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Public commenters press DeKalb elections board on SB 189 compliance and felon-removal procedures
Summary
At its Oct. 9 meeting, the DeKalb Board of Registration and Elections heard public concerns about compliance with SB 189, use of mail-service addresses for registration, and whether county procedures properly remove convicted felons from voter rolls; commenters also urged continued use of ERIC.
Public commenters at the DeKalb County Board of Registration and Elections’ Oct. 9 meeting urged the board to address two issues it had not placed on the agenda: compliance with SB 189 and a review of procedures for removing convicted felons from the voter rolls.
Victor Tripp, identified in an online comment as a DeKalb resident since 1978, said the board had omitted items he and board member Gail Lee had requested be added. Tripp asked the board to consider “compliance with SB 189,” which he described as disallowing the use of PO boxes or similar renter mailboxes to establish residency for voter registration, and to review how convicted felons are removed from the rolls after conviction. He said a failure to remove a felon three years after conviction showed the need to examine systemic flaws.
Several in-person commenters echoed concerns about registration integrity. Michael Beach, an assistant poll manager and retired CDC employee, told the board that the interstate Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) should remain in use to keep rolls accurate. “ERIC only flags possible issues,” he said, and “before discarding one, we should ensure there's a better alternative,” urging the county to continue participating.
Dr. Kendra Bogalski, chair of the DeKalb County Republican Party, raised a related operational concern, noting that Microsoft Windows 10 — which she said powers the county’s Dominion Election Management Systems — would lose free support the same day early voting began. She urged staff to confirm with the secretary of state whether extended security updates were secured for DeKalb.
Board members and staff characterized the issues as important but clarified the limits of county authority. During board comments, a member explained that removal of convicted felons from the voter list is not initiated by the county alone; the convicting jurisdiction must notify the secretary of state, who in turn informs the county to take action. Director Smith later provided a year-to-date figure for manual cancellations, saying 1,151 of the manual cancellations were felons.
The board did not adopt the proposed agenda amendment to add the two items for immediate discussion; that motion failed during the meeting. Board members said the matter could be placed on a future agenda for fuller review.
The board did not take immediate formal action on policy changes at the Oct. 9 meeting. Members said staff would address the processes and return with clarifications at a subsequent meeting.
