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Elections staff outlines early-processing plan, absentee counts ahead of May 19 primary
Summary
Elections staff told the Richmond County Board of Elections that advanced voting ends May 15, early processing of two‑page ballots begins the day before the May 19 primary to reconcile two‑page returns, 890 absentee ballots were issued and 310 had been returned as of the morning report.
Travis briefed the Richmond County Board of Elections on logistics for the May 19 general primary and nonpartisan election, saying advanced voting runs through Friday, May 15, and that the office will begin early processing of returned absentee envelopes at 2:00 p.m. the day before the election.
He said early processing is limited to opening and scanning returned envelopes to reconcile whether an envelope contains page one only, page two only, or both pages of the county’s two‑page ballot. Tabulation and any adjudication will take place on election day beginning at 2:00 p.m., with early tabulation of scanner totals scheduled to begin at 5:00 p.m. on election day. To help ensure accurate counts, staff reduced batch sizes from 50 voters to 25 voters (effectively 50 pages) while scanning and introduced a reconciliation form for envelope contents.
Travis reported the office had issued 890 absentee ballots and received 310 returns as of that morning. He noted Friday had been the deadline to request an absentee ballot for the May 19 election. The office has notified party representatives and convened a vote‑review panel comprising one Republican member, one Democratic member and two nonpartisan members to assist with early processing.
On voter registration, Travis said the office will reopen registration on May 18 for federal‑runoff‑only registrants pursuant to a 2021 federal court order; those registrants will be listed on poll pads only for federal contests (House and Senate), not for state or local races. He summarized the post‑election schedule: polls are open 7 a.m.–7 p.m. on May 19, the board scheduled pre‑certification and certification meetings for May 22 (pre‑certification at 3:00 p.m., certification immediately after, though certification may be delayed to 5:00 p.m. if provisionals or military ballots require it), the office will be closed May 25 for the holiday, the risk‑limiting audit was set for May 29, and, if needed, the limited number audit (LNA) for a potential runoff would begin June 1. For a runoff the last day to request an absentee ballot is June 5, advanced voting would start June 8 and the runoff would occur June 16.
Travis said the office had posted the recorded voter‑education session and slide deck to its website and would continue outreach (including social media reminders and interviews) reminding voters to check My Voter Page for registration and location information.
The board accepted the update as information.
