Georgia Election Board holding hearing for Floyd County Board regarding ’20 elections

The Georgia State Election Board will be holding a hearing on Aug. 18 for the Floyd County Board of Elections and former chief elections clerk Robert Brady in regard to the found ballots during the

November 2020 election.

During an audit in midnovember, approximately 2,500 ballots were found in a hand recount. Elections Board Chair Melanie Conrad previously characterized the issue as a “technical issue caused by human error. … The machines only do what we tell them to do.”

Following the audit, Brady “resigned in lieu of termination.”

Elections board members initially terminated Brady after he received two reprimands within six months. One came after he verbally harangued a member of the public during an election board meeting and the second was made “on the basis of repeated failure to meet performance objectives.”

The board changed the termination to “resignation in lieu of” in March and removed the second reprimand.

Conrad said the upcoming hearing will involve the State Elections Board investigator reviewing the case. There is also the potential the board will have to present their plan to mitigate the possibility of another incident happening in future elections.

Floyd elections board members have been discussing hiring a tech team for the 2021 municipal elections, in order to assist poll workers at each of Rome’s five precincts as well as Cave Spring. That proposed tech team would also assist in troubleshooting issues during the vote tabulation period.

Rome City Commission Ward 2 seats are up for reelection this year, as well as all seven Rome Board of Education seats.

Commissioner Wendy Davis will not be running for her post this year, but incumbents Jamie Doss and

Randy Quick have not declared whether or not they will run for their posts.

Three of the five Cave Spring City Council seats are up for re-election. The seats are held by incumbents Nellie Mccain, Charles

Jackson and Nancy Fricks.

At a called board meeting Friday, the elections board went into closed session with Floyd County Attorney Virginia Harman to discuss the pending litigation and what to expect.

No action was taken during the closed board meeting.

The state election board meeting will start at 9 a.m. Aug. 18 and will most likely be in person, according to Conrad.

Olivia Morley, File In this December 2020 file photo, Elections board members Melanie Conrad and John Scott Husser prepare the next batch of Election Day ballots at the Floyd County Administration Building during the December recount of the 2020 presidential election.