Glynn elections official says new counting rules fail to address problem

Georgia’s State Election Board measures have “disappointed” the director of Glynn County’s Board of Elections, who believes the new rules fail to address the most substantial matters and work against transparency in election counts.

With just over two weeks to go until early voting starts in Georgia, Christopher Channell, the director of the Glynn County Board of Elections, says he’s trying to pivot quickly to ensure that election night does become inflicted with questions of ballot counts.

And, like most of the election supervisors in Georgia’s 159 counties, Channell, who has been working in Georgia elections since 2017, voiced his frustration about the state board’s decisions, saying that they will make voting harder — and perhaps even less secure.

On Sept 20, the State Election Board passed a rule 3-2 that mandates a hand counting of all ballots on the day of, or a the day after the polls close. The group, which is dominated by Republican Party appointees, voted despite widespread opposition by county officials like Channell.

“I was disappointed, just like any other election official in the state of Georgia,” Channell said. “It adds a weak link in the chain of custody for the ballots, and it does nothing to increase the transparency or accuracy of the election.”

The new rules will also run Glynn County thousands of dollars in extra costs as local election officials must hire more than four dozen new poll workers and train them on new rules before Election Day.

According to Channell’s estimates, the additional costs to hire more poll workers could run anywhere between $2,500-3,000.

What’s more, the new rule — if implemented on Election Day — will lead to a slow down in reporting election totals across Georgia, including Glynn, said Channell. In previous elections county officials could process the ballots from early voters, meaning that one step would already be complete when polls close on Election Day.

Now, with decisions up in the air about what rules local county workers should follow, Channell’s preparations have slowed. He’s expecting heavy voter turnout, with possibly up to 1000 people showing up to vote on Election Day at precincts around the county.

Channell is trying to recruit another 51 poll workers to work in the evening of Election Day, because he expects the counting of ballots after precincts close to be less efficient and more arduous.

“Instead of having my poll workers, who will have probably already been there 14 to 16 hours, you know, for that time frame, instead of having them count the ballots, I’m bringing in three fresh poll workers” for each precinct, he said.

Glynn County has not started poll worker training—due to the looming possibility of changes. The county is set to start training poll workers next week, which will be led by Christina Redden, assistant director of the election board.

The county election board will be collaborating with local Democrats and Republicans to assist in staffing poll workers, which Channell acknowledges is a privilege not shared by other smaller districts.

The parties also provide people to do the poll watching for the absentee by mail processing tabulation, as well as supplying people for the vote review panels.

Local citizen Jeff Kilgore, who serves as the president of The Kilgore Group, said that he believes all possible measures should be taken to increase transparency around elections.

“I think that generally, everything that can be done to assure the citizens of Georgia of the integrity of the election vote count should be done and so with that as an overarching comment, I’m not sure that the hand count of the paper ballots matters, because I think the weakness in the system is in the software and the electronic tabulation and vulnerability of actual vote tabulation electronically, rather than the numbers of pieces of paper,” he said.

The first poll worker training class will have workers act as clerks through the different precincts, and the days after they will be able to act as poll managers and assistant managers. At least some of these workers need to be ready when early voting begins on Oct. 15.

The New York Times reported that Democrats from the state filed a lawsuit on Monday, September 30th. The suit, backed by Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, argues that the state election board exceeded its authority in passing a rule. This lawsuit was filed in addition to another suit that was filed six weeks ago, challenging certification rules passed by the State Election Board.

A Republican-led group is also planning to sue the board to overturn the hand-counting mandate and the certification measures, claiming that the board overstepped its legal authority.

The actions were approved by the board’s Republican majority, which is has been praised by the Republican presidential nominee, Donald Trump.