Elections office reports 592,253 precinct-card mailings; vendor and USPS issues left some pieces postage-due, office to send follow-up letters

Director Fall updated the board on a countywide precinct-card mailing and subsequent return-mail issues that affected delivery for some voters.

The elections vendor mailed 592,253 precinct cards, Director Fall said; the vendor's scan records with USPS showed 592,299 pieces, a discrepancy of 54. The director said the vendor ran addresses through USPS databases including the National Change of Address (NCOA) file and identified just over 38,000 records that required forwarding service; the vendor added postage for forwarding on those pieces. Director Fall said that when a vendor uses a nonprofit prepaid mailer (a lower-rate class), USPS may return some pieces with a postage-due sticker rather than forwarding under a county permit number. She said the vendor has used the county permit on previous mailings and the office is asking why the permit was not used for this mailing.

Director Fall said the office identified just over 2,000 precinct cards returned with postage-due stickers. The vendor reviewed samples and determined some of those voters may have submitted change-of-address forms that had not yet propagated into NCOA; the elections office's USPS bulk-mail contact confirmed that lag is possible.

The office's plan is to first send letters directly using the county permit to voters in District 2 — which has an immediate special election — so those voters receive forwarded mail quickly. After District 2 letters are mailed, staff will send letters to District 4 voters. Director Fall said the office will log all return mail as interactions in the Jarvis registration system; if an active voter is returned as undeliverable the office sends a confirmation notice that may start inactive status, and if a forwarding address is on the mail, staff mail a registration application (if the address is in Georgia) or a cancellation form (if out of state).

Board members asked about costs; Director Fall said she has asked the vendor for the final invoice and will share cost details with the board when available. She said the three vendor quotes obtained earlier covered printing only; postage decisions affected final cost. The office will add those impacted voters to the regular quarterly precinct-card mailings and will print and mail letters in-house to ensure county postage for the immediate follow-up.

Board members discussed using email or an app for future communications; Director Fall and board members said they will explore digital options but noted legal and resource constraints and that many voters still rely on postal mail.