FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Fulton County can't conduct 'efficient, orderly' elections with the current Georgia Registered Voters Information System (GARViS) software, Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections vice-chair Michael Heekin warned Tuesday.
Heekin said they faced several challenges during the administration, tallying and certification of the 2023 municipal elections due to GARViS.
"Getting reliable turnout data, inaccurate data in general on who voted and how many times they voted was not uncommon [in Fulton and other counties]," he said. "Critical information that might be found on the My Voter Page or elsewhere is still not reliably available to Georgia voters or Georgia counties."
He said they only have four months to make the necessary changes ahead of the 2024 presidential preference primary in March.
"The Secretary of State needs a firm commitment to complete GARViS so that it is standing tall in time for the presidential preference primary on March 12," he said. "The alternative is unthinkable."
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On Tuesday, board member Aaron Johnson brought up concerns he'd heard about people voting outside of their districts.
Fulton County Director of Registration and Elections Nadine Williams said those stemmed from issues in the cities of South Fulton and East Point.
"Our registration division went back and looked at every vote that was cast in both those cities to see if those people were in the correct district," she said. "We have a follow-up memo that's going to be forthcoming to advise how many were identified to be incorrect."
At the time of the meeting, Williams said they had identified 16 in East Point and six in South Fulton, for a total of 22. Those ballots did not affect any outcomes, she said.
"If we know out of those 16 people, four voted in the incorrect ward — we're going to look at the election results and make sure that four would not have made a difference in the margin of victory," she said. "I can not see who you voted for, but I can see what ballot you were given."
Williams said they're working to resolve those issues ahead of the runoff races and 2024.
"We know redistricting is coming for the next elections, and we're going to make sure we work with GIS," she said. "We've actually already had meetings with them to start verifying more information to make sure we are completely 100% ready to go for 2024."
They are also planning on adding provisional managers and signage to precincts to make those ballots more accessible for anyone who isn't sure whether they have the correct ballot.
Cobb County Board of Elections Director Tori Silas said she and her counterparts in Clayton, DeKalb, Douglas, Fayette, Fulton, Henry and Rockdale counties represent 41% of the state's registered voters.
She said they sent a letter to the state on behalf of the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials District 3 on November 2.
"We outlined our ongoing concerns with GARViS," she said. "We did receive a response back from the elections director on November 3, providing an explanation and addressing some of the concerns."
DeKalb County said it had two isolated instances related to redistricting.
"Those issues were reported to the Secretary of State’s office and resolved accordingly. Georgia’s elections system has a series of checks and balances that help ensure the integrity of each election," a spokesperson said. "In DeKalb, we were able to quickly address any minor issues that arose, none of which impacted the election."
At the close of polls, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said the GARViS test for the 2023 municipal races was "a resounding success." He also said election officials across the state noted positive improvements.
"Shorter wait times means less confusion at the polls, less errors, and increased voter confidence," Raffensperger said in a statement. "We applaud our county election officials for getting the job done once again.”
11Alive reached out to the Secretary of State's office with the concerns noted in Fulton County. They have not yet responded as of Wednesday evening.