At Tybee Island’s City Council meeting on Thursday, councilwoman Nancy DeVetter discussed cleaning up the city’s voter rolls. This discussion was the result of a group of people expressing concern that some may be voting illegally.Mack Kitchens, who ran for Tybee City Council in the past, said he realized there might be a problem with the city’s voter rolls while working on getting a referendum on the special ballot.”We looked at the roll and when we looked at it, it was so big at 3,500 registered that we really only had legal age voter population of about 2,500,” Kitchens said. “The fact that our voter roll is 32% more than our voting population here, that’s a problem. That’s a real problem.”Kitchens told WJCL he and several others, including John McMasters, a former Chatham County Commissioner, did a lot of investigating to get to the root of the problem.”We ended up seeing approximately 800 people that needed to be shaved off the roll. We broke the list down and came up with people who voted in our last November 2 election. When we did, we started seeing a lot of irregularities we need clarification on.”Some of those irregularities that Kitchens pointed out include: People who live in a home registered as a short-term vacation rental, people who moved prior to October 3 and people who have a homestead exemption in another county or state.Kitchens, along with others, ended up putting a ‘questionable voter’ list together. That list included people’s names, addresses, and notes about why they were considered a questionable voter. That list, along with a letter, was sent to the Secretary of State’s office for review.Some homeowners who were included on the list don’t feel they should be on it.”This has upset a lot of peoples lives who are full-time residents,” said Bart Rowley, a Tybee Island homeowner. “It’s damaging to the people who don’t belong on this list, it was done poorly.”Homeowner Trina Brown said, “My name doesn’t have to be on a list of voter irregularities that needs to be questioned, it just doesn’t.” Brown told WJCL she asked McMasters why she was included on the list.”He said its because I have an STVR certificate,” Brown said. “I said, ‘But if there was an open records, you have all my information, you can see exactly why I applied for it, and that still isn’t enough of a red flag to question my voter eligibility.'”Real estate agent Jenny Rutherford told WJCL that many people, including Brown, got their STVR certificate after the city announced it would be enacting a moratorium on STVR’s. Rutherford said, “Homeowners went out to get certificates to preserve their home values. They were afraid that if they were not able to have the ability to rent out their property as a vacation rental, that their home would lose value. They would also lose the ability to make income on their property in the future.”Another homeowner told WJCL she was told she was listed as a questionable voter because it appeared on social media that she had moved, but she said that is not the case. She said she still resides on Tybee Island.When we told Kitchens some homeowners were upset about his list, he said he wasn’t making any accusations. He added the list was never supposed to be released to the public.”We are absolutely not the judge and jury in this. There are irregularities that we see. Obviously the list got leaked to the public, it was never really meant for the publics eye. It was a sampling of what we’re asking for in those particular situations,” he said. “The sample list is just that. Examples of the questions we’re asking for clarity on.”Some homeowners are still upset, however, as they feel this could negatively impact them in the future.”For me, I used to work at nuclear plants,” Rowley said. “This would come up on a background search. You would have to explain it, there’s nothing there, but you would have to explain it…For licensing, she has to do background checks and that’s her biggest concern. That someone is going to go, ‘Oh, what’s this? You’re on a list as a suspicious voter.'”WJCL spoke to James Hall, a Chatham County Board of Elections member. He said he felt it would have been better to address this issue with the Board of Voter Registration before getting the Secretary of State’s office involved.”The Chatham County Board of Voter Registration, they’re the ones who are in the position to determine if someone legitimately belongs on the voter roll,” Hall said.Kitchens argued, however, that he did what he felt he needed to do.”We would like to keep integrity in our voter registration and this was the only way I felt we could do it was to circumvent the City of Tybee and go straight to the state to get answers to questions were looking for,” Kitchens said.
At Tybee Island’s City Council meeting on Thursday, councilwoman Nancy DeVetter discussed cleaning up the city’s voter rolls. This discussion was the result of a group of people expressing concern that some may be voting illegally.
Mack Kitchens, who ran for Tybee City Council in the past, said he realized there might be a problem with the city’s voter rolls while working on getting a referendum on the special ballot.
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“We looked at the roll and when we looked at it, it was so big at 3,500 registered that we really only had legal age voter population of about 2,500,” Kitchens said. “The fact that our voter roll is 32% more than our voting population here, that’s a problem. That’s a real problem.”
Kitchens told WJCL he and several others, including John McMasters, a former Chatham County Commissioner, did a lot of investigating to get to the root of the problem.
“We ended up seeing approximately 800 people that needed to be shaved off the roll. We broke the list down and came up with people who voted in our last November 2 election. When we did, we started seeing a lot of irregularities we need clarification on.”
Some of those irregularities that Kitchens pointed out include: People who live in a home registered as a short-term vacation rental, people who moved prior to October 3 and people who have a homestead exemption in another county or state.
Kitchens, along with others, ended up putting a ‘questionable voter’ list together. That list included people’s names, addresses, and notes about why they were considered a questionable voter. That list, along with a letter, was sent to the Secretary of State’s office for review.
Some homeowners who were included on the list don’t feel they should be on it.
“This has upset a lot of peoples lives who are full-time residents,” said Bart Rowley, a Tybee Island homeowner. “It’s damaging to the people who don’t belong on this list, it was done poorly.”
Homeowner Trina Brown said, “My name doesn’t have to be on a list of voter irregularities that needs to be questioned, it just doesn’t.”
Brown told WJCL she asked McMasters why she was included on the list.
“He said its because I have an STVR certificate,” Brown said. “I said, ‘But if there was an open records, you have all my information, you can see exactly why I applied for it, and that still isn’t enough of a red flag to question my voter eligibility.'”
Real estate agent Jenny Rutherford told WJCL that many people, including Brown, got their STVR certificate after the city announced it would be enacting a moratorium on STVR’s.
Rutherford said, “Homeowners went out to get certificates to preserve their home values. They were afraid that if they were not able to have the ability to rent out their property as a vacation rental, that their home would lose value. They would also lose the ability to make income on their property in the future.”
Another homeowner told WJCL she was told she was listed as a questionable voter because it appeared on social media that she had moved, but she said that is not the case. She said she still resides on Tybee Island.
When we told Kitchens some homeowners were upset about his list, he said he wasn’t making any accusations. He added the list was never supposed to be released to the public.
“We are absolutely not the judge and jury in this. There are irregularities that we see. Obviously the list got leaked to the public, it was never really meant for the publics eye. It was a sampling of what we’re asking for in those particular situations,” he said. “The sample list is just that. Examples of the questions we’re asking for clarity on.”
Some homeowners are still upset, however, as they feel this could negatively impact them in the future.
“For me, I used to work at nuclear plants,” Rowley said. “This would come up on a background search. You would have to explain it, there’s nothing there, but you would have to explain it…For [my girlfriends] licensing, she has to do background checks and that’s her biggest concern. That someone is going to go, ‘Oh, what’s this? You’re on a list as a suspicious voter.'”
WJCL spoke to James Hall, a Chatham County Board of Elections member. He said he felt it would have been better to address this issue with the Board of Voter Registration before getting the Secretary of State’s office involved.
“The Chatham County Board of Voter Registration, they’re the ones who are in the position to determine if someone legitimately belongs on the voter roll,” Hall said.
Kitchens argued, however, that he did what he felt he needed to do.
“We would like to keep integrity in our voter registration and this was the only way I felt we could do it was to circumvent the City of Tybee and go straight to the state to get answers to questions were looking for,” Kitchens said.