for the confusion as far as
[14:36] how this goes a little bit, you know, u,
[14:39] but as far as the, uh, ballot boxes, I
[14:41] believe that is a state legislative
[14:43] issue. Um, to the point where, uh, I
[14:46] believe it's one ballot dropbox per
[14:48] county and it has to be in the office or
[14:50] at least under supervision during hours
[14:52] in which ballots would be accepted. Um,
[14:55] and so as a result of that, we have very
[14:57] little authority as to how the ballot
[14:59] box for for better or worse. Um you know
[15:02] that that is a state uh legislative
[15:04] question. Um and I will say that uh
[15:07] currently the as a state legislature is
[15:09] in session. Um they are undergoing uh
[15:14] the legislative research um legislating
[15:16] period in order to look at changing uh
[15:18] further the parameters of absentee
[15:21] ballots and ballot dropboxes. So um the
[15:23] only commitment that I can really firmly
[15:25] make right now is that we at the F
[15:27] County elections would keep public a
[15:29] breast of those developments and then
[15:30] comply as best we possibly can with
[15:32] state law while also maximizing voter
[15:35] access at the same time. Um, you know,
[15:36] our hands are tied as far as a lot of
[15:38] this goes, but with the autonomy that we
[15:40] do have, we really do want to provide
[15:41] the greatest experience possible.
[15:43] Whether that be if a voter chooses to go
[15:45] down the absentee ballot route, um, we
[15:47] have folks at our office who can help
[15:49] them acquire a ballot, who can help them
[15:50] fill out a ballot in case they're
[15:51] unfamiliar with that process. Um, and
[15:54] and guide them through that without
[15:55] directly doing it for them. Um but you
[15:57] know we really do try and do our best in
[15:59] order to make sure everybody's voice is
[16:00] heard. They can engage uh with the
[16:02] voting process as conveniently as
[16:04] possible. Um as far as voting voting
[16:07] hours, you know, we have had uh Sunday
[16:09] voting in the past in November of 2024
[16:11] and uh about 1300 people did take
[16:14] advantage of it on that day. Um so as we
[16:16] get further into discussing our uh
[16:18] advanced voting times, dates and
[16:19] locations, um I believe there is Sunday
[16:22] voting included for this general primary
[16:23] election. that will be on May 3rd, but
[16:25] I'm sure Director Garrett will expand a
[16:27] little bit on the hours and times for
[16:29] our early voting, so stay tuned in just
[16:32] a few minutes. Um,
[16:36] I hear the uh the certification
[16:38] question. Um, I know that in our
[16:39] calendar that we have before us, um,
[16:41] there is an instance where we will have
[16:43] Monday certification. So, I'm almost
[16:45] half of mine to use that instance as a
[16:47] test run and see how we could proceed in
[16:50] the going in the future. Um but we can
[16:52] discuss that more. Um so with that any
[16:56] other response?
[17:00] » Yes, we uh we did expand voting hours as
[17:02] well for early voting. Um you know uh
[17:06] there are statutory minimums prescribed
[17:08] as per state law from the state
[17:10] legislature that passed them down to us.
[17:12] Um we generally try and find that happy
[17:14] medium which balances both taxpayer
[17:16] dollars um as well as our staff's time
[17:19] and hours, you know, their precious
[17:20] time. in addition of course with voter
[17:22] convenience and voter access. So it's a
[17:25] a tough kind of uh stool to balance on
[17:28] those three legs because they're not
[17:29] always very even. Um but FA County with
[17:32] 100,000 voters and a small but very
[17:34] committed staff we really do our best to
[17:36] work through all these things and
[17:37] balance all those different variables.
[17:39] So see any other comments
[17:42] » Other than we did extend the hours in
[17:44] 2024. Historically we have been 9 to5
[17:49] and we extended it to 9 to 7 for every
[17:53] day including Saturday and then I think
[17:55] we did 12 to 4 on Sunday. So we did
[17:59] extend the hours because I think we
[18:01] realized too many people they can't get
[18:03] back from Atlanta or wherever it is
[18:05] they're working. So we did extend the
[18:07] hours and I feel that was the right
[18:09] thing to do.
[18:10] » Yeah. And additionally that was for a
[18:11] general election too a general
[18:12] presidential election. So we had already
[18:14] a huge
[18:15] turnout. Um, you know, I think we will
[18:17] see that uh to a large extent, maybe
[18:19] less or so because it is a midterm
[18:21] election, but we do have a full slate of
[18:23] state constitutional offices uh that uh
[18:26] will be turning over. We do have a
[18:28] United States Senate election. Um so
[18:30] there is a lot of pressure building up
[18:31] for higher turnout. Um but I think
[18:33] currently as we get into our plan, it
[18:35] seems pretty well balanced as far as
[18:36] access in addition to our times. Um
[18:38] while still keeping that Sunday Sunday
[18:40] voting um into future. Um so with that,
[18:43] I guess with the Uh closing of public
[18:45] comments, we can move on to our item of
[18:47] old business, which is the approval of
[18:49] the 2026 board meeting calendar.
[18:54] » Um yes, I did just close public comment,
[18:56] but I'll tell you what, actually further
[18:58] along in the meeting, we do have an
[19:00] opportunity uh for a public hearing
[19:01] where there will be another set of
[19:03] public comments. Um while it is
[19:05] generally focused on a specific polling
[19:07] location change, you will have your time
[19:09] to address whichever topics you wish.
[19:12] Um, so with that, I'll go ahead and move
[19:14] on to the approval of the meeting
[19:16] calendar, the 2026 board meeting
[19:17] calendar, uh, which we have in front of
[19:19] us. Um, Director Garrett, I would invite
[19:21] you to describe a little bit about what
[19:23] we're looking at. Um, it seems largely
[19:24] in line with what we've done in the past
[19:26] with one exception, I believe, for Junth
[19:29] as a result of the county's closure. So,
[19:31] if you could explain a little bit about
[19:32] this, uh, timeline for us and, uh, your
[19:35] recommendations as for how to proceed.
[19:38] » Yes. In your board packet, you have a
[19:40] 2026 calendar. Um, as previously stated,
[19:44] it is for every fourth Tuesday of the
[19:46] month with the exception of those
[19:49] elections
[19:51] um certification meetings which are
[19:53] typically held on the Friday after the
[19:55] election with the exception of the June
[19:58] runoff election. That Friday falls on
[20:01] the Junth holiday and the county is
[20:03] closed for that day. So, I would like to
[20:06] recommend that we hold our meeting on
[20:07] the following Monday at 1:00 p.m.
[20:10] because by law we have to be certified
[20:12] by 5:00 p.m. on day.
[20:19] » I just have a general question since I'm
[20:21] one of the few that comes and looks at
[20:22] the election records uh before we have
[20:26] the certification. I would presume that
[20:28] for each of these certifices
[20:38] Yes, I believe as of right now that's
[20:40] still the rule from the state board of
[20:41] elections. So you would still need to
[20:43] have three o'clock Friday meeting. I
[20:45] don't know how that's going to work.
[20:48] » Well, I would be willing if I could get
[20:50] the information if I could look at it on
[20:52] the weekend would be great, but it's up
[20:54] to you. I just wanted to be sure we we
[20:57] were still meeting at three for a
[20:59] review. I'll look into it. I'm almost
[21:01] certain it's going to be on our extended
[21:03] calendar with the state that already has
[21:04] that date as acknowledged as Junth. So I
[21:08] have to look into that portion. Thank
[21:09] you for bringing that up. Okay.
[21:15] Either way, that is a special call
[21:18] meeting, so we don't have to worry about
[21:21] it being on our actual calendar right
[21:22] now.
[21:23] » Okay.
[21:24] » And that's the review of precincts
[21:26] returns. Um we typically have that at a
[21:28] 3M meeting. uh two hours before our
[21:31] certification meeting on the Friday of
[21:33] the election week um just to look over
[21:35] the results themselves before we
[21:37] actually add in that last trunch of
[21:38] provisions as well. Um
[21:41] and just to echo something that my
[21:44] colleague over here vice chair Alexander
[21:45] has been speaking about you know looking
[21:47] at the fact that uh having Junth on that
[21:50] Friday necessitates us to move our
[21:52] meeting to Monday I think is a kind of a
[21:53] fair case study and looking at what
[21:55] would Monday certification look like in
[21:57] Faget County going forward. So I kind of
[21:59] like that even though it's by necessity,
[22:01] it does give us a glimpse and a good
[22:02] example into whether we could adopt this
[22:04] policy in the future. You know, in 2027,
[22:06] we have a number of different tasks that
[22:08] we will be undertaking, including uh
[22:10] lining up combo codes, lining up
[22:12] precinct lines with our our county
[22:13] boundaries, making sure everybody has
[22:16] convenient voter experience as possible,
[22:17] but also uh as convenient of of uh work
[22:21] process on the back end for us to
[22:23] facilitate those elections. So I I like
[22:25] this this plan. I think we go ahead and
[22:27] accept accept.
[22:28] » I'm sorry. Excuse me.
[22:29] » Oh, yes. Director Gary.
[22:31] » So, one thing that I did overlook is
[22:33] that our Gabrio conference for the month
[22:35] of March. Um, our meeting is scheduled
[22:38] for March 24th. However, most of the
[22:41] election officials in the state will be
[22:43] out of town. So,
[22:46] could we possibly move that meeting up
[22:49] one week
[22:52] or back one week?
[23:00] And early voting doesn't start until
[23:02] April, correct? April 27.
[23:06] » We can move it a week back. Then we
[23:07] would have all candidates qualify. Then
[23:09] we could, you know,
[23:13] » So March 31st.
[23:14] » Yeah, March 31st. One week later,
[23:17] » I have two.
[23:20] » Mr. Chair, I make a motion that we
[23:22] accept the 2026
[23:26] of elections meeting schedule with one
[23:27] change and that would be uh
[23:32] the March meeting would be moved to uh
[23:36] Tuesday March the 31st from the 24th.
[23:41] » Okay. Motion has been made. I'll go
[23:44] ahead and second it. Um any further
[23:46] discussion?
[23:48] Seeing none, I'll go ahead and call the
[23:49] vote. All in favor of signifying by
[23:52] saying I
[23:52] » I motion carries unanimously.
[23:58] » So that would keep our uh certification
[24:00] on Fridays at 5:00 p.m. um for our
[24:03] elections through throughout this year
[24:04] with the one exception of course being
[24:05] that June runoff um which it seems
[24:08] extremely likely that we will have
[24:09] runoffs for a number of races given the
[24:12] large number of candidates in our
[24:13] primaries. Um so just uh that's our one
[24:17] exception to our calendar going forward
[24:18] for this year.
[24:22] With that, we can go ahead and move on
[24:24] to a lighter item of business, which is
[24:26] just the approval of our past meetings
[24:28] minutes uh from January 2026. And I
[24:32] would accept a motion.
[24:34] » January 27.
[24:38] » Yes.
[24:40] » Mr. Chair, I make a motion that we
[24:42] accept the uh January 27th, 2026 meeting
[24:46] amendments as written.
[24:48] Motion has been made. I'll go ahead and
[24:50] second it. Any further discussion?
[24:51] Seeing none, I'll call the vote. All in
[24:53] favor signify by saying I.
[24:54] » I.
[24:55] » I. Motion carries unanimously.
[24:59] And this brings us to our uh sole item
[25:01] of new business itself, which is the
[25:03] advanced voting times, dates, and
[25:05] locations. Um, director Garrett, I know
[25:08] this is included in your director's
[25:10] report. Um, but I guess we could just go
[25:11] ahead and tackle the hours and then move
[25:14] on to your report.
[25:16] » Yes.
[25:19] All right. So, in your packet, you all
[25:22] have an analysis of weekend voting
[25:24] trends from 2024, which is the last like
[25:28] election to the election that is coming
[25:30] up. I provided this information because
[25:32] I wanted you all to make an informed
[25:34] decision and I wanted you to see the
[25:36] impact that it had as far as turnout on
[25:39] the county. So in uh May 2024,
[25:44] we had 18,695
[25:48] voters cast a ballot. The total
[25:50] registered voters at the time of the
[25:52] election was 89,432,000
[25:56] voters, which is an average of 20.90%.
[26:01] And you have that on your packet where
[26:04] it says analysis at the very bottom of
[26:06] the first page. Yes. Where's the where's
[26:09] the percent
[26:10] » The percentage for May 2024 is not on
[26:12] there. I looked it up as you were
[26:14] talking and going back to those numbers.
[26:16] I went ahead and pulled the election
[26:18] summary report because I wanted to make
[26:19] sure that the information we were
[26:20] putting out were accurate. Um and that
[26:23] we were in just calling out numbers. So
[26:26] again that May 2024 turnout you see
[26:29] where it says 18,695
[26:31] voters but your total of registered
[26:34] voters in the county active. I You like
[26:37] that word?
[26:39] » That is active.
[26:40] » 89,432
[26:43] with a 20.9% turnout. We did not have
[26:46] extended hours nor did we have Sunday
[26:48] voting during that time period or May in
[26:52] 2024. We did not. I looked it up.
[26:54] » Sunday voting extended hours for the
[26:56] November general.
[26:57] » Yes. So that's where I'm getting to. So
[26:59] for the November 2024 general election,
[27:03] which was your first time doing Sunday
[27:05] voting, you had a total of 75,498
[27:10] 95, I'm sorry, voters that turned out to
[27:14] vote out of 91,463.
[27:18] I don't have the percentage. I didn't
[27:19] have enough time to look that up for you
[27:20] all talking. But that was a large time
[27:24] turnout. 58,000
[27:27] approximate was the turnout for advanced
[27:29] voting during that election. When it
[27:32] came to Sunday voting, we had 1,349
[27:36] voters cast a ballot on the Sundays. Um,
[27:39] I'm sorry, we only have one Sunday. That
[27:41] is 1.47%
[27:43] of registered voters.
[27:46] If we do the percentage of advanced
[27:48] voting of the voters that turned out for
[27:50] that Sunday, just for that election,
[27:52] that is 2.31%.
[27:55] of total advanced ballots cast for the
[27:58] Saturdays, which I'll just skip over
[28:01] Saturday. Um, but our weekend turnouts
[28:04] are not that high. So, our Saturdays are
[28:05] 2.62%
[28:07] um for one Saturday and 3.18% for the
[28:10] second Saturday. I want to make sure
[28:12] that you are equipped with the knowledge
[28:15] and the turnout in the previous
[28:16] election, but I don't want to overlook
[28:18] or honor the fact that that was the
[28:20] first time we did Sunday voting. So
[28:21] Sunday voting wasn't really a thing in
[28:23] Faget County. It's something that's
[28:24] newly introduced. So for my
[28:26] recommendation,
[28:28] I do have
[28:31] that's inside of your director report on
[28:34] the second page at the bottom. And that
[28:37] is Monday, April 27th through Saturday,
[28:40] May 1st from 9 to 5:00 p.m.
[28:47] The second page on the bottom
[28:53] So again, that's Monday, April 27th
[28:55] through Saturday, May 1st from 9:00 to
[28:57] 5:00 p.m. Sunday, May 3rd from 12 to
[29:01] 4:00 p.m. Monday, May 4th through
[29:04] Saturday, May 9th from 9:00 to 5:00 p.m.
[29:07] I do want to acknowledge that May 10th
[29:09] is Mother's Day and I would not like to
[29:13] ask staff to work on such a glorious,
[29:16] magnificent, wonderful day.
[29:19] And then Monday, May 11 through Friday,
[29:22] May 15th from 9:00 to 5:00 p.m.
[29:30] Can I ask you,
[29:33] but when you were talking about Saturday
[29:35] voting and we have and we're looking at
[29:38] average. Um, but we have percentages. We
[29:42] don't have numbers. Do you happen to
[29:44] have the numbers that voted on Saturday?
[29:47] » Yes. May I have them, please? I will
[29:51] reforward it to you. So, what what we
[29:53] did was take, you know, how we have to
[29:54] report our daily totals every day. So,
[29:56] we went back to that email, brought that
[29:58] up. I gave it to our intern, Musa, who's
[30:01] excellent with numbers, by the way, and
[30:02] he's also the valid Victorian of Fed
[30:04] County High School. I had to put that
[30:06] plug in there. Um, but I gave him those
[30:09] numbers and he put the proposal
[30:11] together. So, yes, I can bring that back
[30:12] up to you. I absolutely can. And it's by
[30:14] date for both elections. I was just
[30:17] curious because I thought we had
[30:19] and we always have. We've had a fairly
[30:22] good turnout on Saturday. I mean, not
[30:24] like through the week, but we've had a
[30:25] fairly good turnout on Saturday. And
[30:27] Sunday being the first time, it was
[30:30] lower, I think, than we hoped, but it
[30:33] was the first time and I'm not sure how
[30:36] many people, you know, really knew that
[30:38] we had that Sunday uh going. I was just
[30:42] curious on Saturday, although I think
[30:44] it's a good thing. There are too many
[30:45] people working through the week that
[30:47] Saturday may be one of their only
[30:49] options to to get to the polls. So,
[30:52] that's okay. Thank you. So, outside of
[30:54] working hours, that gives them two
[30:56] Saturdays and a Sunday to be able to
[30:58] cast a ballot. Um, I love that we're
[31:01] pushing wanting to vote on the weekends
[31:03] and I highly support it as long as the
[31:07] voters come out and vote. Um, I don't
[31:09] want to waste any taxpayers money by
[31:12] having people report and I don't want to
[31:14] take away from the little time that
[31:15] election officials are allotted during
[31:18] election season under such scrutiny
[31:21] under so many changes um the opportunity
[31:24] to have some free time to themselves as
[31:25] well. So, I'm all for it and we are
[31:28] actively working to also push out
[31:30] information as well. I know that's one
[31:32] of the challenges that I had when I
[31:33] first started. So, it's not that I'm
[31:35] against it. I just want it to matter and
[31:37] to make an impact and just on both ends,
[31:41] help us help the community. So,
[31:44] » Yeah, with that, I mean, I I think this
[31:46] is a a great proposal and it balances
[31:48] both um the lessons that we've learned
[31:50] from the 2024 primary. Um, of course,
[31:53] you know, it was a little
[31:56] a little different because we had at the
[31:59] time two candidates who seemed like they
[32:01] would absolutely win their presidential
[32:02] preference primary. Um, and that was
[32:05] separate from the primary itself for
[32:07] other offices. So, it was kind of a bit
[32:08] of a strange situation as well. Um, but
[32:10] we learned our lessons from that
[32:12] primary, took it on to November, learned
[32:14] our lessons from that. So, as I'm
[32:15] looking at this proposal, I see that it
[32:16] balances those successes, um, what we've
[32:18] learned and also, you know, takes into
[32:20] account the changing voter trends that
[32:22] we've seen and the huge huge embrace by
[32:25] the public of early voting uh over
[32:27] election day voting. You know, it's it's
[32:29] just the voters's choice to choose that
[32:31] that method. Um and so we will, you
[32:34] know, uh moderate in order to
[32:36] accommodate those changes as well. Um so
[32:39] with this, uh I do have one question for
[32:41] you, Director Garrett. Uh just to
[32:43] clarify again the locations as far as
[32:45] the early uh voting. Um I know in the
[32:49] past we have had um a number of
[32:52] locations but uh just want to clarify
[32:54] exactly which locations we would be
[32:56] using for this early voting period.
[32:58] » Though it is not noted in your
[32:59] recommendation the locations would
[33:01] include the fet county elections office
[33:05] city library the tyrone town hall as
[33:09] well as county library.
[33:13] I would like to propose a question to
[33:16] consider.
[33:18] voting because of the turnout. I'm not
[33:22] against our for
[33:27] possibly just doing the election office
[33:30] and not the library and just Peace Tree
[33:34] City Library and that should cover the
[33:36] entire county for Sunday. But I'm not
[33:40] for I'm open to it. Um the elections
[33:44] office and the libraries
[33:47] not far away from each other. So it
[33:50] could possibly even if we still do
[33:52] Tyrone Hall town hall and not do the
[33:55] library but just considering the
[34:00] what did we do before we I thought there
[34:03] was one time that we only had one
[34:07] of the four locations open. I thought it
[34:09] was only the election office but I'm
[34:11] wrong. We talked, we discussed it, but
[34:14] you all ended up passing for all four
[34:16] locations,
[34:19] but it was a discussion.
[34:21] » Yeah. Um, I think my mind first goes to
[34:24] the potential for voter confusion as to
[34:25] going to the library if that's been a
[34:27] location in the past. Um, unfortunately,
[34:31] um, but at the same time, it is
[34:33] extremely close to the office and it
[34:35] would be somewhat reasonable to direct
[34:37] people to the office. Um and considering
[34:39] that that Sunday is on the 3, which is
[34:43] well before um an additional weekend
[34:47] opportunity on Saturday, May 9th, um we
[34:50] could just do the office. Um I think we
[34:54] we probably have to keep Tyrone Library,
[34:56] excuse me, keep the Tyrone location as
[34:58] well, Tyrone town hall location, but I'd
[35:01] be open to your comments as well.
[35:04] » I mean, as much as we want to encourage
[35:07] people to
[35:08] every opportunity
[35:10] uh to vote. Um
[35:14] we've had several changes like in Tyrone
[35:17] uh where the facilities have changed and
[35:19] we're having to use the town hall which
[35:23] is a little different and it's a
[35:25] different type of facility for us to you
[35:29] know bring voters through etc with
[35:32] council chambers. I think the jail is
[35:34] there. So um
[35:37] I'm not sure that I think that the town
[35:40] of Tyrone
[35:43] necessarily needs I don't know that
[35:44] we've ever looked. I can go back and
[35:46] look at the turnout. I think Tyrone is
[35:49] third, you know, between the
[35:52] library. So, it makes sense where the
[35:54] population is, but um I
[35:59] I don't think I would have heartburn if
[36:01] we if we did two two locations. I mean,
[36:05] because the library and the election
[36:07] office are so close. They're a mile
[36:10] apart. Um
[36:14] I don't think I have a problem with us
[36:15] not using especially considering the
[36:17] situation we've got where
[36:20] we really don't have a place to to vote.
[36:24] Does that make any sense what I'm
[36:25] saying?
[36:26] » Yes. But for the record, we do have a
[36:27] place to vote.
[36:28] » Huh. Well, we do, but it's in the town
[36:31] hall in May. um which to me
[36:35] in my discussions is not the best place
[36:38] for us to be. Um
[36:42] I would agree with that. I mean I think
[36:44] also considering this is the the primary
[36:46] we are going to have uh increased
[36:48] turnout but in balancing everything out
[36:50] together. We could do those the
[36:51] elections office and the street city
[36:53] library those two locations for the
[36:55] Sunday um voting and that would I mean
[36:57] it hits the major population centers. Um
[37:00] it also you know considering that we had
[37:03] 349 voters on that one Sunday for four
[37:06] locations. Um, you know, you split that
[37:09] in four ways. It's about 350 voters per
[37:11] location. Um, throughout the entire of
[37:14] the period that we were open, um, which
[37:16] I think comes out to about, you know,
[37:18] uh, just under about a voter every
[37:20] minute. So, it seems like logistically
[37:22] on Sundays we could do this with two
[37:24] locations. Um, and could also balance
[37:27] our staff's time and, you know, still
[37:29] keeping uh to being responsible stewards
[37:31] of
[37:32] as well. So, I guess um our advanced
[37:35] voting recommendation would be the four
[37:37] locations
[37:39] um for the Monday through Monday, April
[37:43] 27th through uh Friday uh May 15th. Um
[37:48] those would be 9 to5 on those weekdays
[37:50] and Saturdays. The exceptions being
[37:53] Sunday, May 3rd, which would be 12 to 4
[37:55] at those two locations, the elections
[37:57] office and the city library. And then uh
[38:01] Mother's Day, which is that Sunday, May
[38:02] 10th, we would not have any early
[38:04] voting. Um so we would still have the
[38:06] Sunday um still have Sunday voting
[38:09] available for all voters in our county,
[38:11] have those locations be in the
[38:13] population centers in our county as
[38:14] well, and uh still balance our needs on
[38:17] the back end uh as far as conducting our
[38:20] work as well.
[38:24] So that's a pretty long worded motion,
[38:27] but I guess I could accept it.
[38:31] » [laughter]
[38:32] » Mr. Chair, I make a motion that we
[38:34] accept the following advanced voting
[38:37] recommendation. that we would have
[38:40] advanced voting Monday, April the 27th
[38:44] through uh May the 15th, Friday May the
[38:48] 15th, 9 to5 which includes
[38:51] um two Saturdays also at 9:00 to 5 and
[38:56] then one Sunday opportunity which would
[38:59] be at the elections office and at the
[39:02] Beach City Library
[39:04] uh from 12 to 4.
[39:08] Motion has been made. I'll go ahead and
[39:10] second it. Um, any further discussion?
[39:14] Seeing none, I'll go ahead. All in favor
[39:16] of accepting our advanced voting
[39:18] recommendation to include our Sunday
[39:20] option and our uh balanced schedule for
[39:24] the rest of the week signify by saying
[39:26] I.
[39:27] » I.
[39:27] » I. Motion carries.
[39:36] I will ask director I think that we've
[39:39] said that we actually look at and vote
[39:42] on the advanced voting the locations and
[39:46] the days and the time uh for every
[39:50] election. Correct.
[39:51] » That's correct.
[39:58] » Okay. Brings us to our next item on the
[40:00] agenda which is of course our public
[40:02] hearings. Um, initially, let me get
[40:04] through this uh mouthful of words. Uh,
[40:06] this is initially our public hearing on
[40:08] staff's challenges to remove registered
[40:10] Bay County voters from the electors list
[40:12] who are registered in the state of
[40:13] Georgia Secretary of State voter
[40:15] registration system as deceased,
[40:17] mentally incompetent, canceled or felon
[40:19] as well as precinct and or polling
[40:21] location changes. Um, of course, this
[40:23] item is as needed. Um, really the the
[40:26] real underlying kicker about this
[40:28] situation is that this is what we call
[40:30] list maintenance. Um this is conducted
[40:32] at the state level by the secretary of
[40:34] state. So again, hate to harp on this
[40:36] underlying lesson for throughout this
[40:38] entire meeting, but we have very little
[40:40] autonomy. We do the best with what we
[40:42] can and what we have. Um but this is
[40:44] conducted at the Secretary of State's
[40:46] office. So we don't have much control
[40:47] over it. We just get the lists and the
[40:49] numbers. Um so with that, Director
[40:50] Garrett, I would invite you to describe
[40:52] some of the numbers that we see among
[40:54] these categories.
[40:55] » Yes. So for the record,
[41:00] Our last board meeting we have cancelled
[41:02] for the deceased 49
[41:07] for the duplicate 47
[41:11] I'm sorry for cancellations which
[41:13] includes duplicates moving out of state
[41:15] voter requested 47 and for felons 10 and
[41:20] that is a total of 466.
[41:23] So for deceased is 409, for
[41:26] cancellations is 47, and for felons is
[41:29] 10, totaling to 466.
[41:32] And I do want to um acknowledge it's
[41:34] part of my board report, so I'm not
[41:36] going to say it later. Um that we are
[41:39] doing our vote review, which we talked
[41:41] about um the last election. So that's
[41:43] when the state gave us over a thousand
[41:44] voters. We had to review for businesses
[41:46] and commercials and we worked through
[41:47] those. Um as soon as our new registar on
[41:51] Wallace started, they decided us another
[41:53] 300 plus additional deceased voters in
[41:56] which um our election clerk Kyle did a
[41:59] magnificent job of leading that project
[42:02] and working through those. So that's why
[42:04] their deceased number is so high this
[42:06] time is because we did go through our
[42:08] deceased voters from the secretary of
[42:10] state's audit that they sent. So they
[42:13] sent us a list of voters to look up and
[42:16] do some kind of information and research
[42:18] on
[42:22] any question.
[42:26] Mr. Chair, I make a motion that we
[42:28] accept cancer.
[42:32] » Do we need any action on this?
[42:34] » I don't think so. No.
[42:37] » I guess the motion carries.
[42:41] Okay. This brings us to public hearing
[42:43] which is the uh polling location
[42:45] proposal. This is number 2026-06.
[42:49] This is the proposal. Um and any
[42:53] elections junkies or big time fans of
[42:55] our wonderful show over here will know
[42:57] that at our last meeting uh we did take
[42:59] some action on the Flint precinct. Um
[43:04] because uh we you know just as we've had
[43:07] uh difficulty in turnover on the board
[43:08] in our office as we're trying to move
[43:10] through our growing to get to a a state
[43:13] of stability for all our voters and our
[43:15] operations. Um, you know, we we're not
[43:17] the only one that's true of right now.
[43:19] Um, and so as we uh are trying to
[43:21] increase our convenience for the voters
[43:22] and make sure that everyone has a
[43:24] convenient lo close location to where
[43:26] they live in order to vote, um, we do
[43:28] need to take some action uh to get our
[43:31] Flint precinct back to where it really
[43:32] needs to be um, to its original
[43:34] location. So, Director Garrett, I'd
[43:35] invite you to describe a little bit more
[43:36] about the situation before we uh, take
[43:38] any action on this. So after our last
[43:41] meeting, um the church reached out
[43:43] reached out to us and informed us that
[43:45] they in fact would like to continue
[43:48] serving as a polling location and
[43:50] apologize for the misunderstanding. I
[43:52] did inform them that we would need the
[43:54] polling reservation form completed
[43:56] because that binds us to using them as a
[43:57] polling location. They have completed
[43:59] that. They have turned it in. They do
[44:01] they do have some new leadership or some
[44:04] kind of transition in the leadership,
[44:05] but they would like to continue serving
[44:07] as a polling location. So I have the
[44:09] documentation that I need for 2026 to
[44:12] revert and reverse back. The good thing
[44:14] is we haven't touched it because that
[44:16] was the same week as our last um board
[44:19] meeting. So, I have everything that I
[44:21] need to be able to reverse this polling
[44:24] location. I just need a motion from you
[44:27] all.
[44:29] » Okay. Well, I guess with that, we can go
[44:31] ahead and open up the public hearing
[44:32] portions of this. Um take action. Um I
[44:36] guess the uh public hearing be operating
[44:39] under the same rules. Um, speakers will
[44:41] be given a fiveminute maximum time
[44:43] limit, speak before the board of
[44:44] elections about various topics, issues,
[44:46] and concerns. Uh, speakers must direct
[44:48] comments to the board and responses will
[44:50] be reserved at the direction. So I would
[44:52] invite anybody who wishes to speak on
[44:53] this subject, please come to the podium,
[44:54] state your name, your fate county
[44:56] residency and begin your comments.
[45:11] Good afternoon. My name is Lindsay Cobra
[45:14] and I would like to speak on two
[45:17] portions
[45:18] as far as the location. I'm happy to the
[45:21] church worked everything out and also
[45:24] thank you all for the work that you are
[45:26] doing. The two issues that I wanted to
[45:28] address were the issue that you all
[45:31] voted on which was the fact that voting
[45:33] in the elections office. I'm in the
[45:35] community here speak of a mother and
[45:40] how important it is for a mother not to
[45:42] take her child
[45:45] next to a jail. And so that was my first
[45:48] thought when I heard about
[45:51] Tyrone, oh
[45:55] there
[45:56] go
[46:04] and you can bring your child with you.
[46:06] They can experience it. The last time I
[46:08] went to vote there were plenty of high
[46:09] school students. It was their first time
[46:10] and everybody clap for them. You just
[46:12] want to kind of um create a culture of
[46:15] creating civic engagement for the
[46:17] children as well. being at a library
[46:21] would be better than I think
[46:24] and then also I did hear that you will
[46:27] have 9 to5 voting on those days. I know
[46:29] you already
[46:31] in the future just
[46:36] for this particular time
[46:40] I don't want anybody stay too late
[46:45] but nevertheless we just want to
[46:48] for those of us who are coming with
[46:50] children after hours.
[46:56] » Thank you, Miss Coper. Any additional uh
[46:59] comments
[47:02] and please podium state your name res9
[47:12] [clears throat]
[47:28] Just wanted to comment
[47:31] something
[47:33] in great
[47:36] comment about the Monday
[47:38] certification
[47:51] of the balance.
[47:56] major American history college state
[48:00] taught high school American history two
[48:02] years in the 1960s been a long time ago
[48:06] those times I never thought speaking
[48:09] like this today and haven't been I've
[48:11] always voted but in politics moving that
[48:15] way now I feel like our country is in a
[48:18] very bad spot right now personally I
[48:20] think that two things we were discussing
[48:23] particular today voting hours days
[48:29] getting more voters out. I think the two
[48:32] voting
[48:35] places
[48:37] I think
[48:45] I never thought I was high school
[48:47] teaching
[48:48] that worry about this topic. My
[48:51] grandchildren both live in Georgia.
[48:55] All five of them in Georgia. My two
[48:56] children live in Georgia. I worry about
[48:58] their future in our democracy.
[49:04] Words that are very important and I
[49:07] think sometimes we
[49:14] thank you very much. Any additional
[49:16] comments?
[49:26] Thank you for indulging comment. So I
[49:29] was shocked. So you have no evening
[49:31] hours for voting at all.
[49:36] So you do for so for the general are
[49:39] there evening hours?
[49:41] Is it past? I guess I let me make a
[49:44] statement. I know it's a comment. I
[49:46] would hope that for the general election
[49:50] that there are hours beyond 5 p.m. So
[49:55] that was shocking to me. And I guess the
[49:58] two Saturdays and the one Sunday
[50:00] hopefully will accommodate
[50:03] schedules during the primary
[50:06] that if I understood it was hard to
[50:08] hear, but if I understood right, there's
[50:10] two Saturdays and one Sunday. So perhaps
[50:13] that So I'm just I guess I would just
[50:15] say I would just I hope that during the
[50:18] general election there are hours for
[50:21] people
[50:23] 5:00.
[50:29] Thank you. Any additional public
[50:31] comments?
[50:36] Okay, seeing none, uh I will
[50:40] quickly just respond to a few of those.
[50:42] Um, of course, balancing the the safety
[50:45] of our voters um all and all of those
[50:47] who come with them, whether the children
[50:49] uh are joining them, is a huge concern
[50:51] of ours. Um, and of course, you know,
[50:53] this is just the primary election, we
[50:55] will have another opportunity to set
[50:57] these hours and locations for the
[50:59] general election. And uh while we will
[51:02] have a large turnout for the primary
[51:04] elections given the large number of
[51:05] candidates and large number of offices
[51:07] that are have open seats, um you know,
[51:10] really as we look November just as we
[51:12] did in 2024. Having Sunday voting,
[51:15] having expanded locations and hours um
[51:18] to meet the demand from the voters
[51:20] themselves during the early voting
[51:22] period, I'm sure is something that we
[51:23] will look at maintaining uh especially
[51:26] you know for the general election when
[51:27] we're going to have massive massive
[51:29] turnout for a number of different races.
[51:31] Um so while this is just uh you know
[51:33] going to affect our primary election
[51:34] here for uh May uh the May primary which
[51:39] will be on the 19th I believe. Um, you
[51:42] know, the uh expanded locations will
[51:44] absolutely be something that we pursue
[51:46] uh for the uh November election. Um,
[51:52] you have anything like
[51:54] » Um I would just like to say that um
[51:59] our board we came on board two two years
[52:01] ago. Our board was the first one I
[52:03] believe that actually allowed Sunday
[52:06] voting and expanded the hours and we
[52:10] were to do that. I do feel it's very
[52:12] important. Um, and I'm sure that we will
[52:16] go ahead and look at that when we have
[52:18] we feel we're going to have a bigger
[52:19] turnout for the for the general. One
[52:22] thing I would like to ask is I
[52:25] understand everybody wanting to have the
[52:28] most opportunity that they can for
[52:30] anybody to go and vote. uh we would like
[52:33] that as well. But I would ask
[52:37] that those of you that are very
[52:39] concerned, would you also help to make
[52:42] sure that your friends and your
[52:44] neighbors turn out? I mean, that would
[52:47] help tremendously for us to be able to
[52:50] offer more hours uh in voting. So, I'm
[52:54] just asking for your help. We understand
[52:57] the need and the request, but please
[53:00] help us as well. I say to the gentleman
[53:02] from Tyrone, I'm also from Tyrone. 35
[53:06] years that are there um and
[53:10] this transition is just because the old
[53:13] voting location, you know, fell in. So,
[53:16] you know, this is not ideal, but I
[53:18] believe it's being taken care of. I am a
[53:20] Constitution coach and therefore I've
[53:22] given uh Constitution Day celebrations
[53:26] at the town hall. So, we'll see if I do
[53:29] it this year.
[53:31] And just to answer one more thing which
[53:33] I didn't get to um just to clarify as
[53:35] far as what we decided for our
[53:37] certification times um for the uh May uh
[53:43] general primary that will be the uh May
[53:45] 27th at 5:00 pm. Um that is our
[53:49] certification meeting. Um, and then the
[53:53] Monday, June 22nd, which will be after
[53:55] the Junth uh celebration holiday, on
[53:58] that Friday, we would have our
[53:59] certification meeting on that Monday at
[54:00] 100 p.m. Um, but then of course for the
[54:03] general election in November, we'll be
[54:04] back to our normal Friday, 5:00 p.m.,
[54:06] Friday, November 6th, and Friday,
[54:08] December 4th, if there is a runoff
[54:10] necessary.
[54:24] Director Garrett, just that I'm seeing
[54:25] this now before we might need to make a
[54:28] small amendment to our action that we've
[54:30] taken seeing as uh May 27th
[54:36] is a Wednesday.
[54:40] So we may need to revise that to May 22.
[54:46] which would be the Friday after
[54:49] » Um the 19th.
[54:52] » That is correct.
[54:53] » Okay. So, I guess we could just I would
[54:58] Yeah, I would accept a
[55:01] polling location after.
[55:09] Okay. Seeing as there are no other
[55:11] public comments, I guess we can go ahead
[55:13] and take uh action on the uh proposal
[55:16] itself and then we can amend the
[55:18] calendar after that. Just finish the
[55:20] public comment period. Um so with that,
[55:22] I guess I could accept a motion. Um this
[55:23] is of course just maintaining the the
[55:26] voting precinct there at our number six
[55:28] Flint. U Flint
[55:30] the precinct is Mcdana Road Baptist
[55:32] Church there 352 Mcdana Road Fil,
[55:35] Georgia Postal Press. Um it's been the
[55:39] in the past. We're just keeping it uh
[55:41] maintaining it in the same location.
[55:43] We've had a little, you know, internal
[55:45] paperwork to do, but for all intents and
[55:47] purposes, nobody in the public needs to
[55:48] change their behavior or has uh been led
[55:51] to believe too much to that a change
[55:53] could happen. So, there really is very
[55:55] little impact to the public as far as
[55:56] voter convenience. Um, so with that, I
[55:58] would accept a motion uh on our uh
[56:01] proposal number 2026-05.
[56:04] » Mr. Chair, I make a motion that we
[56:06] accept the proposal to reverse and go
[56:09] back to
[56:13] original.
[56:16] » Okay, I'll go ahead and second. Any
[56:17] further discussion? Seeing none, all in
[56:20] favor signify by saying I.
[56:22] » I.
[56:22] » I. Motion carries unanimously. Okay. And
[56:26] then uh at this point I would
[56:29] accept a motion to amend the 2026 board
[56:34] meeting calendar to clarify that our May
[56:37] meeting will be May 22nd 2026.
[56:40] » Mr.
[56:42] I move I will make a motion that we
[56:45] amend
[56:46] excuse me our meeting schedule
[56:50] or and we'll confirm that we are
[56:52] changing Tuesday March the 24th to March
[56:57] the 31st as well as Friday May the 27th
[57:01] we will change to Friday May the 22.
[57:07] » Uh I'll go ahead and second that motion.
[57:09] Um,
[57:10] seeing no further discussion, um, I'll
[57:13] go ahead and I will call vote. All in
[57:17] favor of accepting that March 31st is
[57:20] our meeting and then May 22.
[57:25] All in favor signify by saying I
[57:27] » I motion carries.
[57:33] » And that brings us to our uh, director's
[57:36] report. So, Director Garrett, please uh
[57:38] enlighten us.
[57:40] » Greetings, board. As of February 24th,
[57:44] there are 98,523
[57:48] registered voters. 91,352
[57:52] of those are active registered voters in
[57:55] Faget County. Um,
[57:58] qualifying will begin on next week,
[58:01] March 2nd, beginning at 9:00 a.m. all
[58:04] the way through Friday um March 6 at
[58:07] 12:00 p.m. We were able to meet with our
[58:11] well I held a meeting um yesterday with
[58:14] the parties um to answer any questions
[58:17] that they may have um and also make sure
[58:20] that we are squared away for reporting
[58:22] each day um with our elections.
[58:26] It's going to be short.
[58:29] Um, as far as renovation updates to
[58:32] sweet A, um, we are almost complete. We
[58:36] are very, very close to being completed.
[58:38] We are still waiting on the sink to be
[58:42] demolished and removed. So, that is what
[58:45] we are waiting on before we can begin
[58:47] the moving process. And I'm hopeful that
[58:49] we can get an update within the next two
[58:51] weeks on when that date will be
[58:53] clarified.
[58:55] We still are in search of an election
[58:57] supervisor, so that position remains
[58:59] vacant. Um, we're also looking for
[59:02] additional poworkers as always, as well
[59:05] as um seasonal technicians in the
[59:08] office.
[59:10] I do want to address two things from the
[59:14] comments. So, you're correct for the
[59:17] dropboxes. I just wanted to clarify that
[59:19] it is by the OCGA code. So, we can't
[59:22] extend those hours. It's during the
[59:24] advanced voting days and times and they
[59:27] have to be under surveillance or made by
[59:28] a person which is in our front office
[59:31] and it's one drop box per 100,000
[59:35] voters. So with us only having 90
[59:39] 1,000 voters
[59:41] we're only able to have one dropbox. Um
[59:45] also we will be holding voter
[59:47] registration classes on the March 10th
[59:50] and March 18th.
[59:52] I will get you all the the location and
[59:56] time at a later date and we'll also post
[59:57] it on our social media page and on our
[1:00:00] um website as well when that information
[1:00:04] is confirmed. I also wanted to address
[1:00:08] advanced voting for the young lady with
[1:00:10] the young child. I wanted to make sure I
[1:00:13] just wanted to be clear. It seems that
[1:00:15] it might have been um misunderstood. So
[1:00:17] the library is open all of those days
[1:00:20] except for Sunday in which library is
[1:00:22] already closed on Sundays. So, it
[1:00:25] actually just benefits the library of
[1:00:26] not having to have staffing to come in
[1:00:28] and open up just for us. For all the
[1:00:30] other advanced voting days, the library
[1:00:32] will be open and available.
[1:00:36] Um lastly,
[1:00:40] we often talk about our proposals and
[1:00:42] our changes to locations
[1:00:45] and just trying working to clean up
[1:00:50] our polling locations even more so
[1:00:53] solidify locations so that we don't have
[1:00:56] to do continuous moves because it's
[1:00:58] starting to become a trend. So I am very
[1:01:01] excited for 2027
[1:01:04] to be able to at all of our polling
[1:01:06] locations and get some permanency with
[1:01:09] those um facilities so that we don't
[1:01:12] have to keep inquiring these changes.
[1:01:13] And I do understand that things happen
[1:01:16] and I I I will say FA's community is
[1:01:19] very supportive. Um I come from another
[1:01:21] county and we rely heavily on the
[1:01:23] schools because it was so much to kind
[1:01:27] of rely on those community facilities.
[1:01:29] But here in Fyet, the community is very
[1:01:32] supportive. However, we've been notified
[1:01:36] that um on yesterday, just over clipped,
[1:01:39] so this is yesterday's emergency polling
[1:01:41] location for our future consideration
[1:01:43] that Fet Friendship Community Church
[1:01:46] will be closing its doors and they're
[1:01:48] not available for the May 19th election
[1:01:50] nor the June election. That's also the
[1:01:53] facility that we just colllocated with
[1:01:56] number eight for New Hope.
[1:02:00] Is that the name of the precinct? the
[1:02:01] church at New Hope closed down Oakidge.
[1:02:04] » Well, Oakidge is 28. I just can't
[1:02:06] remember number 28. I mean,
[1:02:11] » Yes. So, we just colllocated that
[1:02:14] location. So, now staff will be going
[1:02:16] back to look at
[1:02:18] in my own recommendation just
[1:02:20] colllocating with another precinct
[1:02:22] that's touching it. So, I just received
[1:02:24] that information yesterday. I haven't
[1:02:25] had a chance to look at it, but I just
[1:02:27] wanted to give you the heads up that we
[1:02:29] will be addressing that
[1:02:33] We're talking something like six or
[1:02:35] seven thousand registered voters between
[1:02:37] those two. Yes, I believe it was around
[1:02:39] 6K.
[1:02:41] But whatever change we make, we will.
[1:02:42] So, um, register on baller has hold off
[1:02:45] on sending them precinct cards at the
[1:02:46] beginning of this year. Um, they're
[1:02:48] they're called special precinct cards
[1:02:50] because we want to make sure that we
[1:02:51] don't confuse them. So once we make a
[1:02:54] determination, we'll be sending their
[1:02:56] precinct cards along with a notification
[1:02:58] from our office on colored sheet of
[1:02:59] paper so that hopefully they'll pay
[1:03:01] attention to the notification when they
[1:03:03] receive it in the mail once we figure
[1:03:05] out what it is or determine what will be
[1:03:07] done for the May election. And I do
[1:03:09] appreciate them giving us a heads up now
[1:03:12] versus closer to the election. That will
[1:03:15] also require the additional signage at
[1:03:17] those locations as well.
[1:03:21] That concludes my
[1:03:23] report.
[1:03:26] Do you all have any questions for me?
[1:03:46] No further questions.
[1:03:48] Um, with that, I'll reach out to uh
[1:03:50] Patrick St, our county attorney. Do you
[1:03:52] have a report for us this month, sir?
[1:03:54] » Uh, just uh wanted to brief you on the
[1:03:57] state board of elections meeting last
[1:03:59] week. We did we were um requested to be
[1:04:02] there on two cases that we were
[1:04:04] responding. I think there were actually
[1:04:06] five total FA County cases, but we were
[1:04:08] the respondent on two of them. One
[1:04:10] involved um ballot paper left in a
[1:04:13] printer that was used at an elections
[1:04:16] location. Um received a letter of
[1:04:18] instruction on that. We've taken steps
[1:04:20] to correct that going forward. And then
[1:04:22] the other one was an accessibility ADA
[1:04:25] issue at at uh it was a ADA
[1:04:30] accessibility issue at Holy Trinity,
[1:04:33] » Holy Trinity Church. Um at the time this
[1:04:36] complaint was made, apparently there was
[1:04:37] a rise of I believe two and a half
[1:04:39] inches going into the location. Since
[1:04:42] then, we've actually moved the polling
[1:04:44] location to another place on that
[1:04:46] campus. longer an issue. So we received
[1:04:49] was it a letter of instruction or a
[1:04:50] dismissal?
[1:04:52] » Letter of instruction.
[1:04:55] So that was that was the result.
[1:04:57] » Just to clarify a little bit for members
[1:04:59] of the audience, um those are very very
[1:05:01] favorable outcomes to those cases. You
[1:05:03] know, as uh we have issues or uh
[1:05:06] self-reported errors in our own election
[1:05:08] system, uh we always report them and
[1:05:10] make sure that they raise them all. flag
[1:05:12] so that way we can work with our
[1:05:14] partners at the state level um to
[1:05:15] resolve anything. Um and so I just want
[1:05:17] to give kudos right now that I've got
[1:05:19] the opportunity to director Garrett and
[1:05:20] attorney style um for developing those
[1:05:22] favorable outcomes and protecting all
[1:05:24] our fate county voters um and working
[1:05:26] with state election board to make sure
[1:05:27] that that happens. Um so with that I
[1:05:30] guess we can go ahead and start board
[1:05:31] me.
[1:05:33] » Thank you. Um I will also address the
[1:05:37] audience and I do appreciate you coming.
[1:05:41] talk about pole workers, understand that
[1:05:44] uh we're trying to provide everything we
[1:05:46] can for voters to be able to to vote. Uh
[1:05:49] but you have to understand it isn't
[1:05:52] really it isn't the cost as much. I
[1:05:55] mean, we do have to look at that, but uh
[1:05:58] it's becoming harder and harder for us
[1:06:00] to get poll workers and uh so I will
[1:06:03] encourage you if you want to have
[1:06:06] additional hours and days uh of early
[1:06:10] voting that you agree that you try to
[1:06:14] submit and you be willing to uh be a
[1:06:17] poll worker or encourage your neighbors
[1:06:19] and your friends. We can't run the
[1:06:22] elections without staff those locations.
[1:06:26] And so anytime we ask for them to be
[1:06:29] there more hours and more days because
[1:06:32] it's the same set uh you know people
[1:06:34] that have to work those three weeks uh
[1:06:37] that we need help from the public for
[1:06:40] y'all to encourage people to be willing
[1:06:43] to work it. Those are long days. uh you
[1:06:48] know election day is 12 hours well it's
[1:06:50] really 14 to 15 uh but we need the
[1:06:53] workers or we can't open the facilities
[1:06:55] so I'm just saying that so that you are
[1:06:58] aware of all the parameters that
[1:07:02] has to go through and we have to take
[1:07:04] into account um to try to provide those
[1:07:08] hours. So
[1:07:11] thank you for coming. Thank you, Vice
[1:07:13] Chair Alexander. Um, just to echo those
[1:07:15] sentiments, yeah, thank you. Thank you
[1:07:17] for coming out to our meetings. Um, you
[1:07:19] know, it's it isn't the Super Bowl, but
[1:07:21] it is important. Um, so it's not as
[1:07:23] entertaining, but it certainly is uh
[1:07:26] critical. Um, so thank you for your
[1:07:28] support. Thank you for coming out. Thank
[1:07:29] you to all those who give public
[1:07:30] comments. And as you see that the
[1:07:31] system, the way that we do it with the
[1:07:33] public comments is a little strange, but
[1:07:34] we do really do our best to uh offer
[1:07:37] responses to everything that's brought
[1:07:38] up. Um, and again, one of the biggest
[1:07:40] things that I think we and accomplish in
[1:07:43] our role is to maximize our
[1:07:45] accessibility and our approachability.
[1:07:48] Um so again, fy countya.gov on the
[1:07:50] elections department website you can see
[1:07:52] our phone number, our email address,
[1:07:54] reach out to us directly or reach out to
[1:07:55] us at the office if any other questions
[1:07:57] or comments or concerns were to arise.
[1:07:59] We really pride ourselves on being as
[1:08:02] communicative and receptive as possible.
[1:08:04] So you know use the levers that you
[1:08:06] have, use the opportunities like Vice
[1:08:08] Chair Alexander just mentioned to get
[1:08:10] involved in the election system to to
[1:08:11] see how it actually works and to see the
[1:08:13] checks and balances that we have in our
[1:08:15] system that protect our rights um up and
[1:08:17] down the ballot for all reasons. Um so
[1:08:20] with that, I've got one more thing. Um
[1:08:22] just, you know, as as we say sometimes
[1:08:24] in our meetings, we like to, you know,
[1:08:26] always respect our staff and give them
[1:08:27] as much kudos as possible. And you know,
[1:08:30] our our intern has been working his rear
[1:08:32] end off. Uh Musa, I guess, is finally
[1:08:35] getting some recognition from the school
[1:08:37] as validictorian. So congratulations to
[1:08:39] him. Um you know, he does work and has
[1:08:42] actually been working on a voter
[1:08:43] education series. I would accept a round
[1:08:44] of applause. Absolutely. Um I don't
[1:08:47] believe he is here right now. He is
[1:08:48] hopefully studying on his homework and
[1:08:51] or preparing for the SATs. Um but uh
[1:08:54] just want to again express our extreme
[1:08:57] uh pride in Musa and the work that he
[1:08:59] does.
[1:09:00] » While you're giving kudos, he has a 4.6
[1:09:02] GPA. Just throw that out there.
[1:09:04] » I can't even count that high. 4.6. Very
[1:09:08] impressive. Um but it really it's with
[1:09:10] uh strong, smart, good faith, kind folks
[1:09:15] like Musa that make our office work so
[1:09:17] well. Um, it's why we're really
[1:09:18] fortunate to have Director Garrett in
[1:09:20] the role that she's in. Um, and
[1:09:22] everybody at our office, um, you know,
[1:09:24] Malcolm and Jenny, uh, who have come on
[1:09:26] the board, uh, come on board with us not
[1:09:27] so long ago, um, but have really become
[1:09:29] indispensable members of the family. So,
[1:09:31] thank you to everybody. Thank you to
[1:09:32] Musa. Congratulations to Musa. And with
[1:09:34] that, I don't have anything else. So,
[1:09:36] » Can I make one other comment in regards
[1:09:39] your question about dropes understand
[1:09:42] that that was a state law change where
[1:09:45] we used to have a lot of drop boxes and
[1:09:47] they were outside. There was difficulty
[1:09:50] and a lot of problems uh in Georgia but
[1:09:54] in other states uh with those being
[1:09:57] abused so they say and but the state law
[1:10:00] changed for that reason uh that it had
[1:10:03] to go indoors where somebody could watch
[1:10:06] it and that's why there's only
[1:10:09] 100,000. So, I just wanted you to know
[1:10:11] that wasn't us. That was state law um
[1:10:15] that came down and they've talked about
[1:10:17] doing away with them completely. So, I
[1:10:19] would encourage you to talk to your
[1:10:22] state legislator. Okay. Thank you.
[1:10:26] » Absolutely. With that, I don't have
[1:10:27] anything else. So, I can guess we can go
[1:10:29] ahead and accept a motion to adjurnn.
[1:10:32] » Mr. Chair, I motion been made. No second
[1:10:36] is required. Any further discussion?
[1:10:38] Seeing none, all in favor signify by
[1:10:40] saying I. I. We are joured. Thank you
[1:10:42] all very much.