Report: Fulton violated state election rules

Fulton County violated numerous state elections rules and mishandled the ballots of thousands of voters during last year’s general election, an investigation by the Secretary of State’s Office has found.

A preliminary investigation report obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution says poor planning and training and bad decisions led to long lines and confusion at some polling places in the November 2012 general election. Among other things, the county failed to hire enough temporary workers to handle voter registrations, missed deadlines to enter those registrations and failed to properly document or secure the provisional ballots of some 9,600 voters.

The report also cites violations in the July 2012 primary election and says Fulton still hasn’t resolved a 2012 incident in which it found hundreds of people registered to vote at addresses that contained only empty lots.

“Perhaps most troubling is the apparent utter disregard for the security and integrity of practically the entirety of the provisional ballot process,” the report concludes. “Almost 10,000 votes (in the general election) were essentially undocumented or under-documented and under-secured.”

Fulton County’s fate now rests with the State Election Board, which will meet Tuesday to hear the allegations. The board could refer the case to the Attorney General’s Office for further review and possible administrative proceedings and penalties.

Check myajc.com for more details.

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