Poll workers and party leaders urge training and raise SB 189, ADA and voter-roll concerns during DeKalb elections public comment

Public commenters at the DeKalb County Board of Registration and Elections meeting pressed the newly seated board to prioritize poll-worker orientation and training, raised accessibility and ballot-counting concerns tied to state law changes, and urged more active maintenance and review of the voter roll.

Janet Grant, a DeKalb resident who said she serves as an area manager responsible for 10 precincts in the Decatur area, congratulated the new appointees and recommended that new board members participate in the same poll-manager training used for poll managers and consider working during the November election to learn the process first-hand.

“Until I was a poll manager and actually worked in election, I had no idea of the complexity of the process and the thorough system of checks and balances that are in place,” Grant said.

Michael Beach, an assistant poll manager in the county, thanked staff for improvements in training and forms and urged hands-on testing of the ATI — the audio-tactile interface used to assist voters with disabilities — with people who are blind.

“It would be great to bring in a few people that are blind to actually go through that,” Beach said, describing the current ATI check-in flow as awkward for voters who cannot see the screen and may need assistance.

Beach also urged the county to consider using the same countywide voter database process used during early voting on Election Day to allow voters to cast ballots at any precinct without provisional processing. He said the current practice forces some voters into provisional options and extra travel.

Several commenters raised concerns about the state law known in the meeting as SB 189, which a public commenter said bans the use of QR codes, barcodes or similar coding by July 1, 2026 and directs vote counting to human-readable text on ballots. In public remarks, Liz Troop said local election officials and the county’s blue-ribbon committee need to plan for compliance and consider hand-marked, optically scanned ballots as an alternative.

“2026 is coming very soon. This seems like an emergency to me,” Troop said, urging the board to address SB 189 compliance.

Other speakers called for more active and transparent voter-roll maintenance. Bill Henderson, who identified himself as a frequent challenger of the voter roll, urged the board to consider citizen-submitted challenges on their merits and to explain the reasoning behind decisions on challenges. Kendra Bogalski, who identified herself as the newly elected chair of the DeKalb County Republican Party, praised the new appointees from her party and criticized tight timelines related to rejected nominees, saying those timelines complicate the county committee’s vetting process.

Cheryl Dudley, a long-time DeKalb resident, noted the anniversary of the passing of Rep. John Lewis and urged the board to continue protecting voting rights.

The public comment period was governed by rules the board read aloud: comments may be made in person or submitted by email, limited to two minutes, and submitters must provide a first and last name for the record. The board does not respond during the public comment period but may follow up afterward.

No formal board action was taken during public comment; the remarks were recorded for the record and will inform staff and board members as they prepare for certification and any required policy or procedural work.