DeKalb Board of Elections: What if they held a meeting and everybody came?

Cindy Thomas (center, in orange) prepares to fight challenge to her candidacy Update: Voting rights groups are challenging the Board of Election’s policy on cancelling registrations of voters with temporary addresses. Read more.  The actions taken by the board regarding the Decatur voter purges were two 5-0 votes to reconsider the purges, but the board did not reverse them—during discussion, the issue was rendered moot because voters in question had changed their registration. By Jonathan Grant @Brambleman Thursday’s DeKalb Board of Elections meeting was epic, and not only because it lasted nearly two hours. In addition to normal business, the session featured a political soap opera, a dramatic exit by an outraged bureaucrat, and a reversal of a botched voter purge at…

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DeKalb Board of Elections plays hide-the-ball from its members

QUICK UPDATE: Today’s meeting was epic; 45 citizens attended the two-hour meeting–the longest I’ve ever seen. On this issue, Board member Dele Smith’s motion to reconsider and reverse last month’s purges of Decatur residents passed unanimously. One GOP Board member admitted the “bad optics.” Chairman Samuel Tillman complained about bloggers. I think he meant me. Sad!  I’ll write more later in a new post. By Jonathan Grant @Brambleman The DeKalb Board of Registration and Election’s agenda for today’s meeting is fuller than usual. In addition to the more typical list of voter challenges, there’s the case of Jacinda “Cindy” Thomas, running for mayor of Lithonia. But it may be Unfinished Business that proves to be the most intriguing—and I mean that in…

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Latest outrage: DeKalb Board of Elections plays hide-the-ball from its own members

QUICK UPDATE: Today’s meeting was epic; 45 citizens attended the two-hour meeting–the longest I’ve ever seen. On this issue, Board member Dele Smith’s motion to reconsider and reverse last month’s purges of Decatur voters passed unanimously. One GOP Board member admitted the “bad optics.” Chairman Samuel Tillman complained about bloggers. I think he meant me. Sad!  I’ll write more later in a new post. By Jonathan Grant @Brambleman The DeKalb Board of Registration and Election’s agenda for today’s meeting is fuller than usual. In addition to the more typical list of voter challenges, there’s the case of Jacinda “Cindy” Thomas, who is running for mayor of Lithonia. But it may be Unfinished Business that proves to be the most intriguing—and I mean…

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Before Randolph County, Mike Malone was referred to AG’s office by State Elections Board

Jonathan Grant @Brambleman The local Board of Elections has come under fire for its plan to shut down 7 of 9 polling places in majority-black Randolph County in Southwest Georgia, infamous for its history of voter suppression and racial discrimination. I found this while working on an upcoming post. In the meantime, here’s background coverage Download pdf  Board of Elections Transcript of Greene County-Mike Malone Case From Minutes of Georgia Board of Elections meeting September 20th, 2017 Complaints of vote buying and early tabulation during 2015, Special Election, Greene County Georgia; Elections Supervisor Mike Morgan. Link to transcript: https://bit.ly/2OWzd5p Note: The record reflects that SoS Brian Kemp was not in attendance at the time this case was called, heard, and decided. Malone makes no…

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Randolph County: Complaints of vote buying, early tabulation in Mike Malone-supervised election

Jonathan Grant @Brambleman The local Board of Elections has come under fire for its plan to shut down 7 of 9 polling places in majority-black Randolph County in Southwest Georgia, infamous for its history of voter suppression and racial discrimination. I found this while working on an upcoming post. In the meantime, here’s background coverage Download pdf  Board of Elections Transcript of Greene County-Mike Malone Case From Minutes of Georgia Board of Elections meeting September 20th, 2017 Complaints of vote buying and early tabulation during 2015, Special Election, Greene County Georgia; Elections Supervisor Mike Morgan. Link to transcript: https://bit.ly/2OWzd5p Note: The record reflects that SoS Brian Kemp was not in attendance at the time this case was called, heard, and decided. Malone makes no…

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Big crowd at ACLU of Georgia’s annual membership meeting

Look at us! Big crowd the ACLU of Georgia annual membership meeting tonight in Atlanta. Onstage, an old acquaintance from my days at the PSC, Robert Remar, accepts the group’s Lifetime Service Award. Rob represented poverty-rights groups in utility proceedings before the commission back in the 1980s, and the commissioners thought so highly of him they hired him as an administrative hearing officer for transportation cases. In accepting his well-deserved award, Rob talked about watching the national ACLU go from facing a $30 million deficit to achieving a $50 million surplus, thanks to Donald Trump. Dale Ho, Director of the ACLU National Voting Rights Project, delivered the keynote address. BTW, ACLU Georgia’s executive director is Andrea Young, daughter of former Atlanta Mayor…

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