61: Elections in Gwinnett with Acting Elections Supervisor, Kelvin Williams

On the latest episode of Conversations with Ku, meet Acting Elections Supervisor Kelvin Williams! Hear about his new role, how the elections process works in Gwinnett County, and more.

Commissioner Ku would love to hear from you or answer questions about District 2. Feel free to email him at Ben.Ku@GwinnettCounty.com and your question may be read on air. 

Transcript

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Hello, everyone. I'm Gwinnett County District 2 Commissioner Ben Ku, and you're listening to Conversations with Ku. Welcome to Episode 61 for May 2026. I'm joined today by Acting Elections Supervisor Kelvin Williams. Welcome, Kelvin. It's great to have you here. Thank you. Thank you for the invitation. So Kelvin was appointed Acting Elections Supervisor in March after the former supervisor left to pursue a new professional opportunity. Kelvin has been with the department since 2016 and served as the Deputy Elections Supervisor since 2021. He has more than 24 years of voter registrations and elections administration experience. So I really couldn't think of anyone better to take on the important task of seeing Gwinnett County through this year's midterm elections. So let's start with what I hope is an easy question. How are you settling into your new role? So I think it's a role that keeps us on our toes. It's a role that one never settles into. However, it's a ever-changing landscape in elections, ever-changing operations. I have an amazing team of dedicated staff that makes navigating the transition much easier. Our goal is to ensure we're exceeding the Gwinnett standard, and I'm honored to have had this opportunity to lead the team through a successful 2026. Speaking of that role, you are appointed by our Elections Board, right? That is correct. The Gwinnett County Board of Registrations and Elections appoints the Election Supervisor for the county, and I was appointed acting Election Supervisor by the Board. And so it would be their decision to make you permanent? It is the decision of the Board to appoint an Election Supervisor to carry out the day-to-day operations. That is correct. So something that listeners might not know is that last year you received the Georgia Award of Excellence in Election Administration from the Georgia Democracy Resilience Network and the Carter Center. That's a mouthful. Tell us more about the award and how it felt winning. Yes so it's the first time the award has been presented in the state of Georgia, and it's recognized dedicated election administrator that have made great contributions to elections innovations and advancement. It was truly an honor to be recognized for something that is not only I enjoy doing, but also sharing with other jurisdictions, networking, and best practices, not only in the state of Georgia, but around the nation. So again, it was truly an honor to be recognized. We're so proud of you. So we recently had a ribbon cutting at the Beauty Baldwin Building for some expansive renovations that have happened at that location. Could you speak to what those renovations entail? So we're excited with the investment that the Board of Commissioners have poured into our operations. We recently had our office renovated to be a better service to our voters by expanding the area for advanced voting. We're now able to fit up to 35 voting compartments within that space. We were previously able to fit 20 of the ballot marking devices. The renovation also allowed for us to bring all of our divisions into one building. Previously, we were operating from three separate locations. We had our main office, which was our voter registration area, which also served as advanced in-person voting. We had a second facility that served as our elections warehouse. We have about 8,000 pieces of equipment that we do store and we do maintain. We were able to bring all of that under one roof. We had our poll official training location out in Duluth at the old Duluth Library. We were able to bring that training facility on site. And so we're a one-shop operation now. All of our staff are in one location, which makes collaboration and working on projects and just executing the election much easier so that we're not traveling around the county, not having our poll officials confused on where to go for training, not having our poll officials confused on where to pick up equipment. It's all in one location. So when we say that you report to our office, it's one central location. Again, we're excited about the investment that the commissioners did make to ensure that we are successful in our operations. For many people, voting is a brief event. They visit their polling location that one day, cast their ballot, and that's the extent of their time spent with the elections office. But of course, the whole process is a lot longer and more complicated than a single day. By the time this podcast airs, we'll be in the midst of early voting for the May 19th general primary election. Can you give us a brief rundown of what an election looks like for the department? Where does it start? How long is the process, et cetera? So there are many components to planning, preparing for an election. We view each election as a project to manage. Sometimes we have months to plan, such as a scheduled election, general election, or an election cycle. Or in the case of a special election, we may only have a few weeks to plan. It starts by securing polling locations, site inspections for polling locations. So that's generally six months out. We contract with polling locations, which is a process. Luckily here in Gwinnett, we are fortunate to partner with Gwinnett County Public Schools to provide at least almost half of our polling locations. About 10% are government facilities, and the remainder of the locations are private organizations, especially churches. We recruit about 2,000 poll officials in advance of the election. We train those poll officials, which is about six weeks of training. Prior to the six weeks of training, there's a period of developing poll official training materials. We work closely with our Gwinnett County communications department to produce videos, as well as training materials and training manuals. There's a ballot building process. Once qualifying ceases, we gather that information and we work to ensure the translations are accurate. We partner with our language equity groups to ensure that we're also able to provide sample ballots in multiple languages. We have events such as street maintenance to ensure that individuals are properly districted. That's six months before the elections that we are confirming the readiness for an election. So elections, while they're one-day events, it does take weeks and months to prepare for that one day. So speaking of planning, I know there's some uncertainty given the conflicting laws that need to be resolved right now. Given that the legislature has to go into special session, how are you preparing for the November election and the deadlines that have been imposed? Well, there hasn't been any recent legislation or action that would clarify how the state will operate elections after July 1st, 2026. Senate Bill 189 that became law in 2024 does restrict any ballots from being tabulated based on the QR code. There has been much discussion on a resolution, but at this time, no clear solution. By state law, the state of Georgia has a uniform voting system that is selected by the secretary of state and provided through their elections division. At this time, we are awaiting directives. Whatever system guidance or directives after July 1st, our office has committed to implementing and conducting elections accordingly. We do understand that the general assembly did conclude this session without taking any action. We have been made aware that there's a possibility that the governor will call the legislators back into session. However, we are aware that there was a period that the session cannot be called because it would require the suspension of campaigning or collecting campaign funds. So again, we have also been made aware that the secretary of state's office may have a workaround to ensure compliance, but it's in the hands of the secretary of state to choose the uniform voting system for the state of Georgia and Gwinnett is prepared to comply with those selections. So they will choose a new system or is there a possibility we'll be able to continue as... They will either choose a new system or clarify the method of voting that is approved for the state of Georgia. Thank you. So I know when I first got elected, I was constantly fighting to try to make sure that we had consistent three full weeks of early voting, that we had weekends, that we didn't have weird hours on different days. I've noticed for the past several elections, we've had consistent three full weeks, including the intervening weekends and seven to seven each day at early voting locations. Has something changed in the Board of Registrations and Elections to make that process easier and that we're consistently now providing those new consistent comprehensive behavior? So I think over the past few years, advanced voting has become very popular, not only in Gwinnett but around the state. And we continue to expand advanced voting locations and opportunities. Ten years ago, as you mentioned, I think we had our main office that was open for three weeks and five locations that were open for only five days. During that period, we have expanded to include a total of 12 additional locations that are open for 12 hours for full 19 days to include weekends. These expansions have greatly increased the participation in early voting. I think it was a response to the positive voter turnout for advanced voting that we recognize that we needed to extend hours as well as offer advanced voting locations in areas that we realize that may have been underserved by advanced voting locations. These expansions have greatly increased the participation in advance of the May 19th primary that's upcoming. We started advanced voting on yesterday. And as of today, we've had roughly 3,000 individuals to cast a ballot in advance of the May 19th election or primary. And I'm so pleased that we have early voting locations in all three of my community advisory board areas. We have the Lucky Shoals early voting location. We have Mountain Park early voting location, as well as the Centerville early voting location. So that is fantastic. I noticed that the Dropbox locations have shifted around a little bit. Lucky Shoals is no longer a Dropbox location, but Centerville now is. But I think we were talking, what should people do if they have an absentee by mail ballot? So individuals that have requested and received an absentee by mail ballot can return those to our office, either in person at our main office. They can mail it, mail the ballot in. There's no postage that's required. Gwinnett is one of the only counties in the state of Georgia that does provide a postage paid return envelope for absentee by mail ballots. Individuals can also hand deliver their absentee by mail ballots to any of our advanced voting locations. Any of the 13 locations will receive those ballots. We do have six locations that have ballot drop boxes and individuals returning those ballots to those locations will be required to deposit the ballot into the Dropbox. The remaining locations, we do have absentee ballot clerks that will receive those ballots hand delivered. Those ballots are returned securely to our office each night for the purpose of accepting. So somebody is going to a location that doesn't have a Dropbox. What is the best way for them to turn in those ballots and find that dedicated staff? For an individual that chooses to return their absentee ballot to an advanced location that does not have a Dropbox, any poll official that's on site, make that poll official aware, hey, I have an absentee ballot that I would like to return. At that time, that clerk or that poll official will direct to the appropriate individual for the purpose of receiving that ballot. Fantastic. So something that seems to be on many people's minds, especially over the last several years, is voter fraud. How does Gwinnett County work to combat fraud? So I don't know any election that's perfect. However, I'm confident that those of us that administer elections have the utmost respect and integrity for the tasks that we complete and we adhere strictly to the laws. There's so many checks and balances and safeguards to ensure the integrity of our elections. Many processes such as equipment testing, early processing, tabulation of ballots, early processing, canvassing of results are open to public monitoring and public inspection. We encourage individuals to come out and witness these processes that are open to the public. We are currently testing equipment that will be used in the May 19th general primary and that process is open to the public. We will test that equipment through Friday, May 8th at our office and the public is invited to witness that testing and process and ask any questions that they may have regarding the process. I understand that there are lots of discussions or lots of comments regarding voter fraud, but the actual proof of voter fraud is rare. And I think that a misunderstanding of processes is oftentimes interpreted to be voter fraud when that's not the case. I recently heard a stat that there was only 17 cases that were identified. I think I did hear that and I think that was in reference to possibly non-citizens may have cast a ballot and, you know, oftentimes that's just a misunderstanding of citizenship laws. So, yes, it's very rare that there is a legitimate case of voter fraud. Not saying that it doesn't exist, but it's a very rare occasion. That sounds extremely rare, not near enough to influence any of the elections. So is there anything else you'd like for our listeners to know about elections in Gwinnett? We're here to serve. You know, we are excited about the voter turnout, the anticipated voter turnout for this primary. We're also continuously recruiting poll officials. So anyone that would like to take part in the process, please consider applying to become a poll official. We offer training and we pay up to $450 for an election day. And that's depending on an assigned position. Those that are interested can visit GwinnettCountyJobs.com. We also would like for individuals to make a plan before voting. Understand your ballots by reviewing a sample ballot that's available on our website. Understand where you can vote by visiting our website. You can also locate this information on the Secretary of State's My Voter page or MVP.sos.ga.gov. And the Gwinnett Elections website is GwinnettElections.com. GwinnettElections.com. Yes, sir. And another resource that's available newly is something I've worked with the county to partner with Ballot Ready to allow people to get not only all the candidates who are running, but that links to their websites, gets information that are pulled from their websites. So you can more easily compare the candidates, see where people stand, what their background and education are, and become educated on each race that's available. So that is now available from the partnership that I've worked with the county. If you go to our homepage, click on the All Services, go to the very bottom, it's the last link. It'll take you to Ballot Ready and you can get information on all the candidates for your entire ballot. Thanks for joining me today, Kelvin. I hope this conversation has been encouraging for our listeners so they know and can be confident that elections in Gwinnett County are in good hands. Thank you for inviting me and look forward to visiting with you again. And don't forget to get out and vote. It's one of our most valuable and important civic duties. Thank you to our wonderful staff for helping to write, edit, produce and promote this podcast. And to our listeners, thank you for joining us. If there's a topic you'd like me to cover or someone you'd like me to interview, I'd love to hear from you. We had some amazing questions at my State of the District and we'll start working through those questions in future episodes. So keep those questions coming. You can email me at ben.ku at GwinnettCounty.com. That's ben.ku at GwinnettCounty.com for all your district needs. Thanks again for listening. And as always, stay vibrantly connected and I'll talk to you soon.