HD28 Boards of Elections Update Elector Voting Lists for April Special Election

All three County Registrars in House District 28 have completed the updates of their voter rolls for the April Special Primary Election.

Monday was the deadline for the Boards of Elections in Banks, Stephens and Habersham counties to correct any errors on their list.

Stephens County attorney Brian Ranck issued a statement Monday afternoon stating no voter errors were found by Gasaway on the Stephens County voter rolls.

“There were no objections raised by Mr. Gasaway to date as to anyone identified on the Stephens County voter list for the upcoming election,” he said.

As part of his ruling in favor of the Republican Candidate Dan Gasaway’s lawsuit, Senior Superior Court Judge David Sweat ordered the registrars to create a Voter Elector List of citizens who would be eligible to cast a ballot next month.

Those lists were then submitted to candidates Dan Gasaway and Chris Erwin for review.

Speaking through his attorney, Erwin told WNEG News last week that they had no objection to any voter listed in on the three lists.

However, Gasaway said he found a number of errors on the lists in Banks and Habersham counties, most notably, the names of people who had died. Those deceased persons were mainly on the Banks County voter list.

On Tuesday, Banks County Registrar Andra Phagan told WNEG News her Board of Elections met Monday at 9a and made corrections to their list.

Of the 25 Banks County voters Gasaway objected to, four of the five voters he said were deceased were removed from the rolls. One voter he claimed was dead was confirmed to still be living.

Of the 11 voters on the Banks County rolls that Gasaway claimed had moved out of House District 28, only one was confirmed to have moved out of the District. Another was found to have moved within the County and will be allowed to cast a ballot.

However, Phagan said the remaining nine names on the voter list are in a confirmation process to determine exactly where they live.

“The confirmation process is where we try to get in touch with that person to confirm thei address,” she explained. “We need proof from that voter that they are no longer here. Even though they’re in a challenge status, if they come to vote, they will be allowed to vote provisionally and they have to supply something to us to prove to us that they still live in the County.”

Additionally, Gasaway claimed nine voters on the Banks County list actually live in Franklin County, which is in House District 32.

Seven of those nine have addresses on Kesler and Wells Roads, which have Carnesville addresses; the remaining two live on John Morris Rd in Maysville, Ga.

Phagan said her Board of Elections concluded all of those voters did live in Banks County.

“That was determined by where they pay taxes and the GIS Map and their tax history here,” Phagan said. “We have eight different postal cities in Banks County. The majority of my voters have Commerce addresses. Plus, Homer, Carnesville, Maysville, Lula, Danielsville, and Gillsville. That’s not unusual because that’s more the post office than the County.”

Phagan noted however, that per Judge Sweat’s order, any voters that a canddiate objected to could still vote in April, but it will be a provisional vote. So all 25 voters on the Gasaway objection list in Banks will be allowed to vote a provisional ballot.

Meantime, in Habersham County only two of the three voters Gasaway objected to were removed.

Habersham County Registrar Laurel Ellison said the third voter was found to be a valid registered voter and was put on the challenge list by mistake.

“He had objected to three, one of those was eligible that he put on the list as eligible,” Ellison said. “So, we had them agree to have her removed becuase there was no reason for her to be on the challenge list. The other two that we are going to go ahead and mark them as challenged on the Elector’s list.”

Those two voters, Ellison said will be allowed to vote provisionally on April 9.

Copies of the Habersham and Banks County Challenge lists and certified letters can be found here:

Chall Voters Letter 4 11 19

Challenge Voters, Board Meeting List

Signed Certification Letter of Dan Gasaway’s Challenged Voter List for April 9, 2019 Special Republican HD 28 Primary

Signed Certification Letter of Dan Gasaway’s Challenged Voter List for April 9, 2019 Special Republican HD 28 Primary 3-6-2019 – Gasaway’s Challenged Voters for April 9 2019 Election