Early voting is underway in Lowndes County, Georgia. Polls opened at 7 Monday morning, and there’s three more weeks of early voting. But, some are still calling on local supervisors of elections around the state to increase voter turnout by including Saturday as an early voting day.
Monday marked the first day of Early Voting, and Lowndes County Supervisor of Elections Deb Cox says it was a busy day, without many long lines.
“Right now, you’re in and out of the door in less than 15 minutes from the time you walk until the time you walk out,” said Cox.
“We expected a smaller turnout than we actually got, so we’re pleasantly surprised. We've got a steady stream of people coming in on Day 1, so that’s pretty good.”
The elections office has also teamed up with both the Republican and Democratic Parties to offer free rides to the polls, which can be arranged by calling either party’s offices or the elections office in Valdosta.
“With the free rides some of the neighborhoods are getting together and all coming up at once, coming up in a van or whatever, and it’s party atmosphere. So, we know that’s going to happen. And, there’s the discussion of flash mob voting. We saw that last year for the first time, thought that would be pretty cool and they’ll send a bunch of texts and everybody gangs up in the parking lot and they all come into vote, and that’s sort of a party atmosphere too,” added Cox.
Early voting lasts for three full weeks at the Board of Elections Office in Valdosta. The first two weeks, it’s open Monday through Friday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. The last week prior to Election Day, they’re open Monday through Friday 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Most counties in Georgia are strictly holding local elections. Georgia law dictates that means Saturdays are optional voting days. But Georgia League of Women Voters President Elizabeth Poythress says for many voters, it’s the only day they can get to the polls.
“There’s still people that aren’t able to get to the polls because many people work two jobs on a weekday. So, a Saturday voting day is important,” said Poythress.
Since 2005, polls have been required to be open on Saturdays only if federal or state offices are on the ballot. Poythress calls that a cutback, because some counties don’t allow early voting on Saturday. She says it’s even worse this week because some residents missed out voting early Monday because some locations were closed for Columbus Day.
“Because of the calendar and because of the holiday, it’s eliminated and there’s no days added on anywhere. So, we’re just saying it’s a good practice. And, So, we feel it’s a valid issue to put it, particularly for municipal elections because municipal elections are so very important to the lifestyle of citizens, to what their looking at with their infrastructure,” she added.
Poythress says there have been no efforts so far to curb early voting days further, but she hopes Georgia lawmakers will look into making Saturday mandatory for all elections. Meanwhile, Lowndes Supervisor Cox says she won’t open the polls on Saturdays unless she starts seeing long lines and wait times—which she says hasn’t happened so far.
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