Election officials are mailing new precinct cards to 864 Doraville voters, an acknowledgement that they’ve been assigned to the wrong state House district for years.
Those voters in the Doraville North precinct live in state Rep. Scott Holcomb's District 81 but cast ballots in state Rep. Tom Taylor's district.
The error didn't affect the outcome of any election, said DeKalb County Elections Director Erica Hamilton. Of the 864 misplaced voters, 122 of them cast a ballot in the May 22 primary election.
The problem, which dates back to statewide redistricting before elections in 2012, went undetected until recently, Hamilton said. She said she couldn’t explain how the mistake occurred.
“I just think it was human error when they were inputting the streets into the redistricting model,” Hamilton said.
Holcomb, D-Atlanta, said there should have been a process in place to ensure district lines were drawn accurately.
“It was a colossal error, and I still don’t understand how it happened,” Holcomb said. “I trust that the notifications will go out quickly, and I will work to inform voters before the election.”
The Georgia Secretary of State’s Office is investigating, said spokesman Jared Thomas.
DeKalb’s elections office will implement “checks and balances” to prevent inaccuracies when areas are redistricted in the future, Hamilton said.
Voters should receive corrected precinct cards in three to four weeks, she said. Their voting information will also be fixed on the state's "My Voter Page."
A similar issue with incorrectly drawn district lines came to light in Habersham County after state Rep. Dan Gasaway appeared to lose the May 22 Republican primary election by 67 votes. Gasaway is asking a judge to order a new election.
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