Spalding County elections officials report voter-list activity, set precinct-consolidation hearing for Jan. 13, 2026

Spalding County elections staff on Oct. 13 reviewed recent voter-registration processing, advanced-voting and absentee-mail activity for the Nov. 4, 2025 election and asked the board to move a public hearing on proposed precinct consolidation to Jan. 13, 2026.

In a combined presentation that staff identified as covering the voter-registration report and the election director’s report, Kim (election office staff) described processing for the period Sept. 9–Oct. 13 and gave counts for several maintenance categories. "New voters" were reported as 148, transfers into Spalding County 232, address changes 164 and name changes 4; there were 589 records showing "no change," seven cancellation requests and multiple returned-mail counts, including 22 pieces returned with out-of-county mailing addresses and 43 returned undeliverably. Kim said one confirmation process tied to the National Change of Address (NCOA) remained on a 40-day clock and that letters and forms are mailed as required by law to confirm or cancel registrations.

Kim explained the difference between “inactive” and canceled status under state list-maintenance practices: "Inactive does not mean someone cannot vote," Kim said, adding that an inactive voter who appears at advance voting can be verified, encoded and allowed to cast a ballot and then is returned to active status. Kim said how long a record remains inactive depends on when the secretary of state’s list-maintenance processes run and that the county office itself covers most postage for confirmation mailings.

On the Nov. 4 ballot, Kim listed contests the office has prepared for: two special Public Service Commission seats (districts 2 and 3), Griffin city commission races in districts 1, 3, 5 and 6 (not all districts appear on every ballot) and a Spalding County special referendum on a homestead exemption for educational purposes. Kim said advanced voting began the day of the meeting and reported 196 voters cast early ballots on the first day of early voting; she also said 150 absentee-by-mail ballots were mailed that day, the first date allowed under state law.

Kim read a notice for elderly and disabled voters about absentee-ballot applications and cited state guidance, naming the secretary of state’s election division and quoting the transcript reference to OCGA and related rules (transcript: "OCGA 21 dash 2 dash 3 81 a 1 g and SC boot b rule 1 83 dash 1 dash 14 0 1 1 and 2"). Kim told the board that elderly and disabled voters who use an absentee application that rolls across a cycle still must file separate applications for special primaries or special elections.

On precinct consolidation, the director asked to move a planned public comment meeting from November to Jan. 13, 2026, saying the change would avoid voter confusion around the Nov. 4 election and give staff time to run reports and correct records before voter notifications must be posted. "There’s a 60-day notification period to the voters that we must meet by law," Kim said, and asked the board to schedule a hearing early in the year so signs and system updates can be completed in time for any changes that would take effect in May. Board members debated whether to hold the public hearing and vote on the plan the same night; one board member said interested people would attend the hearing and would have to return if the board delayed the vote.

Other items: staff said they continue work on remodeling newly acquired office space and expected a follow-up meeting with LGAA to finalize plans; staff reported outreach at the Kiwanis Fair and reminded board members that a QR code will be removed from the ballot format by July 1 next year pending state direction. Kim said county equipment vendors have indicated optical character recognition (OCR) is in the code so ballots can still be read when QR codes are removed. Staff also forwarded a vendor name change notice that said Dominion’s relevant product name will be Liberty, which staff said shares the same owner.

Routine board business at the start of the meeting included adoption of the agenda and approval of the minutes (both approved by voice vote). The meeting ended with a motion to adjourn that passed by voice vote.

The board scheduled no final vote on precinct consolidation at the Oct. 13 meeting; staff asked the public-hearing date be moved to Jan. 13, 2026, and the board agreed to consider the timeline and vote at the January meeting or by a special-called meeting shortly thereafter.