This story has been updated.

DeKalb County, GA — The DeKalb County Voter Registration and Elections office will rescan ballots from all 40 precincts in county commission District 2 following some confusion about the vote totals, Decaturish has confirmed. 

The votes will be rescanned on Saturday, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. It is expected that interested parties will be able to observe this process, according to a source familiar with the situation. The election is scheduled to be certified on May 31.

DeKalb VRE also confirmed the rescan of the ballots after this article was published.

“To ensure the accuracy of the votes cast in the District 2 contest, DeKalb VRE will perform a recount of all ballots cast at the 40 precincts located in the commission district on Saturday, May 28, at 9 a.m. at the DeKalb VRE offices in Decatur,” VRE said in a press release. “All candidates have been invited to view the recount process, which is open to the general public.”

DeKalb VRE believes, based on initial data from the District 2 contest, that this is an “isolated issue.” The county also confirmed that vote totals displayed incorrectly, making it appear that one candidate received zero votes in all but four precincts. That was not the case, however.

“We are grateful for the Secretary of State’s acknowledgment of the DeKalb VRE team’s diligence in this situation,” said DeKalb Board of Registration and Elections Chair Dele Lowman Smith. “Our staff not only followed the proper procedures in advance but responded with urgency when this error came to light. DeKalb County voters can take courage in the multiple checks and balances built into the voting process that should give them confidence in the outcome of this vote.”

DeKalb County Commissioner District 2 candidate Michelle Long Spears said that during the primary on May 24, some precincts were reporting she received zero votes – including her own precinct. 

During the normal post-election check before certification, election officials discovered a technical error in the precinct scanners that affected the DeKalb County Commission District 2 race. This is the only race impacted by the error, according to the press release from the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office.

“The Secretary of State’s Office and DeKalb County Election and Registration have been in constant contact to remediate this issue once it was discovered and ensure that all votes are properly counted,” the press release said.

Don Broussard dropped out of the race for DeKalb Commissioner District 2. That withdrawal caused a mistake in the programming of the precinct scanner and led to inaccurate vote counts for two candidates.

“The multiple layers of checks and balances built into Georgia’s election system and the fact that all votes are recorded on paper ballots that can be recounted allowed this issue to be detected and a resolution identified,” according to the press release. “The Secretary of State’s office commends the DeKalb County Elections and Registrations team for their diligence in detecting and resolving this issue prior to certification of their results.”

Four candidates initially qualified for the District 2 seat, but Broussard dropped out of the race after the equipment had been prepared.

“That candidate was marked as ‘disabled’ in the Election Management Server, which is proper procedure,” the press release stated. “Subsequent to that, it was discovered that five precincts in DeKalb were redistricted into County Commission District 2 race, but those precincts had not been updated to reflect that change. To remedy that, a new election project was created so that the County Commission District 2 race properly appeared on the ballots for those precincts. That new election project took into account the withdrawal of the one candidate so that only the remaining three candidates appeared on the ballot marking devices (BMDs) and the scanner expected only those three candidates (the initial project had all four candidates on the ballot marking devices and expected four candidates for this race in the scanner).”

Additionally, on the first day of early voting, one of the Republican Party questions was not properly appearing on the ballot marking devices.

“To remedy this issue, the Secretary of State’s Center for Election Systems updated the election project so that the text properly appeared,” the release said. “However, that update was built off the updated election project that had been utilized for the five precincts that did not initially have District 2 on their ballots. In making that update, it caused a discrepancy on Election Day between the BMDs (with the updated project showing three candidates) and the Election Day scanners in the other precincts in the county (that were expecting four candidates in that race).”

DeKalb County Voter Registration and Elections office detected the issue and after the election, during their post-election processes, and the Secretary of State’s office has worked with the county to resolve the issue.

“The resolution is to scan the Election Day paper ballots from those precincts on the central scanner, which has the correct information for DeKalb County Commission District 2,” according to the press release. “Other remedies, such as recounts, are at the discretion of the DeKalb County Board of Elections and Registration, as this is a county race.”

Secretary of State officials said this issue is proof voters should have confidence in the results of local elections.

“DeKalb County’s ability to quickly identify this discrepancy with their election results is evidence that Georgia’s election system works and is secure,” State Elections Director Blake Evans said. “DeKalb’s elections team is setting an example for the rest of the state of how to properly audit and review results before certification. Thanks to our state’s verifiable paper-based system, DeKalb County will ensure that the results they certify are accurate and reflect the will of their voters.”

Spears asked DeKalb County for a hand count of ballots, saying several precincts reported zero votes in her favor. She is running for Jeff Rader’s seat against outgoing DeKalb School Board Member Marshall Orson and Lauren Alexander, a consultant and activist. 

Spears said she noticed something was awry in the middle of the day on May 24. She drove to her precinct to photograph results, which she said also reported zero votes. 

“I went to the precinct where my husband and I both voted, which would have at least been two votes: my husband and myself. It also reported zero. Then I started to elevate this issue to my campaign team,” Spears said. 

The DeKalb County Voter Registration and Elections Department confirmed it is conducting a hand count of ballots but has said a “display error” is to blame for the discrepancies Spears saw. 

VRE spokesperson Erik Burton said no other races are being hand-counted at this time. 

“Our unofficial and incomplete results are available online, and we look forward to certifying those next Tuesday,” he said. Later, Burton added, “We are advancing efforts to ensure the accuracy of this election and look forward to certifying the results on May 31.”

Here are the results reported by the Georgia Secretary of State’s website as of May 25: 

District 2

Lauren Alexander – 34.67% 

Marshall Orson – 41.35%

MIchelle Long Spears – 23.98%

Total votes cast: 12,639

Marjorie Hall Snook, one of the founders of citizen advocacy group DeKalb Strong, said the data of the election results seem odd and there may have been a mistake in the data processing because the numbers appear to be under-counted for Spears.

“This race was confusing, and it seemed like it may be related to the fact that there was somebody who was on the ballot who dropped out of the race,” Snook said Tuesday morning. “If you vote for somebody who is on the ballot but is no longer in the race, then basically they kind of throw those votes in the garbage. It seems like whatever they did in accounting for these votes screwed up the tallies.”

She hopes the county takes the time to do quality assurance and quality control to prevent something like this from happening again.

“There’s a reason that there’s a time lag between the tabulation and when we certify the votes,” Snook said. “If they’re open and transparent and willing to QA/QC this data before it’s certified, then that’s fine. What would worry me is if they double down on saying that QA/QC isn’t necessary. There’s enough of an issue that I think they should take it seriously and make sure these tallies are right.”

She also worried about the state Elections Board getting involved in this election.

“As a citizen of DeKalb County, I really want us to have confidence in our elections,” Snook said. “I really don’t want the state Elections Board to be given an excuse to come in and take over. This was a primary. This was just Democrats running against Democrats and Republicans running against Republicans. I don’t want the state to be in charge when it’s Republicans running against Democrats.”

Orson said the number of votes cast is within the range of what his campaign expected.

“We think we finished first and are headed to a runoff,” Orson said in a post on his campaign Facebook page. “But, it is DeKalb, so there has to be some drama. There are some questions about the vote count and possible discrepancies with the precinct level tapes. Could be a counting problem or could be a formatting problem. … DeKalb elections is undertaking a hand recount. So, we will not know the final result for a while, but we are proceeding on the assumption we are in a runoff. And that runoff will come quick. Runoff election date is June 21st. Early voting is the week of June 13th.”

Alexander is looking ahead to the June 21 runoff election with Orson. 

“My campaign is about bringing new leadership and a fresh perspective to solve the challenges that District 2 and DeKalb County is facing including affordability, quality of life, infrastructure, protecting civil and voting rights, improving the relationship between the county and our cities, and public safety issues,” Alexander said. “Democratic voters in District 2 have an important choice to make in the runoff, I encourage them to turn out and make their voice count next month. Our campaign begins anew today.” DeKalb Elections board members have called a meeting on May 31 to certify the primary election results.

DeKalb Elections board members have called a meeting on May 31 to certify the primary election results.

Here is the full press release from the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office:

Due to normal post-election checks and balances prior to certification, a technical error in the precinct scanners that affected the DeKalb County Commission District 2 race was discovered. DeKalb County Commission District 2 is the only race affected by the error. The Secretary of State’s Office and DeKalb County Election and Registration have been in constant contact to remediate this issue once it was discovered and ensure that all votes are properly counted. Through a unique series of events detailed below, a mistake in programming for one candidate’s withdrawal in the precinct scanner led to inaccurate vote counts for two candidates. The multiple layers of checks and balances built into Georgia’s election system and the fact that all votes are recorded on paper ballots that can be recounted allowed this issue to be detected and a resolution identified. The Secretary of State’s office commends the Dekalb County Elections and Registrations team for their diligence in detecting and resolving this issue prior to certification of their results.

Initially, four candidates qualified to run for District 2 Commissioner. After the election project had been built and the equipment had been prepared, one candidate withdrew. That candidate was marked as “disabled” in the Election Management Server, which is proper procedure. Subsequent to that, it was discovered that five precincts in DeKalb were redistricted into County Commission District 2 race, but those precincts had not been updated to reflect that change. To remedy that, a new election project was created so that the County Commission District 2 race properly appeared on the ballots for those precincts. That new election project took into account the withdrawal of the one candidate so that only the remaining three candidates appeared on the ballot marking devices (BMDs) and the scanner expected only those three candidates (the initial project had all four candidates on the ballot marking devices and expected four candidates for this race in the scanner). On the first day of early voting, an issue was discovered on the BMDs that the text of one Republican party question was not properly appearing. To remedy this issue, the Secretary of State’s Center for Election Systems updated the election project so that the text properly appeared. However, that update was built off of the updated election project that had been utilized for the five precincts that did not initially have District 2 on their ballots. In making that update, it caused a discrepancy on Election Day between the BMDs (with the updated project showing three candidates) and the Election Day scanners in the other precincts in the county (that were expecting four candidates in that race). The issue was quickly detected by DeKalb County Elections and Registrations after the election during their normal post-election processes, and the Secretary of State’s office has worked with DeKalb to help resolve the issue. The resolution is to scan the Election Day paper ballots from those precincts on the central scanner, which has the correct information for DeKalb County Commission District 2. Other remedies, such as recounts, are at the discretion of the DeKalb County Board of Elections and Registration as this is a county race.

“DeKalb County’s ability to quickly identify this discrepancy with their election results is evidence that Georgia’s election system works and is secure,” said State Elections Director Blake Evans. “DeKalb’s elections team is setting an example for the rest of the state of how to properly audit and review results before certification. Thanks to our state’s verifiable paper-based system, DeKalb County will ensure that the results they certify are accurate and reflect the will of their voters.”

Writer Logan C. Ritchie contributed to this article.

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