Election board to hear challenges earlier than thought

At the urging of a Georgia elections official, the Barrow County Board of Elections & Registration has moved up by weeks the hearing for 476 municipal voters whose registrations have been challenged.

Monica Franklin, the interim elections superintendent for Barrow County, said the hearing is at 7 p.m. Tuesday, Oct. 25, on the first floor of the county government’s administration building. The address is 233 E. Broad St. in Winder.

Facing what might be a record number of municipal challenges, the elections board will vote on the names in groups – such as those whose new voter precinct cards were returned by the U.S. Postal Service as undeliverable.

Auburn has challenged the registrations of 242 people on the state’s voter list for the city; Winder, 192; Statham, 29; Braselton, nine; and Bethlehem and Carl, one each.

CHALLENGED VOTERS TO BE HEARD

Franklin said anyone mistakenly on the cities’ lists who attends the hearing would be allowed to speak before the elections board takes action that night. She said the board would need to see a current utility bill and the voter’s identification.

The elections board had planned to hold the hearing in December, but Franklin said she moved up that date after being advised by a state elections board liaison that the voter lists should be cleaned up before Nov. 8.

With the county referendum the same day as the municipal elections, some city voters will have to cast their ballots in two different locations on Election Day. Every new precinct card mailed in September lists the correct voting locations for both municipal and county elections, Franklin said.

VOTE EARLY OR BY MAIL

Franklin said to avoid having to vote in two city and county polling places, affected voters in Auburn, Bethlehem and Winder could vote early by coming to her office 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays through Nov. 4.

All county voters – as well as voters from the cities of Braselton, Carl and Statham – also are eligible to vote in the county special election at Franklin’s office.

Multiple electronic voting machines are set up inside a first-floor training room that is feet way from the elections office, which is at 233 E. Broad St.

Voters also may avoid the lines on Election Day by requesting mailed, absentee ballots. Absentee ballots are available through the county elections office for the countywide special election, plus the elections in Auburn, Bethlehem and Winder.

Voters must request absentee ballots by Nov. 4 and return them in person to the elections office before the polls close at 7 p.m. Nov. 8, Franklin said.