Local election officials are reviewing procedures governing the deletion of felons from voter rolls with identification discrepancies after finding the elections office is not following the state's recommended procedures.

Rockdale County Elections Supervisor Cynthia Welch said Thursday that the elections board should be holding hearings for the 23 voters who are facing deletion from the rolls because either their birthday, social security number or other voter information did not match up exactly with voter information in the elections office.

"We have learned that we should be holding hearings, and there are 23 voters we need to hold hearings on," Welch told the elections board during a meeting Thursday.

She later explained there are usually very few names with discrepancies out of the list of felons sent by the state to voter registration offices. Most are exact matches. The 23 voters in question were from felon lists given in 2012 and 2013. 

When there is a discrepancy, an investigation is done to verify whether the person on the voter roll is the same as the person on the felon list. However, even if staff members find documentation matching the identity, Welch said according to the state's recommended procedures the office still should hold a hearing to give the voter a chance for input. 

"This is just the state clarifying the procedures to us. It's an interpretation of the law, but we think it’s the right thing to do," Welch said.

Welch gave the elections board members a rough draft of procedures and a group of rules for the hearings to be reviewed prior to a special meeting scheduled for next Thursday, April 18 at 4pm at the elections office.