Macon-Bibb Board of Elections dismisses voter challenges; cites federal voting law
Macon-Bibb Board of Elections members voted Monday to dismiss three voter eligibility challenges, citing the National Voter Registration Act, which bars changes to voting rolls within 90 days of an election.
MACON, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – Macon-Bibb Board of Elections members voted Monday to dismiss three voter eligibility challenges, citing the National Voter Registration Act, which bars changes to voting rolls within 90 days of an election.
“All challenges must be received 90 days prior to any federal elections, and as we received this April 19, systematically, we cannot manipulate a voting roll during this quiet period,” Karen Evans-Daniels, chairwoman of the Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections, said.
“The Secretary of State’s Office does exactly what he’s trying to do,” Evans-Daniels continued. “I can make a spreadsheet. You can make a spreadsheet. All God’s children can make a spreadsheet, so we do look for validity. He could not prove in any of the information that he gave us any validity.”
Bibb County GOP Chairman David Sumrall had argued that hundreds were improperly registered. He said some were using non-residential addresses like the Mercer University Student Center and various UPS stores and that others were living out of state.
“Everyone should vote where they live,” Sumrall said. “That’s where they should be registered, and that’s where they live. You don’t live in a post office. You don’t live in a UPS store. You don’t live at a commercial address, and certainly if you live out of state, you should not be on Georgia’s voting rolls.”
The hearing saw a large turnout, but only one of the challenged voters attended—a staff member from Mercer University who was mentioned in Sumrall’s filing.
“The young lady said from Mercer, she actually lives there and works on that campus,” Evans-Daniels said. “So she’s legally registered to vote. If you go to Mercer’s website, they put on there how they have their students and faculty members who live on campus write their address.”
Members of the Bibb County Democratic Party also showed up.
“It really just became more of a rallying cry to get everybody together on the first day of early vote just to show our support for the board of elections, as they hold this hearing,” Bibb County Democratic Party Chairman Joshua-James Billings said. “And, you know, to be witnesses for the process.”
Despite Monday’s setback, Sumrall promises more challenges in the future.
“We’ll come back, and we’ll kind of look at what happened today and get some advice and see where we can go,” he said. “But the voters in Georgia should know that where we are with greater tools than ever before looking for inconsistencies in the voter rolls and in voting.”
Early voting started on Monday and continues through May 17. Election Day is May 21.
