Board of Elections

Agenda - Special Meeting Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections & Voter Registration July 25, 2023 4:30pm 2555 Lexington Road Bylaws of the Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections and Voter Registration (bit.ly/accboebylaws) A. Adopt Agenda B. Public comment Pursuant to board bylaws (bit.ly/accboebylaws), a public comment list shall be provided prior to this meeting. Those wishing to address the board will be asked to provide a first name, last name, and an address. The Chairperson will call each person in the order shown on the list. Each person wishing to provide public comment shall have three minutes to address the Board. C. Old Business 1. New polling locations and precincts to take effect for the March 2024 Presidential Preference Primary D. Announcements 1. Tuesday, August 9, 4:30pm, 120 W. Dougherty Street: Regular Meeting 2. Wednesday, August 16: National Poll Worker Day 3. Tuesday, September 12, 4:30pm, 120 W Dougherty Street: Regular Meeting, including finalizing of 2024 changes to polling locations and precinct lines 4. Wednesday, September 13, 3:00pm-7:00pm, Athens-Clarke County Library: Disability Voting Week event 5. Tuesday, September 19: National Voter Registration Day 6. October 1 through 7: National Voter Education Week 7. Tuesday, October 3: Election Education Forum specifically for elected officials and political parties 8. Thursday, October 5: Election education forum specifically for voters E. Adjourn A RESOLUTION OF THE ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY BOARD OF ELECTIONS AND REGISTRATION TO APPROVE AND AUTHORIZE PUBLICATION OF NOTICE OF THE PROPOSED POLLING PLACE CHANGES AS REFLECTED IN EXHIBIT “A” ATTACHED HERETO AND INCORPORATED HEREIN BY REFERENCE; AND FOR OTHER LAWFUL PURPOSES. WHEREAS, the Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections and Registration, (the “Board”) is empowered with the powers and duties of elections superintendents relating to the conduct of primaries and elections pursuant to the provisions of Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia; and WHEREAS, pursuant to O.C.G.A. Sec. 21-2-265(a), the election superintendent shall select and fix the polling place within each precinct and may change the polling place within each precinct; and WHEREAS, the Board is proposing changes to six Election Day polling places and precinct lines for some voters, as well as adding one new polling place voting location; and WHEREAS, residents’ voting districts will not change as part of this process, only the location at which some would vote in-person on Election Day; and WHEREAS, the Board requests that staff seek to provide any voter affected by either the polling place or precinct line changes a new precinct card at least 90 days prior to the Presidential Preference Primary or as soon as reasonably possible thereafter, per state law; and WHEREAS, due to the need to relocate the current polling place locations at the Georgia Square Mall and Transit Multimodal Transportation Center, voting space challenges, and parking issues, the Board collaborated with the ACCGov Geospatial Information Office to study the entire territory of Athens-Clarke County for other potential polling location changes and precinct line changes; and WHEREAS, part of the process involved considering the number of registered voters by Census blocks to determine geographically central areas for potential polling place locations and possible shifts to precinct lines to better balance the number of voters per precinct; and WHEREAS, the Board conducted four work sessions to determine recommended polling place location sites that included necessary voting space and parking at future locations, as well as more central polling place voting locations and more evenly dispersed voter numbers; and WHEREAS, the Board conducted two public hearings to hear from voters regarding the proposed changes; and WHEREAS, the public hearings were held on the following dates:  Tuesday, June 20, 2023 from 6:00-7:30 PM at the Athens-Ben Epps Airport Community Room in the commercial airport terminal (1010 Ben Epps Drive)  Tuesday, June 27, 2023 from 6:00-7:30 PM at the ACC Extension Office Community Room (275 Cleveland Road); and  WHEREAS, based upon the input derived from the work sessions and public hearings, the Board finds that the proposed polling place changes reflected in Exhibit “A,” attached hereto and incorporated herein by reference, (the “Proposed Changes”), will promote the convenience of electors and the public interests; and WHEREAS, the Board further finds that it is in the best interests of the citizens of Athens-Clarke County that the Proposed Changes take effect for the 2024 Presidential Preference Primary; and WHEREAS, pursuant to O.C.G.A. Sec. 21-2-265 (a), the Board is required to publish notice of the Proposed Changes once a week for two consecutive weeks in the legal organ of Athens-Clarke County; NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED AND ORDERED, pursuant to the requirements of O.C.G.A. Sec. 21-2-265(a), that the Board does hereby approve and direct Charlotte Sosebee, the Director of the Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections and Voter Registration, or her designee, to publish notice of the Proposed Changes to take effect for the 2024 Presidential Preference Primary. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED AND ORDERED, pursuant to the requirements of O.C.G.A. Sec. 21-2-265 (a), that the Board will consider the adoption of a final order related to the implementation of the Proposed Changes to take effect for the 2024 Presidential Preference Primary at its regular meeting on Tuesday, September 12, 2023. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, that the Board makes the findings discussed in the “Whereas” paragraphs part of the factual findings of said Board. SO RESOLVED AND ORDERED by the Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections and Registration on the day of , 2023. ____________________________________ Rocky Raffle, Chairperson ____________________________________ Adam Shirley, Secretary ____________________________________ Ann Till, Vice Chairperson ____________________________________ Willa Fambrough, Member ____________________________________ Hunaid Qadir, Member P:\Board of Elections\Resolution, Approving Publication of Notice of Change in Polling Locations, 7-19-23.doc Page 2 of 3  EXHIBIT “A” PROPOSED POLLING PLACE CHANGES o Precinct 1A - Moving from the Winterville Train Depot (125 North Church Street) to the Winterville Community Center (371 North Church Street) o Precinct 4A - Moving from the ACCGov Multimodal Transportation Center (775 East Broad Street) to the Athens-Ben Epps Airport Community Room (1010 Ben Epps Drive) o Precinct 5D - Moving from the ACCGov Fleet Management Office (225 Newton Bridge Road) to the Girl Scouts of Historic Georgia - Athens Office (185 Newton Bridge Road) o Precinct 6B - Moving from the Georgia Square Mall (3700 Atlanta Highway) to the ACC Extension Office (275 Cleveland Road) o Precinct 6D - Moving from Fire Station #4 (900 Oglethorpe Avenue) to Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary School (1150 Oglethorpe Avenue) to merge the precinct with the existing Precinct 5A located at Oglethorpe Avenue Elementary School o Precinct 7C - Moving from Fire Station #3 (1198 South Milledge Avenue) to Milledge Avenue Baptist Church (1690 South Milledge Avenue) o New Precinct to Be Named/Numbered – Miriam Moore Community Center (410 McKinley Drive) Page 3 of 3