Georgia
Georgia election board probes handling of mass voter challenges in eight Democrat-led counties • Georgia Recorder
The Georgia State Election Board voted Monday to investigate claims that several county election boards are failing to properly investigate challenges disputing voter eligibility.
Three State Election Board members loyal to former President Donald Trump agreed to request that the board’s executive director look into whether eight election boards in counties led by Democrats are improperly dismissing complaints questioning if tens of thousands of voters are eligible to vote.
The mass voter challenge controversy has been a mainstay in Georgia over the last several years since the feverish push to overturn the 2020 presidential election results after Republican President Donald Trump narrowly lost to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes.
Many conservatives have argued that voter registration lists need to be purged of ineligible votes, while Democrats and progressive activists have argued that mass voter challenges aim to intimidate and remove voters who should remain eligible to cast ballots.
The Georgia board requested Executive Director Mike Coan report findings by the time the election board plans to hold its next meeting Oct. 8.
DeKalb County Republican Party Chairwoman Marci McCarthy requested that the board carefully examine how several counties handle voter eligibility cases. A lawsuit filed by the DeKalb County Republican Party and a DeKalb resident argues that the DeKalb Election Board has failed to address complaints challenging the status of over several thousand registered voters regarding issues such as whether residential addresses are correct and potential double registrations.
McCarthy said the DeKalb board did not follow its duties to investigate challenges of voters registered at non-residential addresses, voters who may have moved out of the county and others who have not been in touch with election officials for over a decade.
“There’s a 90-day period before an election that certain voters should not be removed from the voter list,” McCarthy said. “In particular are voters that just haven’t recently voted. However, as you might guess, voters who have died, been convicted of a felony or moved away more than 30 days ago to another county or state, do not belong in the voter rolls for that county, they are ineligible to vote.”
Federal law mandates a 90-day hiatus prior to an election that prevents certain voter list purges. However, Georgia law prohibits voter removal within 45 days of the upcoming election. Georgia’s Election Day is Nov. 5.
Earlier this month, the DeKalb election officials passed a measure declaring it would follow the 90 days moratorium on voter list maintenance as prescribed under federal law.
According to state law, election boards must consider it sufficient probable cause to move forward with an investigation when a voter does not appear to reside at the same address, lists a non-residential address on their registration, or has other reasons that could disqualify them.
Georgia Election Board member Janice Johnston,said Monday that it appears that a number of election officials in Georgia have been concerned about investigating voter challenges after Democratic election lawyer Marc Elias sent letters threatening legal action if challenges were upheld.
“This appears to have interfered with the duty of registrars to hear challenges and review the qualifications of voters in On the county voter list,” she said.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported this week that since July, county election boards in the metro Atlanta region have rejected more than 45,000 voter eligibility challenges filed by conservative activists. Their analysis found that since July fewer than 50 voters were removed from the rolls in Gwinnett, Fulton, Cobb and DeKalb counties.
A federal judge in Atlanta ruled in January that right-wing True the Vote did not violate the Voting Rights Act as alleged in a Fair Fight Action lawsuit that said the group’s intended to intimate voters as it challenged the eligibility of thousands of Georgian voters leading up to a pair of U.S. Senate runoffs in early 2021.
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After months of campaigning, the 2026 primary elections in Georgia are on Tuesday, with hundreds of contests for statewide and local office taking place across the Peach State.
Voters in every precinct will have a distinct ballot, depending on what races are in play where they live.
With the number of candidates and hotly contested races up for grabs this year, many voters have said the primary ballot is one of the longest they’ve seen.
How to tell which races will be on your local Georgia ballot
So how do you know what races will be on your ballot before you head to your local polling place? It’s easier than you might think.
One way is to use the Georgia Secretary of State’s My Voter Page. Once logged in with your name, county, and date of birth, you can click a link to see your sample ballot and update your voter information. You can also see where you can cast your vote and your voter registration info.
You can also check your county election department, which will have links to see the Democratic, nonpartisan, and Republican sample ballots.
Statewide races will be on every voter’s ballot, like the primaries for governor, lieutenant governor, and U.S. senator. Most other races are dependent on the county or legislative district.
The different races included in the Georgia primary election
- U.S. Senate
- U.S. House of Representatives
- Governor
- Lieutenant Governor
- Secretary of State
- Attorney General
- Commissioner of Agriculture
- Commissioner of Insurance
- State School Superintendent
- Commissioner of Labor
- Public Service Commissioner District 3 and 5
- State Senate
- State House
- Countywide officers
- Georgia Supreme Court (two seats)
- State and county courts
Georgia U.S. Senate primaries
Incumbent Democratic Sen. Jon Ossoff is running unopposed and will face one of five challengers aiming to bring the seat back into Republican hands: Rep. Earl L. “Buddy” Carter, Rep. Mike Collins, John F. Coyne III, Derek Dooley, and Jonathan “Jon” McColumn.
Georgia Congressional primaries
All 14 of Georgia’s U.S. House districts are on the ballot this year. Here are some of the metro Atlanta races CBS News Atlanta will be watching closely.
Primaries for Georgia governor
Primaries for Georgia lieutenant governor
- Democratic primary for Georgia lieutenant governor
- Republican primary for Georgia lieutenant governor
Primaries for Georgia secretary of state
- Democratic primary for Georgia secretary of state
- Republican primary for Georgia secretary of state
Primaries for Georgia attorney general
- Democratic primary for Georgia attorney general
- Republican primary for Georgia attorney general
Other statewide primaries in Georgia
Here are some other contested statewide primaries we are watching:
- Democratic primary for Georgia insurance commissioner
- Democratic primary for Georgia agriculture commissioner
- Republican primary for Georgia state school superintendent
- Democratic primary for Georgia state school superintendent
- Democratic primary for Georgia labor commissioner
- Republican primary for Georgia Public Service commissioner Districts 3 and 5
- Democratic primary for Georgia Public Service commissioner Districts 3 and 5
Georgia State Senate and State House primaries
All 56 of the Georgia State Senate districts and all 180 seats of the Georgia State House of Representatives are up for election in 2026.
Primaries for Georgia courts
Primaries for both statewide and county courts are on the ballot this year. These elections are nonpartisan and all candidates will appear on both ballots
- Three Georgia Supreme Court judges
- Five Court of Appeals judges
- County superior court judges
- State court judges
Political party ballot questions
Both the Georgia Republican and Democratic parties include ballot questions in their primary elections. The questions are non-binding, but advise the parties on what to include in their platforms. This year, the Republicans have eight questions and the Democrats have two.
As an example, Question 1 on the Republican ballot asks: “Should Georgia enact the strongest election integrity measures possible, which may include hand marked paper ballots, fines for counties that refuse to maintain current voter rolls, and restrictions on no-excuse absentee voting to restore trust in elections?”
Question 1 on the Democratic ballot asks: “Should the State of Georgia raise the sales tax on everyday items like clothing, food, and school supplies to pay for an income tax cut that would make millionaires and billionaires richer?”
Voters mark yes or no on each question.
As temperatures rise across Georgia, cooling costs are also expected to climb this summer. The Georgia Public Service Commission is set to hear one of Georgia Power’s proposed agreements aimed at saving customers money on their power bills.
Georgia Power says its proposed agreements could save the typical customer about $4 a month if approved by the commission.
The proposals involve two separate cases before the PSC. One focuses on fuel costs used to operate power plants, while the second deals with storm recovery costs tied to Hurricane Helene.
Georgia Power and the PSC’s Public Interest Advocacy Staff recently reached agreements in both cases. If approved, the company says the typical residential customer using 1,000 kilowatt-hours per month could save about $4.04 per month or nearly $50 per year beginning in June.
The proposal comes as a new national report from the National Energy Assistance Directors Association and the Center for Energy Poverty and Climate projects cooling costs could rise about 8.5% nationwide this year. The report says hotter temperatures and increased energy demand are helping drive costs higher.
Reliable Heating and Air said it is already seeing an increase in service calls across metro Atlanta as more people start using their air conditioning systems.
HVAC experts said homeowners should watch for warning signs, including strange noises, weak airflow, homes cooling slowly or higher-than-normal power bills.
“Biggest mistake they make is not getting a system maintenance,” said Joshua Kelly with Reliable Heating and Air. “A lot of people feel like, ‘Oh no, I don’t have to get maintenance,’ but you most definitely do.”
Experts recommend changing air filters regularly, scheduling maintenance checks, keeping thermostats between 74 and 77 degrees on hot days and addressing airflow problems early.
Resources for Georgia families needing help with cooling costs:
- Georgia LIHEAP (Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program) — Helps eligible low-income households pay heating and cooling bills and may assist during energy emergencies.
- United Way 211 — Connects families with local resources, including utility assistance programs, emergency financial help and community services.
- Partnership for Community Action — Offers utility assistance, energy support programs and other services for eligible families in metro Atlanta.
- Local Community Action Agencies — Many agencies across Georgia provide emergency utility assistance, payment support and additional family resources during extreme heat and high energy demand periods.
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