Director reports audit results; board hears equipment timeline and public concerns over chain-of-custody and QR codes

In a short director’s report to the Cherokee County Board of Elections, the director said staff completed the county’s risk-limiting and ballot-image audits for the June 16 runoff and reviewed 8,633 ballots in the hand count. "We reviewed 8,633 ballots for the hand count and we're happy to say, as always, the machine count matched the hand count 100%," the director said.

The director outlined upcoming events: a special called State Election Board meeting on July 8 (virtual) and a special county board meeting on July 29 to sign a resolution to put "East Bloss" on the November ballot. Staff are also organizing poll-worker meet-and-greet events and voter-education programming in August.

Board members asked for clarification about the state’s special committee on voting equipment; the director said the committee will study equipment options and present recommendations to legislators by Jan. 31, 2027, and that, based on current indications, officials are leaning toward ballot-on-demand printing. The director cautioned that switching away from QR codes or to different ballot formats would require equipment upgrades and funding that the state did not allocate to counties.

One public commenter, Ms. Davis, urged officials to address polling-worker mistreatment and transparency. She said results handled under chain-of-custody procedures were being totaled "outside of public view," called that practice demeaning to poll workers, and recommended the board run a practice emergency election to develop clear protocols and train poll staff. The director did not directly dispute the commenter’s phrasing about tallies but reiterated the completed audits and the need for legislative action and funding to change voting equipment.

Board members and staff agreed to provide the board with the updated resolution text prior to the July 29 special meeting and to continue planning for November. The board then moved to other agenda items.