A hearing is set for Thursday, Oct. 10 at 4 p.m. at the Richmond Hill Administrative Complex for 859 Bryan County voters whose registration status has been challenged by one woman from Richmond Hill.

Bryan County News attempted to contact Jenifer Hilburn, the woman making the challenge, but received no response by Wednesday evening.

Hilburn will, however, be required to present herself at the Administrative Complex to explain why she believes the 859 Bryan County voters she listed should be removed from registration rolls.

State statute O.C.G.A. § 21-2-229, allows a registered voter to formally dispute another voter’s qualifications, provided the voter lives in the same county or municipality as the voter(s) they are challenging.

“The challenger has the burden of proof to introduce evidence for the basis of the challenges as provided by the rule of law, and then the board makes a decision based on the evidence,” explained Aaron Kappler, county attorney. Voters who have been challenged can also present evidence to argue in their favor if necessary.

A decision will be made on the same day, Kappler said.

Patti Hewitt, a Democrat running for Georgia’s 1st Congressional District, is one of many local individuals planning to attend Thursday’s meeting, saying that she wants to understand the process better regarding the legality of such voter registration challenges so close to Election Day.

“We [the Democratic Party] support making sure that our voter rolls are correct and that voters are voting legally, but we want to make sure that these challenges have been adjudicated properly, that they’re valid and that we’re not taking action so close to an election to try to impede people from voting,” Hewitt said.

Read the letter that Hilburn sent to election officials challenging the 859 voters.