Morning, #GaPol. Time for another @GaSecofState meeting--this time a stand-alone meeting to review the complaint against @FultonInfo--even though there is another meeting already on the books in September.

@dufort_jeanne rightly points out the obvious--this is partisan theater.

In case there was any question of the partisan nature of the current incumbent, you can see where he only briefed Georgia's Republican congressional delegation here: https://www.ajc.com/politics/georgia-congressmen-worry-about-election-integrity-and-absentee-voting/KG4VHJR7GNAANGXWLOSL5RZWEM/

Or this.

Or his repeated press attacks against only Democratic run counties, despite similar problems in Repubican-run counties; repeated abuse of "liberal" critics; etc.

Elections are a tool for voters, not for political parties. The public trust is undermined by partisan attacks.

Public comments continue along the lines of problems with absentee ballot requests.

This is what voters should look for and see on http://mvp.sos.ga.gov  when they check their absentee application process. (I submitted applications for EVERY possible election in this cycle back in July.)

Speaker recounts the history of the RNC consent decree prohibiting overt the pattern of voter intimindation and voter challenges against Black voters and asks (rhetorically??) what the SOS plans to do to to prevent it in 2020.

On to the meat of the meeting--the complaints against Fulton County.

Chris Harvey sets the tone by reading an email from the election supervisor from Early County in March. It effectively paints a devastating picture of the dire conditions in the early days of the pandemic.

. @GabrielSterling (who apparently thinks he is clever when he repeatedly refers to the "Democrat" Party) talks about the online portal.

This would be a great improvement--but every day of delay in launching makes it less relevant, as voters are following advice to apply early.

After presentations from both the SOS and the county, @GeorgiaDemocrat SEB representative David Worley asks questions. Rick Barron testifies that the county processed every application they received, although timing is questionable.

Matt Mashburn asks whether the barcode supplied on the pre-filled application was able to expedite processing. Rick Baron, Fulton Election supervisor, says that it was no faster to use the bar code scanner (which only pulls up the voter name) than it was to enter the voter #.

Rick Barron describes the massive problems accepting emailed ballot applications. Truly a cascade of problems, some avoidable some not.

Now this is a HUGE bright spot--Rick says that the county processed more absentee ballots for the county runoff elections in August than they did for the presidential primary in 2016. Voter participation is up--and that is good for democracy.

No mention by anyone here on how Fulton County, which clearly had enormous problems with managing the overwhelming number of absentee applications, can be expected to handle a special federal election that the governor set for September 29.

Nothing in Georgia law requires that the special election be set on that date. It could just have easily been set to be on the November 3 ballot. The winner of the inevitable runoff will not be able to join their colleagues in Washington until December--during a lame duck session

And no discussion of how Fulton (or other 6th district counties) will handle the issue of voter registration. Georgia law requires a black-out period of 4 weeks prior to any election. How will the counties manage this, in the run-up to the 2020 general election?

There is one.week. between the special election and the registration deadline for November 3. The county can continue to process registrations after that October 5 deadline, but there will be a month-long backlog.

And--add to this--as far as I know, the state is mandated to mail out voter registration forms to eligible Georgians under the terms of the state's membership in ERIC. This may well lead to tens of thousands of additional voter registration applications.

I would love to learn that my concerns are overblown and the state and counties involved have accounted for these challenges. I know too much about elections in Georgia to believe that to be true.

Meeting ends with the complaints against Fulton referred to the state AG.

There is another meeting, with older cases, that will be held in September.

The SOS is aware of the steps Fulton has taken to overcome the problems it saw in June. Stand-alone meeting is a show trial.