November 30, 2007
An audit requested by the Forsyth County Board of Commissioners into the financial practices of the voter registration office showed undocumented spending for food and travel.
Superintendent of Elections Gary Smith said he has done nothing wrong and can account for everything mentioned in the 31-page audit presented to the board Nov. 29
"I have made some mistakes and I apologize for that," he said. "But I haven't done anything that wasn't practiced in this county since the office was created in 1987."
Smith said he was never contacted by Bates Carter and Company, the organization conducting the audit and did not know the audit would be released until 20 minutes before the meeting.
The county had approved the audit for an amount not to exceed $10,000.
Commissioner Linda Ledbetter, who requested the audit Sept. 25, said the results of the audit bring Smith's credibility into question because of his knowledge of the county's electronic voting system.
"I feel he let down the county," she said. "Either he is a bad department head or is into some kind of fraud. I respectfully ask for his resignation."
The commissioners did not take any action at the Nov. 29 work session.
Ledbetter said the county should at least appoint a monitor to be with Smith at all times during elections.
But Smith said county voters should not be concerned.
"I think there is a deeper reason for these attacks," he said. "I think there is a group out there opposed to electronic voting in Georgia and I believe there are people in our county that are trying to tear down the process of elections."
The audit shows thousands have been spent on dinning in and out of the county, some without proper receipts. Smith said the restaurant expenses inside the county have been to pay poll workers and those delivering voting machines to precincts.
"I buy lunch for those people on the day they deliver the machines and the day they pick them up," he said. "If I had to hire off duty firemen, it would cost $6,000. Am I doing something wrong in trying to save the county money?"
Smith said it is important to treat the poll workers "like gold" so he can retain their services.
The commissioners have since updated their policies on expenditures and Smith said he will comply.
There were also questions surrounding Smith's travel. Smith said he was attending conferences recommended and in some cases required by his office.
"I've always felt it was important to find as much education about this job as possible," he said. "If you want mistakes to be made, not having education and training is a good way to get that started."
The audit also showed Smith spent time working in Cherokee County while still being employed by Forsyth County. But Smith said this was not accurate.
"I was using my comp time," he said.
This is not the first time Smith was audited in 2007.
The county conducted its own internal audit over the summer into the Smith's expenses and found he owed about $230, which he said he paid back in August. The audit was prompted by county resident Terry Sweeney's allegations made at the June 7 meeting regarding improper expenditures and travel reimbursement of the voter registrar's office.
Sweeney attended the Nov. 29 work session and said he still had questions.
"There's a question that somebody's hiding something because we need answers to more questions," he said.
Commission Chairman Charles Laughinghouse said he would like to know the total amount the entire issue surrounding Smith has cost the county.
Labels: Audit, Forsyth, Voter
# posted by
Brian Vanderhoff @ 10:18 AM
