How accessible are Metro Atlanta election boards? A non-profit organization intervenes

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – The 2024 presidential election is only six months away — and everyone in the country has to go through their county election board to vote.

But not all boards are equal, says New Georgia Project, a voting rights nonprofit. That’s why he released his first Board of Elections report on Tuesday.

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The report card grades all Georgia school boards from A to F based on their accessibility to the public. Its results were disappointing, said Stephanie Jackson Ali, policy director of the New Georgia Project. Out of 159 counties, only 17 received an A or B.

“County boards of elections play a vital role in our state; they have the power to choose to expand access to the ballot box or restrict it,” Ali said. “Going forward, will they be more accountable to voters, or will they continue to be too busy hearing challenges that could remove them from the rolls?” Georgians deserve to know.

The report card is based on data from the Peanut Gallery, a statewide volunteer organization whose members monitor their local election board. The gallery asked each board seven questions to determine its rating — including whether it has an open mic for public comment during meetings, whether its number of polling places changed between 2020 and 2022 and whether its rate rejection rate of absentee ballots is higher than the state average. rate.

Here’s a look at how each metro Atlanta county performed.

First up is Henry County, which earned an A for passing all seven categories.

Clayton County also got an A. It even added four polling places, the New Georgia Project said.

Despite the addition of three polling places, Fulton County received a B. Its board of elections does not provide an open mic for public comment during meetings, and its mail-in ballot rejection rate is higher to average, according to New Georgia Project.

The results of the 2020 presidential election in Fulton County have been hotly contested, with parties like former President Donald Trump claiming it was foul play. Trump, alongside 18 allies, faces charges in the county for allegedly trying to overturn the election results.

On Tuesday, the Georgia Secretary of State’s office said the county used “improper procedures” during one of its recounts of the 2020 presidential election. However, it said the errors, which include duplicated ballot images, did not change the outcome of the election in favor of Joe Biden.

“Fulton County’s performance in the 2020 election was closely scrutinized, but the results, confirmed by three different counts, have not changed,” Fulton County spokesperson Jessica Corbitt said. “There is also no evidence of fraud or wrongdoing.”

Like Fulton County, Cobb County also received a B. It added two polling places, but it does not have an open mic for public comment.

In 2022, the office did not send more than 1,000 absentee ballots to people who requested them. Janine Eveler, then the county’s director of elections and registration, attributed the situation to human error.

“I am sorry that this office failed these voters,” Eveler said in a message to the Board of Elections and Registration. “Many absent staff members are working an average of 80 hours or more per week and are exhausted. Yet this does not excuse such a critical error.

A Cobb County Superior Court judge signed an order extending the deadline for returning mail-in ballots after the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia filed a lawsuit.

DeKalb County received a C. It does not have an open mic for public comment and, although it has added three polling places, its mail-in ballot rejection rate is higher than the average, the New Georgia Project said.

Gwinnett County also got a C. The New Georgia Project said it did not have an open mic for public comment and while the number of polling places did not decrease, it has not increased either.

Forsyth County is the last C on the list. There is no open mic for public comment and its early voting location is open for three weeks instead of the previous seven weeks, according to New Georgia Project. There were also seven polling stations down.

Rockdale County earned the only F in metro Atlanta. The elections board does not publicly post announcements of its meetings, does not provide meeting minutes and has a higher-than-average rejection rate of absentee ballots, New Georgia Project said.

Click here to see New Georgia Project scores for all Georgia counties.

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