Meeting Summary
Zoom Meeting with Tom Mahoney
Chairman, Chatham County Board of Elections
July 20, 2020
In a Zoom presentation to the Skidaway Hamiltons, Tom Mahoney provided an explanation of the Board of Elections and its role in the Georgia election processes. The Board of Elections was created by Georgia Law. Each of the 159 counties in Georgia has a Superintendent of Elections which can be an individual, board, or in some instances a Probate judge. In Chatham County, it is a board. The chairman is appointed. The other four members of the Board are elected in primaries and have a four-year term. There are two Democrats and two Republicans. There is also an Election Supervisor and an Assistant Election Supervisor. The Board of Elections conducts primaries and elections in accordance with state law. It establishes boundaries for voting precincts, secures facilities for polling locations. It recruits, hires, and trains personnel to serve as poll officials. It acquires, maintains, and delivers election equipment. It maintains election records.
There is also a separate Board of Registrars. It is appointed by the Chief Judge of the Superior Court. The Board of Registrars maintains a registry of voters and a mailing list of those voters. It issues absentee ballots, and it conducts early voting. The two Chatham County Boards are funded by the County. The State of Georgia funded the new voting equipment. There are 210,000 active voters in the County.
Mr. Mahoney provided his perspective on the Primary election. More than 60,000 people voted in this primary, more than in any previous primary. There were new machines, plus there was a pandemic. In addition, there were a huge number of absentee ballots, something that had never been experienced before. While the huge number of absentee ballots was good in that it kept voters and poll workers safe, it created new challenges. The Board of Registrars had to verify all ballots before they were delivered to the Board of Elections. The Board of Elections had to count ballots, scan them, adjudicate those that could not be scanned, and then tabulate them. 650 people worked at the polls. Many were new to the process, and all were new to the machines. Training materials were updated continually. There were many uncertainties about polling places due to COVID issues. Locations for 82 of 92 polling places were able to be retained. Some locations for polling places had to be found late in the process. There was a particular problem downloading information to polling pads – a severe network bottleneck as they all had to be updated in a short period. Normally, poll workers like to have everything set up and ready the day before the Primary. Because of this computer glitch, many poll workers were still setting up the morning of the Primary. Mr. Mahoney said the state is dedicated to fixing this problem. Several times, Mr. Mahoney gave praise to the poll managers and workers who got the job done despite all the difficulties and their concern for their own safety.
Tom Hamilton asked Mr. Mahoney about resources for the General Election in November. Mr. Mahoney said that he would like additional scanners. He would like two scanners at each polling place. He definitely needs more dedicated poll workers. He said interested people could phone Assistant Supervisor Lynn Trabue at 912 201-4375 or stop in at the office on 1117 Eisenhower Drive. Mr. Mahoney would like more technicians available at the polls. There were 11 at the Primary. Ideally, there would be one technician for every two polling places. COVID 19 protections will be in place…masks, shields, single-use stylus, cleaning, and disinfecting. Mr. Mahoney spoke of expanding polling places in Pooler. In minority neighborhoods downtown, Mr. Mahoney will keep polling places within walking distance and will keep familiar locations. Early voting and the ability to cast absentee ballots without requiring a reason are major pluses in a COVID 19 environment. The State will allow ballot drop boxes and will let counties begin processing ballots well in advance. The State will not allow ballots to be tallied until election day, however, and Mr. Mahoney believes that finalizing election results will take a couple of weeks, working around the clock. When asked about the existence of voter fraud, Mr. Mahoney said there were fears about possible voter fraud in connection with absentee ballots, partially because it was not part of Georgia’s tradition. He said that mail-in-vote was absolutely necessary in the current environment.
