Fayette Elections Board checks 5,000 contested registered voters, removes one

I attended the “Special Called Meeting” of the Fayette County Board of Elections on July 16 at 3:00 p.m. I’m summarizing the meeting below to the best of my ability.

I went to the meeting because it was my understanding that the voting eligibility of 5,000 people (the board rounded the number) was being challenged. In attendance were a few Board of Elections employees, a county lawyer, the three board members and six people in the audience.

The long and the short of the 40-minute meeting was this: One un-named individual in the county challenged the legitimacy of 5,000 voters on the roll. Most of the people had moved and the remaining were associated with commercial addresses. People in residential homes — such as assisted living — parsonages, and businesses where someone resides may have a commercial address.

Within a very short time it was determined that only 1 — ONE — of the 5,000 challenges had any validity. 4000+ of the names on the list were of people who had moved to another state and all the appropriate steps to make sure they can’t vote in Georgia are in play or have been completed.

The remaining contested voters have commercial addresses as noted above. All three board members agreed to move forward with only needing to investigate the one reasonable challenge.

Choosing to address the board, I said: “Thank you for your service. This meeting was conducted civilly and in the manner that business should be done. Last week I attended the State Election Board meeting regarding changes in voting laws/procedures. Things weren’t quite so calm.

“An emergency meeting was called by the SEB for Friday, July 12. Citizens and government officials are now investigating the meeting for its legality. It appears to me that some of the changes in election laws and procedures are simply there to ‘gum up the works,’ a solution in search of a problem. I understand and accept that things won’t always go in my favor. But, I support free and fair elections.”

I appreciate the fact that our leaders are following the law; not playing games. They are doing their best to use common sense, and not waste tax dollars or the valuable and limited time of employees.

I encourage you to read the Brennan Center for Justice’s article about Georgia’s changes to our elections.

Register to vote and vote!

Kimberly Hearn

Fayetteville, Ga.