We’re back and gearing up for the 2024 elections—from local to state levels, all the way to re-electing our Democratic President and Vice President, Joe Biden and Kamala Harris!
You may have seen recent news stories about Georgia’s new district maps that were mandated by a federal judge to increase Black voting power and representation.
On behalf of the DeKalb County Executive Board, I want to express our deepest gratitude for your unwavering dedication, commitment, and passion throughout 2023.
This month, we celebrate the life and impact of Janel Green, our Congressional District 4 Chair.
I would like to extend a huge thank you and congratulations to the leadership team and everyone involved in designing and hosting multiple successful DeKalb County Democratic Committee Non-partisan Municipal forums over the past month. It has not been an easy feat to prepare and host these non-partisan forums with all of the candidates, regardless of political affiliation. I can’t say enough about the resiliency of the team that made these forums a reality.
Voting Rights are still under attack! It may seem that in 2023, we shouldn’t be dealing with this issue but with the passing of SB202 two years ago, our voting rights here in Georgia are more vulnerable than ever.
I hope you’re all having a wonderful summer. As we look forward to the fall and its cooler temperatures, I’m excited to announce our upcoming candidate forums at the end of the month!
DeKalb County, GA (Friday, June 2, 2023) – The DeKalb County Democratic Committee (DCDC) has selected Democrats Susan Motter and Vasu Abhiraman as their nominees to the DeKalb County Board of Registration and Elections for the 2023-2025 term. The nominations were announced to members and supporters at their monthly countywide meeting last night.
Susan Motter has agreed to serve another term on the Board. A dedicated member since 2019, Motter’s reappointment for a third term will maintain essential continuity and considerable expertise on the Board. A passionate defender of voting rights and skilled attorney, Motter currently works as an Associate Partner at Aon, a global professional services firm.
Dele Lowman-Smith, who served two terms and led the Elections Board as Chair through critical staff changes and a global pandemic, has chosen to step down to pursue other opportunities. After an application and interview process, the DCDC has selected Vasu Abhiraman to replace Lowman-Smith.
Born and raised in DeKalb County, Abhiraman brings an extensive wealth of knowledge of Georgia election law and procedures. Most recently, as Senior Policy Counsel and Deputy Policy & Advocacy Director for the ACLU of Georgia, Abhiraman led a variety of initiatives to expand voter access, improve voting procedures, and recruit election workers in coordination with Elections Directors across the state. In this role, Abhiraman also worked with volunteers to monitor Board of Elections meetings across Georgia.
In 2020, Abhiraman served on the Georgia Secretary of State’s Bipartisan Task Force for Safe, Secure, and Accessible Elections to ensure that all Georgians could vote safely during a global pandemic. The effort resulted in more Georgians casting ballots in the 2020 General Election and Runoff than in any other elections in Georgia history. Abhiraman also served as a DeKalb poll worker for several years and currently serves as Senior Counsel at Alliance for Justice.
“We are very happy to reappoint Susan Motter to serve another term. She and Dele Lowman-Smith set the bar very high for serving with dedication and integrity. We would have loved to reappoint Dele as well, but we understand her wishes and are so grateful for her strong leadership under very challenging circumstances,” said DeKalb Democrats Chair Brandi Wyche, “We are thrilled that we found an exceptional candidate to take her place. Vasu not only has an impressive resume, he has earned great respect among those that know and work with him. He’ll be a fantastic partner to all members of the Board and staff, and a tremendous asset to DeKalb elections. We look forward to a speedy confirmation from Chief Judge Jackson for both he and Susan.”
The nominations for all members of the DeKalb County Board of Registration and Elections will be confirmed by DeKalb Superior Court Chief and Administrative Judge LaTisha Dear Jackson who will also select the fifth At-Large member of the Board.
State committee member elections were held at our last business meeting on February 28, 2023. Each Dekalb County Commission District elected three people to represent them as voting members of the Democratic Party of Georgia (DPG), except for CD5 where we have one vacancy. Each Super Commission District elected one member, bringing the total to 16 new state committee members. Here are the election results and our new representatives to the DPG:
Commission District 1
Commission District 2
Commission District 3
Commission District 4
Commission District 5
Super Commission Districts
Following the 2020 election, legal challenges around the country have repeatedly failed to support the barrage of conspiracy theories and allegations of misconduct relating to the election outcome. The latest attempt to undermine election integrity is the assertion that the logistics management software developed by Michigan-based Konnech was used to influence election results.
Konnech’s product is exclusively used for the management of election poll workers, from recruitment and training to shift scheduling and timely payment processing. There is absolutely no connection between Konnech software and the actual casting or tabulation of votes. They are separate systems that do not integrate in any way.
Konnech’s contract with Los Angeles County recently came under scrutiny when county officials alleged that poll worker data may have been stored on servers in China rather than in the United States. That news follows an ongoing flood of local voter registration challenges, open records requests and emails seeking to cast suspicion and further disrupt the election process in DeKalb County.
The DeKalb County Voter Registration and Elections office, responsible for local poll worker scheduling, confirmed that the poll worker data at issue did not include any private information, but only information that is publicly available. They also have assured poll workers that the safety of their data is a top priority and are taking further steps to ensure the public’s confidence in the county’s data security protocols. This includes housing data on the DeKalb County server.
Using the alleged Konnech data breach to insinuate that DeKalb County elections have been compromised is simply the latest attempt of the far-right to spread misinformation and draw illogical conclusions about our county’s safe, secure and fair elections.
