The Greene County Board of Elections and Registration (BOER) has sided with the people in keeping the Old Salem (Lakeside Church), Union Point, and Siloam polling locations open for Election Day.
A standing-room-only crowd attended a meeting Tuesday to share concerns about a proposal to consolidate the polling locations into the Greensboro location at the elections office.
Union Point Mayor Lanier Rhodes, who leads the second-largest municipal government in the county, said many of his citizens were upset that the closing of their poll was even considered.
“Consider the transportation issues that people have, the growth out here, the new construction that’s going to be coming into Greene. It’ll be a lot easier for people to vote in their communities at this time,” Rhodes explained.
He added that his son, Rep. Trey Rhodes, was “highly opposed” to the closing of any polling locations.
Several other residents acknowledged how the consolidation would hurt voters who can’t travel to Greensboro.
Union Point City Councilmember Sally Boswell said local polls make voting easier, noting how many residents in Siloam and Union Point walk to the polls because they don’t have transportation.
“Greene County is so big landwise. We just have people all over and for them to be able to get to the polls is so important. We have a lot of elderly people in Union Point, in Siloam, and it is hard for them, believe it or not, just to get to Greensboro,” said Boswell. “They consider it such a privilege to be able to vote and to get to vote where they’ve always voted, and that [local poll] allows them to do that. They are so proud to be able to vote. I just think moving everything to Greensboro would just be a shame.”
Residents Susan Green and Orian Motley also highlighted the issues with traveling to Greensboro.
“I think it’s just a really bad idea to expect voters to get out in road construction and drive from the furthest points in the county down [to Greensboro] on Election Day, if that is when they choose to vote,” Green said. “It will suppress the vote. It is voter suppression to relocate voting locations outside of the precincts and make everybody drive further. There are numerous nursing homes, old folks’ homes, assisted living facilities in the Old Salem area, and I think it’s just creating more of a hardship for everybody in the county to expect everybody to come on Election Day to Greensboro.”
“There are a lot of indigent people here in this county, people who cannot afford to pay somebody to bring them to this location to vote. There are people who are handicapped, and I can name [many] medical issues why this shouldn’t happen. But economic issues, there are a multitude of people, both Black and white, Republicans and Democrats, who cannot afford to come [to Greensboro],” added Motley. “They don’t have transportation, and I’m here to speak for them … It’s just unfeeling if you all do this. It’s totally without a concern for the people.”
Annie Hunt, chairperson of the Greene County Democratic Party, asked the board to consider the citizens and their issues before deciding.
“Nothing against this board, but you all really don’t know Greene County,” she said. “If you live out on 44, you really don’t know Greene County. You don’t have to go on these dirt roads. You don’t have to travel the areas that I traveled this last week … we have to listen to our citizens; we have to listen to our voters. It’s hard to get people out to vote as it is. But you all got to realize, you’re doing this to the citizens. If you do this vote, it’s not going to be good. If this happens, it will not be good for you as a board.”
Other speakers included Mark Schulz, chairman of the Greene County Republican Party, who said the Republicans’ executive committee opposed closing any locations.
Alan Kaufman, the county liaison for the Democratic Party of Georgia’s voter protection team, also recommended that the polling locations remain open.
BOER Chairman Ted Baker responded to the comments, saying the proposal to consolidate the location had been discussed since he joined the board. He discussed several factors to consider when consolidating, including a “tremendous move” in Georgia toward early voting and the need to ensure the security of paper ballots.
“My concern is, if at all of these other polling locations, we have to pull paper ballots out and count them at the polling location, I would much rather them be doing that here in a controlled environment than I would be at other facilities that are not secure, that are not county locations,” Baker said about moving voting to a centralized location at the elections office. “This [office] has security, cameras, and adequate staff. That is a significant factor that I consider when considering this decision.
“We take elections very seriously, so we do have to take measures at these other locations to secure [ballots], and we have taken those measures. We do secure those, you know, but it’s something you got to think about. It’s another variable that’s out there that we don’t really enjoy, and we do secure, but it’s difficult.”
“Security is a big one for us,” Elections Director Rebecca Anglin added. “I want every election [to be secure], no matter how big or small, or how great the turnout. We run good, clean elections here that I’m very, very proud of.”
Anglin also noted that a few polling facilities don’t meet the electrical requirements to run the equipment needed to conduct elections. She acknowledged the financial costs of conducting elections, with equipment testing costing about $8,000.
Another concern they shared was the struggle to get enough poll workers to run all the locations each Election Day.
“Think about our municipals, where we have, unfortunately, a pittance of our registered voters showing up to vote. Frankly, our polling staff workers do not want to show up and watch paint dry for 12 hours when nobody shows up to vote on a special local option sales tax,” said Baker.
When it came time to decide, board member Bob Lofgren expressed his concerns about voting to close the locations.
“I represent the Republicans. I’ve listened to Mark [Schulz] and looked at the emails I received from Republicans. They don’t want any of our locations closed. I’ve listened to Ms. Grant, who I’ve known for 20 years, and she doesn’t want anything closed, and I believe she stands for her people in this county. So, sitting here today, I have a real problem thinking about closing any of these locations,” Lofgren shared. “When it comes to money, we get it from the Board of Commissioners. We get them elected by doing our job as the Board of Elections. They have never said, ‘You’re spending too much.’ They’ve given us what we need because we have good directors. Rebecca is one of the best we’ve had. She’s not going to waste money anywhere.”
Kathryn Harris made the motion to keep the polling locations open, which was seconded by Lofgren. Baker cast the lone dissenting vote.
In other election news, the board voted unanimously to change the Siloam poll location from the fire department to the community center.
According to Anglin, that change won’t take effect until the statewide election in June to vote for the public service commissioner.