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Cusseta–Chattahoochee adopts charter amendment to create three-member Board of Elections ahead of Jan. 1, 2025 deadline
Summary
The commission adopted a home-rule ordinance adding a three-member Board of Elections and Registration to the county charter, implementing O.C.G.A. § 21-2-40.1. The board will assume election-superintendent duties Jan. 1, 2025, with a hired elections supervisor and staggered member terms.
The Unified Government of Cusseta–Chattahoochee County adopted a home-rule ordinance on Nov. 12 amending its charter to create a county Board of Elections and Registration, the minutes show. The action implements O.C.G.A. § 21-2-40.1, which directs counties where the probate judge serves as election superintendent to establish such boards if a local act is not in place by Jan. 1, 2025.
The ordinance (No. 2024- ) and attached Exhibit A set the board at three members who must be electors and county residents and be appointed by the Board of Commissioners. The commission established staggered initial terms so the board will take effect Jan. 1, 2025: one initial member’s term ends Dec. 31, 2026, and two initial members’ terms end Dec. 31, 2028; subsequent terms run four years.
The new board will have authority to adopt procedural rules, hold regular monthly meetings in compliance with Georgia’s open meetings and open records laws, and select an elections supervisor to administer voter registration, primaries and elections. The ordinance requires the board to recommend one to three candidates for elections supervisor to the county manager, who will hire the supervisor; other staff may be recommended by the board and paid from county funds.
At the Nov. 25 work session, County Manager Thomas Weaver explained the board must be appointed before Jan. 1 and proposed three initial nominees (Nancy Hoard, Valerie Lassiter and Crystal Walker) as names for the commission to consider; Vice-Chairman Timothy Biddle explained appointments may be staggered so the board becomes functional in 2025. The minutes show the commission added the appointments as voting items on the Dec. 3 agenda.
The ordinance text in the record reiterates that the board may spend county funds for nonpartisan voter education materials with commission approval and that compensation for members and employees is subject to commission approval. The effective date in the ordinance text is adoption and the board is to assume duties on Jan. 1, 2025.
Next steps: the commission listed the proposed appointees to appear on the Dec. 3 meeting agenda and indicated the board and elections supervisor must be in place for the statutory transition.
