Sunday Solutions — Oct. 26, 2025
Good morning! First off, it’s the last week for early voting for the Nov. 5 election. If you requested an absentee ballot and haven’t received it, you’ll want to check in on it. Chatham County is open today and waiting for your in-person early vote. As for everything else, we’ve got a look at a long-awaited district attorney’s office audit and more. We’ll leave you with some good news in data that shows a drop in gun violence across the country — including Coastal Georgia.
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NEWS: VOTING
‘Lost in the mail’
On Oct. 15, a vendor contracted by Chatham County mailed 533 absentee ballots for the Nov. 5 election, but according to the county registrar’s office ‘some’ of them haven’t arrived. No one’s sure how many are lost, and a new set was mailed Oct. 22. The mixup likely will fuel more efforts to ban no-excuse absentee voting in Georgia — a recommendation the State Election Board voted last week to send to the legislature for its consideration. The Current GA’s Craig Nelson details the situation for Chatham County’s ballots and voters and how all of that may affect voting discussions as the legislature returns in January.
NEWS: COURTS
The audit arrives
The 5 counties that make up the Brunswick Judicial Circuit and the district attorney there, Keith Higgins, are headed for court-ordered mediation Tuesday to try to bring countering lawsuits to a conclusion. The counties have accused Higgins of misusing or overspending budgeted money for his work as the district’s prosecutor. The mediation will now have the info everyone sought: a forensic audit of the district attorney’s office. The audit, submitted late Wednesday and obtained by The Current’s Jabari Gibbs, reports on the disarray in recordkeeping, out-of-policy cash payments, trips to Las Vegas, forged signatures and other less than stellar accounting practices. The counties are asking Higgins to resign; Higgins is refusing and says the office practices have been cleaned up and that the counties aren’t supporting his office’s work as required. Glynn County is still looking for nearly $1 million that it says the office overspent. Tuesday’s meeting should be interesting. You can read Gibbs’ story here.
🎉 Congratulations to Mimi Mayberry-White for knowing that last week’s Spyglass was part of the bee mural on an outside wall at Savannah Bee Company on Stiles Avenue in Savannah. We had 3 correct answers last week — let’s see how you do this week.
Test how well you spy details in Coastal Georgia. Give us the location of the item in the photo above. Some spots may be easier to identify than others; some will be tougher. We’ll collect correct answers each week and draw for a weekly winner.
CLICK HERE TO GIVE YOUR ANSWER
EXPLAINERS: ELECTION
Top of the ballots
No matter where you live in Georgia, the same two races top your ballot: Special elections for two seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission. It’s a “special” election because it’s been delayed for years after lawsuits questioned why district representatives are elected by statewide votes. This ballot lists seats for districts 2 and 3, but that really doesn’t matter since all Georgians vote on them. The district designations apply mostly to the candidates, who must live in the district they represent. That info and more on the PSC — the panel determines most electric rates, among other things — is in FAQ: Georgia Public Service Commission election by The Current‘s Mary Landers.
Also…
If you’re in Liberty County and confused about the new sales taxes you’re voting on, reporter Robin Kemp has a primer on the Floating Special Option Sales Tax and the Transportation Special Option Sales Tax. You can find that breakdown at this link: FAQ: Liberty County TSPLOST, FLOST tax votes. It’s good info for anyone trying to understand the differences in the various local option sales taxes.
What’s on your ballot? Go here to find out.
READ THE DOCUMENTS
Hat tip to the accountants
An annual report from Georgia’s official accountants documents the fact that Georgia collected more money than the governor’s office said it expected to last fiscal year, which has led to a controversial surplus. Read the Fiscal Year 2025 Revenues and Reserves Report or skip straight to The Current GA’s coverage of the state’s $14.6 billion reserves.
☕ Your second cup: Gun violence trends lower
Recent news across the country has made it clear that crime rates, in general, have been dropping. A new analysis shows specifically that gun violence also is trending downward for more than three quarters of cities with the most shootings. The report by The Trace, a nonprofit news site dedicated to reporting on guns and gun violence, shows that for more than half of those 150 cities (including Savannah), the rate of decrease is even greater than it was last year — when the drop in gun homicides broke all previous records. And unlike most things in our polarized world, the trend spans all types of cities with all types of politics. Here’s the story and the data.
Enjoy.
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Chatham County absentee ballots go missing in mail
By Craig Nelson
Chatham County’s voter registration office is working to remedy a ‘technical error’ that caused some absentee ballots to go missing in the mail, adding to the pressure to restrict mail-in voting.
FAQ: Liberty County TSPLOST, FLOST tax votes
By Robin Kemp
Both FLOST and TSPLOST are “special purpose” taxes. That means Georgia law mandates those dollars can only be spent on specific projects presented before the election.
FAQ: Georgia Public Service Commission election
By Mary Landers
The Georgia Public Service Commission, which regulates investor-owned utilities and affects nearly every Georgian, is up for election in November, with two Republican incumbents running against two Democrats.
State election panel recommends ending no-excuse absentee voting in Georgia
By Maya Homan/Georgia Recorder
The Georgia State Election Board voted 3-2 to recommend that the state Legislature end no-excuse absentee voting, which was adopted in 2005, and limit the amount of time overseas and military voters have to return absentee ballots.
Forensic audit of Glynn DA’s office reveals budget disarray, ‘questionable cash withdrawals’
By Jabari Gibbs
The accountants said poor record keeping and oversight since Higgins took over the office in early 2021 prevented them from performing a complete audit for the 5-county circuit.
Georgia SNAP seeks at least $60 million after federal budget cuts
By Maggie Lee
Numbers are arriving that indicate Georgia’s GOP-led state government must soon decide whether to spend an additional $60 million a year administrating SNAP or do something that shrinks the program that more than one in 10 Georgians use to buy groceries.
Coastal Georgia early voting guide, 2025
By The Current
Early voting in Georgia ends on Oct. 31st, with absentee ballots due by Nov. 4th, and drop boxes available during business hours of early voting.
Georgia reports $14.6 billion surplus
By Maggie Lee
Georgia’s Republican governor and GOP-led legislature have an additional $2 billion in funds to spend or save in the upcoming election year, despite federal spending cuts and concerns over funding gaps in social safety net and other services.
PSC critic arrested after allegedly stealing Georgia Power documents from hearing
By Emily Jones/WABE, Grist
Patty Durand, a vocal critic of the Georgia Public Service Commission, was arrested for allegedly stealing Georgia Power documents containing confidential information during a hearing on the utility’s request to expand natural gas plants and add new batteries.
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