Councilman Holland responds to voter lists controversary

Peachtree City Councilman Clint Holland  emailed The Citizen his response to the concerns raised at the Oct. 19 council meeting:

“The lists discussed by the City Council during their October 19, regular meeting are not “voter rolls” as they alluded to, but rather lists of deceased Fayette County residents, available to anyone who asks for them. The public lists can be used to verify whether all deceased residents have been removed from the voter rolls.

“Any member of the public can obtain the list of deceased county residents from Lynn Crittenden, Chief Clerk Probate Court, located at 1 Center Drive, Fayetteville, GA (770-716-4224).

“A group of concerned citizens asked for a list of Fayette County residents who died since January 1, 2020, that could be compared to the active voter rolls to ensure the Fayette County voter rolls were up to date and accurate.

“One list is the ‘Fayette County Productivity Report’ which gives the Decedent Name, Date of Death, Date of Birth, Address, File Date, and State File Number.

“The second list is the ‘Secretary of State Field Report’ which gives the State File Number, Decedent Name, Date of Death, Residence Address, Residence County, and Social Security Number.

“Per Ms. Crittenden, the Probate Court does not redact the 9-digit Social Security Number because after your death it is public information and no longer protected. Now that the Social Security system is linked to the administration when the death certificate is registered the Social Security number is automatically cancelled and cannot be used again.

“If you recall, Councilman Prebor was focused on the Social Security Number and implied that our possession of the lists somehow compromised the identity of his deceased son-in-law. Again, these lists are available to anyone who requests a copy from the Probate Court.

“Should Councilman Prebor want to restrict access to the public at large, he should take that up with the state legislature,” Holland said.