Glennville Rotarians were informed and updated on the election process at their August 21, 2024, meeting by Candler County Probate Judge and Elections Superintendent Tony Thompson and Tattnall Elections Administrator Barbie Mock and Registrar and Assistant Administrator Phil Cavanaugh.
Thompson explained that in the 159 counties of Georgia, there are differences and similarities in the elections process.
For example, in Candler County, with 6558 registered voters (of which 600 are inactive), only one voting precinct exists. However, in Tattnall County, which is more elongated in size and with about 13,000 registered voters, eight precincts are utilized.
“Each precinct must be staffed with at least three poll workers, and that includes early voting and Saturday voting days as well as on election day. This is a big cost to the county for the staffing these precincts with poll workers. Also, these poll workers catch a bundle of complaints from disgruntled voters,” said Thompson; poll workers have to be at least 16 years old and cannot be related to any of the candidates.
“The polling places are required to be a non-partisan environment, and these poll workers cannot discuss the election or candidates with voters,” he said. Poll watchers often visit the sites to ensure that three poll workers are in place at each precinct, too.
Election sites have been accused of suppressing people’s votes, that the machines were rigged or did not allow a voter to press an area for a candidate of choice, and complaints of the need for extended hours on voting day, among other accusations.
“Voters need to understand that we have a representative democracy, and the president is decided by the electoral votes and not the popular votes. Also, if a state or federal candidate is on the ballot, a risk limiting audit is required,” said Thompson.
A misconception that may keep someone registering to vote is the false belief that jury duty citizens only come from the registered voter list. Prospective jurors also come from the Department of Driver Services and other sources and not just the voting registration rolls, added Tattnall Sheriff Kyle Sapp.
Thompson, Mock, and Cavanaugh all agreed that they are bombarded with Open Records requests, which affects their offices.
In closing, an AllSides Media Bias Chart was distributed to the Rotarians, with ratings reflecting perspective only based on online, U.S. political content only-not TV, print, or radio,
For example, in the “center,” Forbes, Newsweek, and The Wall Street Journal are three that are listed.. To the “far right” are Fox News, NewsMax, and The American Conservative, among others. To the “far left” are The New Yorker, The Atlantic, and MSNBC as well as several others.
“You really need to seek a diversity of opinions and seek peace over force or over compulsion. We need to learn from our history and to avoid the trappings of today’s standards. As Erk Russell said, ‘Do Right,’ in the promotion of our city, county, state, and national government to stay strong,” said Thompson.
Information on voting dates for the fall was distributed to the Rotarians by Mock and Cavanaugh, which will be printed in a separate article in next week’s edition of The Journal Sentinel.
