Athens-Clarke County elections board certifies June 16 runoff, accepts provisional ballots

ATHENS-CLARKE COUNTY, Ga. — The Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections and Voter Registration unanimously accepted provisional ballots and certified the June 16 runoff returns at a special meeting Monday evening.

The board’s chair opened the session at 5:30 p.m. at 2555 Lexington Road and moved to adopt and amend the agenda to include approval of minutes from the May 22 special meeting. After public comment, the board recessed briefly to allow staff to duplicate and balance ballots before completing certification.

Director Loth reported that staff identified six provisional ballots related to the runoff and described how provisional ballots were handled: some were accepted after verification, some were rejected because a voter had already cast a ballot or because the ballot was out of the precinct, and one absentee ballot was cured and returned before the 5 p.m. deadline. “We have six provisionals that we have reported for the runoff,” Director Loth said.

After staff completed checks, a motion to approve the provisional ballots was made and seconded; members voted aye and the board accepted the provisional ballots unanimously.

The board then reviewed the election summary report. The chair read the recap figures reported to the board: election-day ballots, 10,101; advanced voting ballots, 8,809; absentee-by-mail ballots, 700; provisional ballots, 5; total ballots, 19,615; registered voters, 72,371; overall turnout reported as 27.1 percent. (Some percentage lines in the transcript were garbled and are recorded as reported by the board.) A motion to accept the election summary report passed by voice vote.

The board then made and seconded motions to certify, in sequence, the nonpartisan general primary runoff, the Republican general primary runoff and the Democratic general primary runoff returns. Each motion carried with an affirmative voice vote; the chair announced, “Election is certified.”

The board announced a statewide recount for the Republican Public Service Commission District 3 contest set for Wednesday, June 24 at 10 a.m.; a risk-limiting audit for the June runoff election on Friday, June 26 at 10 a.m.; and a ballot imaging audit on Monday, June 29 at 10 a.m. All events were noted as open to the public at 2555 Lexington Road.

During public comment earlier in the meeting, a guest identified as Mr. Breed commended Director Loth and elections staff for "100% accuracy," urged improved telephone response practices for voters, and said he had encountered only two complaints across multiple polling locations.

The board adjourned after setting its next regular meeting for Tuesday, July 7 at 4:30 p.m.