The Georgia State Election Board (SEB) voted 3-0 Monday to investigate eight counties that are allegedly dismissing challenges to voter eligibility without conducting a proper investigation.
Democrat-appointed SEB member Sara Tindall Ghazal voted alongside Republican-appointed members Janelle King and Dr. Jan Johnston to request the board’s executive director, Mike Coan, investigate whether Athens-Clarke, Bibb, Cobb, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett and Jackson counties are improperly dismissing challenges to thousands of voters’ eligibility. Coan is expected to deliver a report on his findings during the next board meeting, which is slated for October 8.
Member Rick Jeffares was not present and therefore did not vote. Chairman John Fervier also did not vote.
The board said it would invite county election officials to the October 8th meeting for further inquiry.
DeKalb County Republican Party Chairwoman Marci McCarthy in particular alleged during Monday’s meeting that the DeKalb County Board of Registration and Elections (BRE) has dismissed challenges to the voter rolls without proper investigation of the challenges.
McCarthy cited a lawsuit (of which the DeKalb County GOP is a co-plaintiff of) filed by William Henderson alleging approximately 5,000 challenges to voter eligibility that are broken down into three categories: voters registered at non-residential addresses, voters who have moved to a different jurisdiction and have voted in said jurisdiction but nonetheless remain registered in DeKalb County, and voters who have had no contact with election authorities for more than a decade. McCarthy says a bulk of the challenges fall into the third category.
