Irwin County elections board sets poll‑watcher rules, voter‑registration deadline and November election schedule

The Irwin County Board of Elections & Registrations on Aug. 13 set procedures and deadlines ahead of the Nov. 5, 2024 election, specifying how parties and candidates must submit poll‑watcher assignments, reiterating the voter‑registration cutoff and outlining the county’s schedule for ballot proofing, logic and accuracy testing, early voting and post‑election certification.

The board said each major party may assign up to two poll watchers per precinct (Early Voting, Ocilla and Irwinville) and each independent candidate may assign one. The assignment letter must identify the assigning party or candidate, the assignment location, the poll watcher’s name and residential address, and include an oath under penalty of perjury that the assigning body provided the state‑required training. The elections office will not provide training but will, upon request, supply copies of the Secretary of State’s Poll Watcher Training Handbook and other relevant materials.

Supervisor Ethan Compton told the board the deadlines are Friday, Oct. 4 for Early Voting poll‑watcher appointments and Saturday, Nov. 2 for Election Day precinct assignments; the office will accept Nov. 2 submissions by email at elections@irwincounty‑ga.gov because staff will not be available in person that Saturday.

On voter registration, the board reiterated the state law deadline: applications and updates must be submitted by close of business Tuesday, Oct. 8, 2024. In‑person registrations will be accepted until 5 p.m. that day; online updates at mvp.sos.ga.gov and scanned or photographed applications emailed to elections@irwincounty‑ga.gov will be accepted until 11:59 p.m. on Oct. 8.

The county’s preparatory timeline includes poll worker training Oct. 3–4 (9:30 a.m.–12:30 p.m.), and Logic and Accuracy (L&A) Testing scheduled for Sept. 24 from 10 a.m.–Noon and 1 p.m.–4 p.m., continuing as needed through Sept. 25–26. Compton emphasized that L&A testing—installing ballot files, loading devices, printing and scanning test decks—is open to public observation and will be publicly noticed on the Secretary of State’s website, the county site and in the Ocilla Star.

Compton described the state’s process for delivering election project configuration files and proofs for local review (including candidate name pronunciations for audio ballots, spellings and precinct/ballot‑style assignments), followed by secure transfer to the county for installation. Sample ballots will be available in the elections office and on a voter’s My Voter Page once the state finalizes the election file.

The office said early voting will run 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Monday–Saturday from Oct. 15 through Nov. 1, and the absentee ballot drop box in the office lobby will be available during those hours and locked nightly. Because of recent State Election Board rule changes the office has purchased a camera to record the drop box each night; staff said they will encourage voters who hand‑return ballots and do not present ID to use the drop box to minimize potential conflicts with state or federal rules.

Vice‑Chair Charlene Hutchinson asked how the county selected AsystYou Technologies to host the elections website; Supervisor Compton replied the selection was made by the Irwin County Commission at an unspecified date and the elections office had no role in that choice. Hutchinson also raised a concern that a voter who applied for an absentee‑by‑mail ballot might still be able to vote in person; Compton said the county’s PollPads and the state GARViS voter file record voter credit in real time, adding, "Within 2 minutes of an absentee ballot being issued to a voter, they will be shown within the poll pads as having a pending absentee by mail ballot and not being allowed to vote until such time as that ballot is cancelled."

Election‑night procedures outlined by staff call for a public close and sealing of the Early Voting precinct tabulator at 5 p.m., sworn panels to check absentee oath envelopes and batch ballots for scanning at 6 p.m., scanning of absentee ballots without final tabulation until polls close at 7 p.m., and printing and distribution of precinct result copies for observers before sending digital results to the state. Provisional ballot cure and UOCAVA receipt deadlines both expire at 5 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 8; the board will meet to certify the Official and Complete results at 5:15 p.m. on Nov. 8 after those deadlines pass.

The board approved the meeting minutes and later adjourned by unanimous votes. No members of the public spoke during the meeting.