Judge’s ruling could mean more election days | GainesvilleTimes.com

“Yikes,” seemed to sum up the response of Gainesville residents to the idea of voting in six elections next year.

Because of a recent court ruling, Georgia currently has two election calendars with different dates for federal elections and state elections. If things don’t change, elections could be chaotic and more expensive in 2014.

“It’s kind of annoying,” said Gainesville resident Katie Schmid, who plans on being a freshman at the University of Georgia this fall. “I feel like it’s going to be more difficult, you’re not going to get as many people coming out, they’re just going to pick and choose what they want to do.”

Elections scheduled for next year include congressional races, the governor’s race and local races, including primaries and general elections. Having two separate calendars adds two elections for the year at $100,000 in extra expense, said Hall County Elections Director Charlotte Sosebee.

“The voters would have to go to (the) polls more,” Sosebee said. “It would be very costly.”

The U.S. Department of Justice sued Georgia about a year ago because the state wasn’t able to send absentee ballots to military and oversea voters 45 days before a federal election, as required by law. Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s office said it was working with Gov. Nathan Deal and members of the General Assembly to work out a solution.

In letters to election officials across the state, Kemp said there was a strong likelihood that the two calendars would be merged.

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