DeKalb County, GA — The DeKalb Board of Registrations and Elections heard a legislative update at its April 11 meeting.

Notably, this update included a report on SB-189, which, among other things, amends Section 21-2-540 of the Georgia code to allow Special elections to be held within 29 days of being called for, as opposed to the previous 90 days. 

This section caused controversy when it forced the DeKalb Board of Elections to postpone Special elections for District 3 and District 7 until November, leaving both districts underrepresented for several months. 

The amendment limits the 90-day period to special elections “to present questions to the voters.”

However, this amendment is not yet law. Several other amendments were presented: HB-974 which mandates ballots have a visible watermark security feature, HB-1270, which provides candidates the opportunity to review and proof ballots prior to the finalization of the official form and SB-212, which ends the probate court judges authority to carry out duties related to elections. 

All are in the same legal limbo at the moment. They have been passed by their respective bodies but are not yet law as none have been signed by the Governor, and the 40 days that automatically transition them into law have not yet elapsed.   

Governor Kemp has not taken action to veto these bills, but they are still not in effect. 

The update was a summary, as specifically SB-189 does several other things (for example, removing the Secretary of State from the Georgia Board of Elections), but the Board’s legal counsel promised a more detailed look into what these bills would do if enacted and updates about their status

Elections Board Executive Director Keisha Smith also updated the board on its ongoing work to update DeKalb County residents on the redistricting results. 

Around 75% of DeKalb County residents will experience some change based on the redistricting. Director Smith presented that the district is planning for a PSA to be rolled out sometime in April and is also mailing out cards notifying people of changes. There are 580,000 left to go, and Smith expects them to be sent out by the end of next week, stating staff was planning to “work the weekend and work overtime to mail them out.”

The Board is also planning to add a section to the website that allows voters to see their sample ballots. 

Until then, voters can check their voter information at https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/ 

The Board also announced that the May 21 primary registration deadline is April 22. The last day to request an absentee ballot is May 10. The Board is also asking Voters planning to vote by mail to request a ballot as soon as possible, given the current “challenges with USPS mailing”. 

In other news 

— The board passed a resolution that allows the Executive director to sign contracts worth less than $50,000.

— The board also audited results from the Republican Primary, with the audit results matching what was originally reported.

— The Board also ratified a contract from 2020 with Dominion Voting Systems Inc. The issue arose when Dominion contacted the board saying they couldn’t find a signed copy of the contracts for services from 2020; then the board looked and couldn’t find theirs, so now the contract is being re-signed. This ratification is, to be explicit, retroactive, approving an agreement already in place and does not constitute a new agreement or a new allocation of funds. The Board requested legal counsel provide information on the due diligence to ensure equipment was delivered and numbers agreed to on the contract haven’t changed.

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