DeKalb elections board dismisses six voter challenges after debate over residency, NVRA limits and annexation concerns

The DeKalb County Board of Registration and Elections heard a set of six voter‑registration challenges brought on behalf of a local annexation petition and ultimately dismissed them after extended legal discussion and testimony.

Austin Holloman, an attorney appearing for challenger Robert L. Ash III, told the board his firm had collected sworn affidavits from current homeowners, deeds and public voting records to show that several challenged registrants no longer reside in DeKalb County. Holloman cited OCGA §21‑2‑216 as the state statutory basis for challenging an elector’s residency and said some challenged voters had sold their DeKalb homes and registered to vote in other states: he said Jose Montanez sold his home on 06/26/2020 and has voting records in North Carolina for 2022 and 2024; Mark Toups, he said, is registered in Belle Chasse, Louisiana; and Ronald (Ron) Van Leeks sold his property in 2021. Holloman framed the effort as assisting about 176 electors in a roughly 50‑acre annexation area who are trying to reach a 60 percent elector signature threshold to join the city of Atlanta.

Board members and the board attorney engaged in a sustained exchange about how the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) interacts with state eligibility rules and list‑maintenance procedures. The board attorney explained that the NVRA limits removals from federal rolls and establishes notice and two‑cycle inactivity processes; several members said federal law constrains how and when registrants can be removed absent written confirmation of a move or completion of the NVRA process. Board member Delay Lohman summarized that federal law takes precedence in cases of conflict and emphasized the narrowness of the board’s authority.

Holloman argued the challenges were not a mass purge but individual state‑law residency challenges; he told the board, "We are here to defend the rights of those 180 people, not to challenge these voters unfair[ly]." He added, "I stand before you today confident that these individuals have left Georgia and have no intent to return to DeKalb County to vote." The board pressed Holloman on the provenance of out‑of‑state registration records and whether his team had contacted the challenged voters; Holloman said his firm had not asked every voter to cancel their registrations but had relied on deeds, affidavits and some public voter records collected by a certified investigator.

Margaret Parker’s situation drew direct testimony: a family member and a nearby resident said Parker lives in Alabama and does not intend to return, and staff noted that Parker’s registration was recently updated on August 5, 2025. For two other challenged voters (Alyssa Falconer and Christopher Mann), the challengers’ filings were rendered moot when those voters formally asked to be removed prior to the hearing.

After questions and legal discussion, the board approved motions to dismiss the challenge to Falconer and Mann as moot; the board then voted to dismiss the challenge to Margaret Parker and, in a final motion, dismissed the remaining challenges to Jose Montanez, Mark Toups and Ronald Van Leeks. Chair Carly Swift called for the motions, colleagues seconded them, and each motion carried on recorded 'Aye' votes.

Board members closed by urging Georgians to be careful when reporting addresses to state agencies (drivers‑license and voter registration records can create confusion) and by thanking participants; the meeting adjourned.

What the board did not do: it did not sustain any of the residency challenges or remove registrants from the rolls at this meeting. Several members stressed that where the NVRA applies, the federal list‑maintenance process limits county action without written confirmation or exhaustion of the NVRA procedure.