Latest news with #StateElectionBoard
14-05-2025
- Politics
Georgia State Election Board creates committee to consider new rules
ATLANTA -- Georgia's State Election Board voted Wednesday to create a committee to weigh proposed election rules before the board takes them under consideration. Board Chairman John Fervier explained during a public meeting that the purpose of the committee will be to allow 'all parties to have a voice in upcoming rules.' He said each of the election board's five members will select two people to sit on the board and that he'd like to see a mix of election officials, citizens, attorneys and even one or two state lawmakers. The election board will then be able to send a proposed rule to the committee to 'have them vet it and smooth it out' before it comes to the board for a vote, Fervier said. The board is tasked with creating rules consistent with state law that ensure uniformity in election practices and promote the 'fair, legal, and orderly conduct' of elections. The board last year attracted national attention when it voted to approve a slew of changes to election rules in the months leading up to the November general election. Most of the changes were ultimately blocked by a judge, and the state Supreme Court recently heard an appeal of that order. The rules were backed and approved by a Republican majority on the board, whose three members were praised by name by then-presidential candidate Donald Trump during an August campaign rally in Atlanta. The rules were adopted after contentious debate and over the objections of the independent board chair and the lone Democrat on the panel. Supporters of the rules said they were necessary to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the election. Many Democrats and voting rights groups, though, worried that the rules would be used to try to undermine election results if Trump were to lose. Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and many county election officials also opposed the adoption of new rules so close to the election. Changes to the state election code, some of them modeled on the rules that were halted by a judge, were considered during this year's legislative session. But lawmakers ultimately ended the session without changing election laws.
Yahoo
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Georgia State Election Board creates committee to consider new rules
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's State Election Board voted Wednesday to create a committee to weigh proposed election rules before the board takes them under consideration. Board Chairman John Fervier explained during a public meeting that the purpose of the committee will be to allow 'all parties to have a voice in upcoming rules.' He said each of the election board's five members will select two people to sit on the board and that he'd like to see a mix of election officials, citizens, attorneys and even one or two state lawmakers. The election board will then be able to send a proposed rule to the committee to 'have them vet it and smooth it out' before it comes to the board for a vote, Fervier said. The board is tasked with creating rules consistent with state law that ensure uniformity in election practices and promote the 'fair, legal, and orderly conduct' of elections. The board last year attracted national attention when it voted to approve a slew of changes to election rules in the months leading up to the November general election. Most of the changes were ultimately blocked by a judge, and the state Supreme Court recently heard an appeal of that order. The rules were backed and approved by a Republican majority on the board, whose three members were praised by name by then-presidential candidate Donald Trump during an August campaign rally in Atlanta. The rules were adopted after contentious debate and over the objections of the independent board chair and the lone Democrat on the panel. Supporters of the rules said they were necessary to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the election. Many Democrats and voting rights groups, though, worried that the rules would be used to try to undermine election results if Trump were to lose. Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and many county election officials also opposed the adoption of new rules so close to the election. Changes to the state election code, some of them modeled on the rules that were halted by a judge, were considered during this year's legislative session. But lawmakers ultimately ended the session without changing election laws.
Associated Press
14-05-2025
- Politics
- Associated Press
Georgia State Election Board creates committee to consider new rules
ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's State Election Board voted Wednesday to create a committee to weigh proposed election rules before the board takes them under consideration. Board Chairman John Fervier explained during a public meeting that the purpose of the committee will be to allow 'all parties to have a voice in upcoming rules.' He said each of the election board's five members will select two people to sit on the board and that he'd like to see a mix of election officials, citizens, attorneys and even one or two state lawmakers. The election board will then be able to send a proposed rule to the committee to 'have them vet it and smooth it out' before it comes to the board for a vote, Fervier said. The board is tasked with creating rules consistent with state law that ensure uniformity in election practices and promote the 'fair, legal, and orderly conduct' of elections. The board last year attracted national attention when it voted to approve a slew of changes to election rules in the months leading up to the November general election. Most of the changes were ultimately blocked by a judge, and the state Supreme Court recently heard an appeal of that order. The rules were backed and approved by a Republican majority on the board, whose three members were praised by name by then-presidential candidate Donald Trump during an August campaign rally in Atlanta. The rules were adopted after contentious debate and over the objections of the independent board chair and the lone Democrat on the panel. Supporters of the rules said they were necessary to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the election. Many Democrats and voting rights groups, though, worried that the rules would be used to try to undermine election results if Trump were to lose. Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and many county election officials also opposed the adoption of new rules so close to the election. Changes to the state election code, some of them modeled on the rules that were halted by a judge, were considered during this year's legislative session. But lawmakers ultimately ended the session without changing election laws.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Some Oklahoma voters to receive address confirmation notices
The Oklahoma State Election board announced this week some voters in Oklahoma will soon receive an address confirmation notice. According to State Election Board Secretary Paul Ziriax, the notices are routine in nature and required under state law to confirm if voters still reside at their addresses the county election board has on file for them. While not every voter will receive an address confirmation notice, those who do will have 60 days to respond and confirm their address. Voters who receive the notice but do not respond at the end of the time frame will receive an 'inactive' status. That means those 'inactive' voters will be removed from the rolls after the 2028 general election, Ziriax said, but that status can be reversed. To reverse the inactive status and avoid removal, voters must either update their registration or vote in any election on or before the 2028 general election, Ziriax said. Responding to the notice as quickly as possible helps keep the voter rolls up to date, Ziriax said. 'It takes just a couple of minutes to confirm or update your registration,' Ziriax said. 'The easiest way to respond is online through the OK Voter Portal. You can also fill out the card and mail it back to us – postage paid.' Voters receiving the confirmation notice are selected for various reasons, including if they had a first-class mailing returned as undeliverable, duplicate registration in this state or another and if they haven't voted or updated registration through the 2022 and 2024 election cycles. For more information, visit the State Election Board website at or voters can also contact their county election board.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Georgia Dems pick former AG candidate Bailey to lead party back to win column
Charlie Bailey, celebrates May 3, 2025, after being elected as chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia, replacing Atlanta U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams. Stanley Dunlap/Georgia Recorder Charlie Bailey, a former attorney general and lieutenant governor candidate, was elected as chairman of the Democratic Party of Georgia Saturday, replacing Atlanta U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams. Bailey becomes the Democratic Party of Georgia's first full-time chair as the party intensifies its efforts to fundraise and campaign for candidates and reenergize a base after setbacks following the 2020 historic elections for U.S. Sens. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff. President Donald Trump's return to the White House looms large as Georgia Democrats look ahead, which fueled questions about the role of party leadership in winning close elections. Trump's narrow Georgia win played a key role in his return to the White House this year. In Saturday's runoff election to lead Georgia Democrats, Bailey won 53% of the votes, with a margin of 116 votes to 98 votes, over Wendy Davis, a former Rome city commissioner and 2022 candidate for the U.S. House of Representatives. Bailey was the Democratic nominee for attorney general in 2018 and lieutenant governor in 2022. Several top elected Democrats endorsed Bailey, including Ossoff and U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath, a Marietta Democrat who delivered Bailey's nomination speech on Saturday. The new chair said he plans to hit the ground running by raising money for key races this year and in next year's election when Ossoff will be on the ballot. He'll also need to focus on races for state legislative and statewide constitutional seats including governor. Bailey will need to unite progressive and more moderate wings of Georgia's Democratic base to get the party back in the win column. 'I only ask to be judged on my heart and on my work, and I think my work as a lawyer and in politics shows I've got a heart for democratic values,' Bailey said following the election. 'We're going to support all of our people and get as many Democrats elected across the state as humanly possible.' During his campaign for party chair, Bailey has cited his experience as an attorney who represented local officials seeking to stop last-minute rule changes made by the State Election Board that might have prevented the certification of the presidential election. Bailey finished first among a field of party chair candidates that also included Gwinnett County state Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes, former Augusta Mayor Hardie Davis, Nakita Hemingway of Atlanta, a former Democratic nominee for Agricultural commissioner, and District 1 chairman Jay Jones from coastal Georgia, who finished third in Saturday's election. Bailey said that the state Democratic Party will have to win over voters by following the party's long-held ideals for improving health care, education and the economy inequality. Bailey said Georgia's Republican Party is failing residents because of the closure of rural hospitals after the state GOP's leadership resistance to full Medicaid expansion and lagging public school ratings. 'That is what they have given us, the people of Georgia,' Bailey said. 'Democrats, independents, Republicans, they got full cause to be angry about that, and we're going to make sure that they know what the Republicans have done, the choices they make, and what we stand for.' McBath said Bailey is the right person to lead the party because he knows the ins and outs of politics while also being able to raise the millions of dollars needed for campaigning. 'I'm not going to mince words about what's happening in D.C. right now,' McBath said. 'Our democracy is truly on the line, and it's time that Georgians stand up. It's time that we say enough is enough.' SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
