Read on Twitter
Happening now: State Election Board hearing in a case against Fulton County's processing of absentee ballots. https://twitter.com/stphnfwlr/status/1298608162061398017
Wow. State Election Board received more than 250 complaints about Fulton residents never getting their absentee ballots, and a state investigator says many never had their applications processed.
Also wow: The Chattooga County Elections supervisor, probate judge Jon Payne, died earlier this month from COVID-19. https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/local/story/2020/aug/18/jpayne-chattoogcounty-probate-judge-dies-covi/530112/
Elex Director Chris Harvey on record absentee turnout in June:
Many counties ran out of space to process applications, they ran out of people to do the applications...
Lines up with what we reported at the time. https://www.gpb.org/news/2020/04/30/georgia-elections-officials-navigate-sea-of-absentee-applications-while-polling
Many counties ran out of space to process applications, they ran out of people to do the applications...
Lines up with what we reported at the time. https://www.gpb.org/news/2020/04/30/georgia-elections-officials-navigate-sea-of-absentee-applications-while-polling
Fulton had more than 80,000 absentee applications emailed in, Harvey says.
That's about 10% of the county's active voters...
That's about 10% of the county's active voters...
Harvey: "I didn't see any evidence of dereliction... I think they tried, unfortunately I believe the processes in Fulton County, trying to deal with absentee ballots was insufficient and ineffective."
mid-thread reminder: you can apply for your Georgia absentee ballot today! It'll get mailed out mid-September, giving you plenty of time to complete it and return by mail, in-person to county elections office or to a drop box, if your county has it!
https://sos.ga.gov/index.php/Elections/absentee_voting_in_georgia
https://sos.ga.gov/index.php/Elections/absentee_voting_in_georgia
Of the 254 complaints received by the State Election Board, investigators say at least 107 Fulton voters responded and said they did not otherwise vote in the June 9 primary.
Now they're mentioning that Fulton County was actually pretty efficient on Election Day, with Park Tavern processing one of the highest numbers of voters anywhere.
More on that data: https://www.gpb.org/news/2020/07/17/heres-what-the-data-shows-about-polling-places-lines-in-georgias-primary
More on that data: https://www.gpb.org/news/2020/07/17/heres-what-the-data-shows-about-polling-places-lines-in-georgias-primary
In Fulton, an emailed absentee ballot application was sent to 20 different inboxes -> so 80,000 applications sent = ~1.6 million emails bogging down the server
plus printing issues because people sent applications in a variety of formats: PDF, JPG, embedded pictures, etc.
plus printing issues because people sent applications in a variety of formats: PDF, JPG, embedded pictures, etc.
A reminder: Fulton's registration chief was hospitalized with COVID-19 and a longtime worker died, forcing Georgia's largest county office to close for several days at a time when applications were pouring in. https://www.gpb.org/news/2020/04/29/fulton-county-elections-employee-dies-of-covid-19
Board member David Worley asks how many applications were never processed.
Fulton says it processed all the applications it received, not all of them were inherently timely.
Fulton says it processed all the applications it received, not all of them were inherently timely.
another mid-thread reminder: processing absentee applications is a manual process and takes a lot of time, so the earlier you do it, the better it is for you AND the county elections workers trying to get you your ballot.
