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Cherokee County elections staff say 'Empowering Voices' training has reached about 130 people; staff outlines verification and audit procedures
Summary
Elections staff described a voter-education program launched in March 2025 that has hosted four sessions and roughly 130 attendees, and staff walked the board through how Georgia’s DDS and SAVE systems and risk-limiting audits work to verify registrations and counts.
Cherokee County elections staff told the board that the county’s "Empowering Voices: A Community Guide to Elections" program, launched in March 2025, has held four sessions and tours serving roughly 130 participants, including county board members, poll workers, county residents and state election staff, the county said.
Staff said participants have included representatives from other Georgia counties (Walton, Gwinnett, Lumpkin, Forsyth, Cobb, Henry, Gordon and Liberty) and that the county will present the program at the Georgia Voter Registrations and Elections Officials Conference in August. Upcoming public sessions were scheduled for May 22 and June (dates provided in the meeting). The elections office also reported more than 100 student names submitted from Woodstock High School and Etowah High School from recent voter-registration drives.
Donna, an elections staff member who leads the program, told the board, “We introduce you to our team, the board and our staff. We also go over the legal framework of elections… We talk about registration basics… pre-election duties and preparations, day of and post election.”
Board members praised the training. One board member said the session was “very informative” even for experienced members and recommended that party poll watchers complete the class. Another said the program helps explain staff procedures that ensure transparency.
Staff also explained how Georgia verifies citizenship during registration and how the county prevents noncitizens from voting. The elections office described three registration pathways: paper form, OLIVER (online registration), and Department of Driver Services (DDS) transactions. Staff said DDS generates most registrations (75–80%) and that if DDS cannot verify citizenship it forwards the application to SAVE (Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlements) at the Department of Homeland Security. If SAVE cannot verify citizenship, the application remains in the county’s system as “pending citizenship,” and the person must present proof of U.S. citizenship at the polling place to be allowed to vote.
On audits and post-election checks, board members described the county’s risk-limiting audits and hand counts: randomly selected ballot samples are manually recounted and compared with machine totals to verify whether machine counts are accurate. One board member said his own manual recounts matched machine totals in the races they examined.
Why it matters: The trainings and public explanations address public concerns about transparency, registration eligibility and vote verification ahead of larger election cycles.
Ending: Staff encouraged board members and the public to attend upcoming sessions and to use the trainings and tours as a resource to understand county procedures.
