Analysis Of Jan. 5 Records Supports County Inaction On Challenge

Last December, Oconee County resident Pat Daugherty, on behalf of True The Vote, challenged the eligibility and right of 1,450 Oconee County voters to participate in the Jan. 5 U.S. Senate runoff election, contending they had moved out of the county permanently.

The Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration unanimously rejected the challenge on the grounds that there was no probable cause of a violation of Georgia law that would render the voters ineligible to cast a ballot.

An analysis of voter records for the county shows that 165 of those challenged voters cast a ballot on the Jan. 5 election. That means that 1,285 did not.

The vast majority of those who voted–132--did so in person, meaning they provided identification and were deemed eligible to vote. Only 33 of the 165 cast an absentee ballot.

The challenge by Daugherty and Texas-based True The Vote takes on new significance because of changes in the Georgia election law that went into effect on July 1.

These changes encourage and build on the challenge Daugherty initiated in Oconee County and True The Vote initiated around the state.

That provision of the new law–as well as the December challenge--came up in a discussion by Oconee County Director of Elections and Registration Rebecca Anglin with Oconee County Democrats in June.

For more on this story, please go to Oconee County Observations.