Politics
Problems with voting cards not first Fulton County elections issue
By Arielle Kass
April 16, 2016Last month, voter complaints flooded into Fulton County and the state when residents found out they hadn't been notified that their voting locations had changed. The county blamed the postal service for not delivering mailers before the March 1 election. Now, the postal service and the secretary of state's office are investigating. It's not the first time there have been problems related to voting in Fulton County.
Fulton County has had a history of voting snafus, particularly in the 2008 and 2012 elections.
The problems, at a glance:
- 30: The number of violations of state law Fulton County admitted to in the 2008 and 2012 elections.
- 9,600: The number of voters who had to cast provisional ballots in those elections because their names didn't appear on registration lists at the polls.
- 11: The number of eligible voters whose ballots the county improperly rejected. Hundreds more were mishandled.
- $180,000: The amount of money Fulton paid in civil penalties and investigation costs for the violations.
- $212,500: The amount of money Fulton spent to upgrade elections software.
The current situation, at a glance:
- 685,503: The number of registered voters in Fulton County, as of March 1.
- 255,000: The number of cards Fulton mailed since December 2014 to notify voters of changes in precinct locations.
- 30,000 - 40,000: The number of residents whose precinct cards were returned to the county, despite what appeared to be good addresses, since December 2014.
- 850: The number of precinct cards that were delivered to polling locations instead of residents.
- 81: The number of precincts that changed since Dec. 2014.