On Monday, May 2, an alert voter called the Chatham County Board of Elections to inquire about a possible error on their sample ballot for Precinct 8-01, the new combined poll location at the Ralph Mark Gilbert Civil Rights Museum.
The voter explained they live in House District 165 but House District 162 was listed on the ballot. Chatham County Board of Elections‘ staff immediately researched the issue and met with the registrar to review the ballot. It was determined that the ballot for Precinct 8-01 had the wrong district number listed. The General Assembly recently reapportioned and redistricted state house districts and a coding error was determined to have caused the mistake on the ballot.
The registrar immediately identified the absentee ballots that had been requested by voters in Precinct 8-01. Those ballots will be canceled and new ballots will be issued to those voters. There is no additional action required on the part of voters except to submit the updated ballot; not the original ballot containing the error. Those voters have received a letter explaining the situation.
“Chatham County has more than 500 ballot styles. Our staff members spent a week proofing the ballots and corrected a number of mistakes prior to printing," said Board of Elections Chairman Tom Mahoney.
According to Elections Director Billy Wooten, “When we sign off on the final proofs, it is our goal to produce completely correct ballots with no errors. This was missed and we have since corrected it.”
Voters in Precinct 8-01 who vote early in person are being issued the correct ballot. Voters in Precinct 8-01 who request an absentee ballot will receive the correct ballot.
“We appreciated the voter who called and alerted us. This voter’s quick action kept the issue from becoming a bigger problem," Mahoney said. "We welcome and appreciate calls from citizens.”
CONTACT
Billy Wooten
Supervisor of Elections
Chatham County Board of Elections
912-201-4380
The Board of Elections of Chatham County functions as the superintendent of elections and conducts primaries and elections in accordance with State law. The Board performs all services and functions necessary to support the election process. The Board establishes boundaries for voting precincts, secures facilities to serve as polling locations for these precincts, recruits, selects, hires, trains and assigns personnel to serve as poll officials. The board also conducts qualification for candidates, develops ballots for elections, acquires, maintains, prepares and delivers equipment used to conduct elections, publicizes notices as required by law and maintains elections records.
How was your voting experience? Tell us!The members of the board are:
Supervisor:
Billy Wooten
The Board of Elections of Chatham County holds its regular monthly meeting on the second Monday of every month at 3:30pm. These meetings are now held virtually via Zoom and can
be viewed by the public with the following information:
Join Meeting: https://zoom.us/join
Meeting ID: 655 527 1923
Election | Voter Registration Deadline | Election Date |
Special Election Date |
February 14, 2022 |
March 15, 2022 |
Special Election Runoff Date |
February 14, 2022 |
April 12, 2022 |
General Primary Election, Nonpartisan General Election and Special Election Date |
April 25, 2022 |
May 24, 2022 |
General Primary Election, Nonpartisan General Election and Special Election Runoff Date |
April 25, 2022 |
June 21, 2022 |
General Primary Election Runoff Date for Federal Races |
May 23, 2022 |
June 21, 2022 |
General Election/Special Election Date |
October 10, 2022 |
November 8, 2022 |
General Election/Special Election Runoff Date |
October 10, 2022 |
December 6, 2022 |
General Election Runoff Date for Federal Races |
November 7, 2022 |
December 6, 2022 |
You may sign up to vote at any time, but you must register by the established registration deadline prior to an election if you wish to vote on election day.
If you are not already signed up to vote, please register today !