Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for October 9, 2024

Today is Leif Erikson Day, celebrating the Norse explorer being the first European to visit North America. From Mental Floss:

While the actual date of Leif Erikson Day doesn’t have anything personally to do with Leif, it was picked for the holiday because it’s the anniversary of the day that the ship Restauration arrived in New York from Stavanger, Norway, back in 1825. The arrival of the Restauration marked the beginning of organized immigration from Scandinavia to the USA. The holiday was first recognized by Wisconsin in 1930, eventually becoming a nationally observed holiday in 1964.

The United States Naval Academy opened in Annapolis, Maryland on October 10, 1845.

On October 9, 1963, the Board of Regents approved a new junior college in Cobb County that is today Kennesaw State University. The next year, Cobb County voters approved a bond referendum to fund construction.

Vice President Spiro Agnew resigned on October 10, 1973 and pled guilty to federal income tax evasion charges.

Democrat Jimmy Carter challenged President Gerald Ford to make his income tax returns public on October 9, 1976.

On October 10 1976, a poll by Time magazine showed Georgia Governor Jimmy Carter with a 2-1 electoral vote margin.

Carter led in 21 states and the District of Columbia, with 273 electoral votes (three more than necessary to win), while President Ford led in 17 states with 113 electoral votes.

The online Georgia archives at UGA has a collection of campaign materials, including a 1976 Carter for President brochure.

On October 10, 1980, the Martin Luther King, Jr. Historic Site was established in Atlanta.

United States Senator Sam Nunn announced on October 9, 1995 that he would not run for reelection. From CNN’s contemporary story:

“I know in my heart it is time to follow a new course,” Nunn told reporters gathered in the Georgia State Capitol. He said his decision followed “a lot of thought and prayer” and he expressed enthusiasm about meaningful days ahead in the private sector.

“Today I look forward to more freedom, to more flexibility,” he said, adding he planned to spend time with his family, to write, and “devote a substantial amount of time” to public policy and public service. He said he has no immediate plans for a presidential bid.

Nunn hailed America as “the greatest country in the world,” but cited problems that need attention, including education concerns, illegitimate children, and widespread violence and drugs. He expressed optimism on such items as the strong military and entitlement reform.

The Chicago Tribune reported that Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said of Sam Nunn’s retirement,

“For those who listened carefully, it is clear that the Democratic Party is not the vehicle for the values outlined by Sen. Nunn.”

Nolan Waters of Knight-Ridder wrote of the announcement,

Nunn’s departure is a watershed.

“Nunn is the last of the great moderate Southern Democrats. This creates a huge hole for the party,” said Merle Black, a specialist on Southern politics at Emory University in Atlanta.

Nunn, like President Clinton, helped organize a group of moderate Democrats, the Democratic Leadership Council, in an attempt to move the party rightward after the 1984 landslide re-election of President Reagan.

“He has been fighting the liberal wing of his party for over two decades,” Black said. “It’s been a losing battle.”

In place of Nunn, the state’s most prominent politician is becoming House Speaker Newt Gingrich – whose futuristic, activist style of conservatism seems radical along-side Nunn’s traditionalism.

On October 10, 2015, Donald Trump made his first campaign stop in Georgia.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

Gwinnett County Republican Kathy Statham is running for State House District 102 after GOP Nominee Scott Vandiver died, according to the AJC.

Statham is replacing J. Scott Vandiver, the Republican candidate who died suddenly on September 26. His death came as a shock to the Gwinnett County Republican Party Executive Board, which had about 24 hours to decide whether to replace him on the ballot.

“Kathy was a very good friend of Scott’s, and she’s been involved in the party for a long, long time,” Gwinnett County Republican Party Executive Board chair Sammy Baker said. “We just felt like it was the right thing to do for her to take his position and try to finish out as best we can.”

Gwinnett County elections officials had to scramble to print new ballots with Statham’s name on them. It was too late to change overseas ballots, as those had already been sent.

Baker said the party is paying for campaign signs and a website to help get Statham’s name out there before the election. He said Statham was at first reluctant to run but decided to do it “out of love for Scott.”

Statham is challenging incumbent state Rep. Gabe Okoye, D-Lawrenceville.

I know Kathy Statham and would vote for her.

Republican State Rep. Scott Hilton (Peachtree Corners) and Democratic challenger Laura Murvartian will meet tonight in a debate, according to the AJC.

Republican Scott Hilton and Democrat Laura Murvartian will debate at 6 p.m. today at Chattahoochee High School. The debate is run by Student Leadership Johns Creek, whose students have been preparing since July.

Hilton was elected to the state Legislature in 2016, lost in 2018, and then elected again in 2022. But this year, his district is more competitive after lawmakers redrew the boundaries. Two years ago, Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Gov. Brian Kemp both won the district, the AJC’s Michelle Baruchman reported.

The event will also feature a debate between Democratic state Rep. Michelle Au and Republican challenger Narender Reddy.

The students wrote all of the questions themselves, according to Irene Sanders, the executive director of Student Leadership Johns Creek.

“They’ve been doing a lot of research,” she said. “If nothing else, they learn a lot.”

“Civil Rights” groups sued the state in federal court seeking to extend the voter registration deadline that passed yesterday, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Three civil rights groups have filed a lawsuit against Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, arguing that the Oct. 7 voter registration deadline should be extended in the wake of Hurricane Helene. The lawsuit, which was filed on behalf of the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP, the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, and the New Georgia Project, requests that the court extend the deadline to Oct. 14, one week after the initial deadline.

Hurricane Helene brought “unprecedented” levels of damage across the state according to Kemp, resulting in at least 33 fatalities and $417 million in damage. As of Oct. 6, 53 counties were declared federal disaster areas. Voter advocacy groups say the storm’s impact has impaired their ability to conduct voter outreach efforts in the week leading up to Georgia’s voter registration deadline, historically a popular time to register.

Neighboring South Carolina, which also suffered extensive damage due to Hurricane Helene, has already extended its voter registration deadline to Oct. 14 after a lawsuit was filed by the South Carolina Democratic Party. Plaintiffs in the Georgia case are hoping to secure the same outcome.

“Hurricane Helene devastated entire communities,” Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda Executive Director Helen Butler said in a statement. “Many Georgia residents are still without power, and others have been forced to relocate with only the clothes on their backs. We were forced to suspend voter registration efforts in areas that were severely impacted, and county election offices were also disrupted, making it even harder for people to register by the deadline. Extending the deadline is crucial to ensure those affected by the disaster have a fair chance to participate in the democratic process.”

The lawsuit also notes that voter registrations spiked the week before the registration deadline in 2022, 2020, 2018 and 2016. This year, plaintiffs argue, the storm interfered with impacted residents’ ability to register in time for the Nov. 5 general election.

“The massive power outages, combined with related internet and cellular outages, necessarily affected online voter registration,” the lawsuit states. “With hundreds of thousands of people without power for varying periods of time, would-be eligible voters could not access computers and the internet to register to vote online. Nor could they access information about the hours and locations of their boards of election to try to register in person instead if those offices were even open.”

At a Monday press conference, officials from the secretary of state’s office addressed the impact of Hurricane Helene on elections preparations across the state and announced that elections officials even in the most hard-hit counties were on track to meet elections deadlines, even as power and internet outages forced elections offices in affected areas to close. Chief Operating Officer Gabe Sterling acknowledged that he had received requests to extend election deadlines, but claimed he had no legal standing to extend either the voter registration deadline or the absentee ballot request deadline.

A hearing will be held on Oct. 9 at the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta.

From the Associated Press via WALB:

The lawsuit filed by the Georgia conference of the NAACP, the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda and the New Georgia Project seeks to have registration reopened through Oct. 14. All three groups say they had to cancel voter registration activities last week. Historically, there’s a spike in Georgia voter registrations just before the deadline, the plaintiffs said.

“Absent action by this court, the likely thousands of voters who could not register while power was down, roads were impassible and county election and post offices were closed will be unfairly disenfranchised, an injury that can never be undone,” the plaintiffs wrote in court papers seeking a temporary restraining order reopening registration from U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross.

The judge scheduled a Wednesday hearing on the request.

The lawsuit says the storm kept people with driver’s licenses from registering online because of widespread power and internet outages in the eastern half of the state, and kept people from registering in person because at least 37 county election offices were closed for parts of last week. The lawsuit also notes that mail pickup and delivery was suspended in 27 counties, including Augusta, Savannah, Statesboro, Dublin and Vidalia.

The suit notes that a court in South Carolina extended that state’s registration deadline after Helene and that courts in Georgia and Florida extended registration deadlines after 2016′s Hurricane Matthew. In North Carolina, which was more heavily impacted by Hurricane Helene, the registration deadline isn’t until Friday. Voters there can also register and cast a ballot simultaneously during the state’s early in-person voting period, which runs from Oct. 17 through Nov. 2.

The Georgia plaintiffs argue that the shutdown of voter registration violates their rights under the First Amendment and 14th Amendment, which guarantees equal protection and due process to all citizens. They also say the shutdown violates a provision of the 1993 National Voter Registration Act that requires states to accept voter registrations submitted or mailed up to 30 days before an election.

At least 40 advocacy groups asked Republican Gov. Brian Kemp and Raffensperger to extend the registration deadline in affected counties before the Georgia lawsuit was filed.

From WTOC:

In the last presidential election year, more than 57,000 people registered to vote during the week before the deadline, according to Georgia voter files cited in the lawsuit.

In a separate interview prior to the announcement of the lawsuit, WTOC asked Governor Kemp about the voter registration deadline.

In his response Kemp said, “we’re in conversation with the Secretary of State’s office and I think they feel pretty good about where things are and the power that has been coming back on we’ll obviously work with them. Those are calls that they will make in conjunction with our counties, but I think we are in pretty good shape in regards to that and we will certainly be working with them to help message any changes that do end up happening.”

Georgia’s Secretary of State visited Albany to check voting equipment, according to WALB.

Raffensperger said he wants to ensure Georgians that their vote will be counted in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene. Most of the election offices in the state’s 159 counties did not sustain serious damage and no equipment was affected.

Raffensperger said many state agencies are coming together to make sure resources are distributed to ensure early voting is possible.

“Also, I want every voter that you know is going to watch your program to understand how grateful we are for Governor Kemp’s leadership and also, you know, making sure that team at the Georgia Emergency Management is so agency is coming alongside us and giving us whatever we need to make sure our counties have whatever they need for early voting, and obviously for election day,” He said. “So while we are working through this really quickly, just grateful for all the support we’ve had from Gina, Governor Kemp, but then also all of our counties, they’ve been working so hard.”

Raffensperger’s team is going across election offices across the state to ensure all equipment is working properly. Albany is just one stop across many in the state.

“You know, working with the equipment and certifying with a test deck, a test ballot deck, we’re going to see what the all those choices are that are on the ballot,” Raffensperger said. “Then we’re going to run those through the scanners to make sure they’re recorded accurately. Then we’re going to then then check that also against the county election management system their server, make sure that we put in that the disk that it actually then still records accurately, so we can verify that all the voters in Georgia that we’ve been going around the state and we’ve been checking the.”

In-person Advance Voting begins Tuesday, October 15, 2024 for the November 5 General Election, according to the Statesboro Herald.

Georgia’s advanced in-person voting for the Nov. 5 general election begins Tuesday, Oct. 15 – not Monday, because that’s the Columbus Day holiday. In Bulloch County there will be one main early voting location for 14 weekdays and the two voting Saturdays, plus two added locations for a few days each.

Early voting will be hosted by the Bulloch County Board of Elections and Registration office at the County Annex, 113 North Main St., Suite 201, from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, Oct. 15-18, and then Monday through Friday, Oct. 21-25 and Oct. 28-Nov. 1.

The County Annex will also be the only place to vote on the two Saturdays, Oct. 19 and Oct. 26, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m.

Additionally, three days of early voting for Bulloch County registered voters will be held in the Russell Union, 85 Georgia Ave., on the Georgia Southern University campus, Tuesday through Thursday, Oct. 22-24. Voting hours there will be 8 a.m. until 5 p.m.

For the final five weekdays of early voting there will again be another voting location, in addition to the County Annex, county Election Supervisor Shontay Jones reported last week. But voters should note that this will be a new location, since the Bulloch County Recreation and Parks Department’s Honey Bowen Building – the traditional, ground-level accessible site – was booked for other activities.

Note that early voting times, dates, and locations may vary by county, and you can sign into the Secretary of State’s My Voter Page for information specific to your voting options.

From the Moultrie Observer:

Early voting can be done Monday through Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the Colquitt County Courthouse Annex in Room 201. It ends on Friday, Nov. 1.

Individuals, who won’t be able to vote at their polling site on Nov. 5, can apply for an absentee ballot by mail now. County Registrar Paula McCullough’s office began mailing out absentee ballots on Monday and the last day the office can mail out absentee ballots will be Oct. 25. All absentee ballots must be returned by Nov. 5 at 7 p.m.

The Georgia State Election Board alleged some counties are incorrectly denying voter eligibility challenges, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Tifton Gazette.

Georgia counties are systematically denying mass voter challenges brought by citizen activists instead of investigating them as the law requires, State Election Board Executive Director Mike Coan said Tuesday.

The Republican-controlled board instructed Coan last month to look into how challenges are being handled in eight counties and report back with his findings. The list of counties included Athens-Clarke, Bibb, Cobb, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett, and Jackson counties.

“The challengers by and large have more sophisticated technology than our election departments. That’s where the problem is,” Coan told board members during a daylong meeting at the state Capitol. “Thousands of voter challenges have been dismissed arbitrarily. We need to address these things.”

Coan said local election officials are reluctant to investigate voter challenges for fear of being sued by Georgians removed from voter rolls.

Citizen watchdogs have become much more active bringing voter challenges in Georgia since the 2020 election. While Republicans say the mass voter challenges activists have been filing are aimed at ensuring election integrity, Democrats say they’re targeting heavily Democratic counties to get Democratic voters off the rolls.

“There are people who are sore losers who have brought frivolous challenges in Democratic counties,” said state Rep. Saira Draper, D-Atlanta. “That’s a nakedly partisan ploy.”

Daniel White, a lawyer representing the Cobb County Board of Elections, said counties were able to process voter challenges in the days when fewer were filed.

“The law has not been updated for people bringing 2,000 or 3,000 challenges at a time,” he said. “The legislature needs to deal with it.”

White accused Coan and the board of trying to “set a narrative” that counties are mishandling voter challenges rather than seriously investigating complaints.

But board member Janelle King, one of the Republicans on the board, denied playing partisan politics with the voter rolls. She said the counties the board asked Coan to investigate were based on complaints from citizens attending board meetings.

“I will not allow anybody to stand up here and mischaracterize what we’re doing,” she said.

Board Vice Chair Janice Johnston said the problem of voter rolls bloated with the names of voters who have died, moved out of the county where they registered, or moved out of state is real. Both statewide and in some counties, there are more registered voters than the voting-age population, she said.

Mark Davis, an election data specialist, said his research from 2020 showed 35,230 Georgia voters who had moved to another county cast ballots in their previous county, a felony offense. He suggested Georgia lawmakers enact a bill modeled after a Virginia law requiring residents to update their driver’s licenses after moving to another jurisdiction. Most Georgians register to vote through the state Department of Driver Services.

“The way to fix this problem is helping voters not become unqualified voters in the first place,” Davis said.

Johnston asked Coan to prepare a written report the board could use to develop uniform guidelines for handling voter challenges and recommend legislation to the General Assembly.

Fulton County is suing the state over actions by members of the State Election Board, according to the AJC.

The dispute centers on the county’s refusal to accept election monitors favored by the board’s Republican majority, including a former Pennsylvania congressman who opposed counting his state’s electoral votes for Democrat Joe Biden and a subcontractor in the Cyber Ninjas audit of the 2020 presidential election in Maricopa County, Arizona.

Fulton has already appointed a team to monitor its performance in the November election to resolve allegations of miscounts in a recount of the 2020 election. The board reprimanded Fulton for double-scanning about 3,000 ballots in the recount. Trump gained 939 net votes against Biden in the recount.

But Republican members of the state board now want to appoint their own monitors to oversee Fulton’s operations, objecting to the county’s team. Fulton hired monitors led by Ryan Germany, former general counsel to Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger who oversaw a performance review of the county that recommended against a state takeover of its elections management.

The Fulton election board’s lawsuit filed Monday claims the state board has no legal authority to appoint its own monitors.

“The SEB has repeatedly provided conflicting information and failed to take action related to monitors,” Fulton Election Board Chair Sherri Allen said. “With less than 30 days until the Nov. 5 general election, the Fulton County Board of Registration & Elections has filed a petition for declaratory and injunctive relief in order to seek clarification from the court about responsibilities for monitors for the upcoming election.”

The divided State Election Board responded Tuesday with a subpoena for a slew of county records from the 2020 election. The board members also subpoenaed the Fulton board to appear at an upcoming meeting to address their concerns.

The escalating legal battle comes as the state board’s new Republican majority continues to assert its power. In recent months the majority has approved a series of rules governing the conduct of this year’s election that have prompted several lawsuits that say the board has exceeded its legal authority.

In a subsequent email, Johnston proposed eight monitors be added to Germany’s team.

They include former U.S. Rep. Frank Ryan, who asked his state’s congressional delegation not to recognize its electors in December 2020, and Heather Honey, a subcontractor in the Cyber Ninjas audit of the 2020 presidential election in Maricopa County, Arizona.

Honey is also responsible for the false claim, repeated by Trump, that there were “205,000 more votes than you had voters” in Pennsylvania.

State Election Board member Janelle King, a Republican appointed by Georgia House Speaker Jon Burns, blamed Fulton for its unwillingness to accept the state board’s monitors.

“Had they worked with us, with the monitoring team, we wouldn’t be here,” King said. “So this is not the board wanting to put pressure on any county, but if you’re not going to listen and you’re not going to be responsive, if you’re not going to do what you say you’re going to do, then we have to.”

Democratic Party board member Sara Tindall Ghazal objected to the State Election Board’s effort to impose its own monitoring team.

“We have no legal standing to force this, to force a monitoring team,” Ghazal said. “It’s one-way — our insistence that Fulton accept what we say, and that is the only thing that you’re trying to have enforced.”

Governor Brian Kemp issued Executive Order #10.08.24.01, extending the State of Emergency for Hurricane Helene for selected counties through 11:59 PM on October 16, 2024. Gov. Kemp also issued Executive Order #10.08.24.02, declaring a State of Emergency for Hurricane Milton for selected counties.

From Fox5Atlanta:

The original executive order [for Hurricane Helene] was issued Oct. 1 and was set to expire Oct. 9. It has now been renewed for 7 days for the following counties: Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Baldwin, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bleckley, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Butts, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Columbia, Cook, Echols, Effingham, Elbert, Emanuel, Evans, Glascock, Glynn, Hancock, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lanier, Laurens, Liberty, Lincoln, Long, Lowndes, Madison, McDuffie, McIntosh, Montgomery, Newton, Pierce, Putnam, Rabun, Richmond, Screven, Taliaferro, Tattnall, Telfair, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Turner, Ware, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wheeler, Wilkes, Wilkinson, and Worth.

The counties that may be impacted by Hurricane Milton include:

Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Berrien, Bibb, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Butts, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Cook, Crisp, Dougherty, Echols, Effingham, Evans, Glynn, Houston, Jeff Davis, Lanier, Liberty, Long, Lowndes, McIntosh, Monroe, Muscogee, Pierce, Screven, Tattnall, Toombs, Ware, and Wayne.

The new State of Emergency will coexist with the State of Emergency issued following Hurricane Helene. It will allow for the Georgia Department of Transportation and Georgia Department of Public Safety to take all necessary action to ensure the needed movement of utility vehicles, equipment and personnel in response to power outages. It also gives the Georgia Department of Defense permission to provide up to 250 Georgia National Guard troops to be used in preparation, response, and recovery efforts related to Hurricane Milton.

From the Capitol Beat News Service via the Tifton Gazette:

Gov. Brian Kemp issued a state of emergency Tuesday for 38 Georgia counties likely to be affected by Hurricane Milton, a massive storm expected to make landfall in west-central Florida Wednesday night.

Milton intensified rapidly Monday into a Category 5 hurricane, with winds topping 180 miles an hour. The storm is expected to weaken but only to Category 3 before making landfall, but as it weakens, it is likely to become wider.

With evacuation orders in effect in many parts of Florida, traffic volumes on Interstate 75 northbound Tuesday morning were 280% higher than normal from the Georgia-Florida line north to Macon. On I-95 northbound and along I-16, volumes were 89% above normal.

The Georgia Department of Transportation announced that the I-75 South Metro Express Lanes south of Atlanta will remain only to northbound traffic only through Tuesday to accommodate Floridians complying with evacuation orders. The toll lanes can be accessed by motorists using a Georgia Peach Pass, Florida Sun Pass, or E-Z Pass.

The state Department of Natural Resources has opened Georgia state parks to RVs and campers.

Kemp’s emergency declaration for Hurricane Milton co-exists with the state of emergency he declared late last month when Hurricane Helene was bearing down on Georgia. On Tuesday, Kemp renewed the earlier order to run through Oct. 16.

Unlike Helene, which did tremendous damage as it swept through Georgia and the Carolinas, Hurricane Milton is expected to move across Florida on Thursday and into the Atlantic Ocean Thursday night.

From AccessWDUN:

The Georgia Department of Transportation (Georgia DOT) is actively monitoring traffic volumes and conditions on Georgia’s interstates and state routes in preparation for Hurricane Milton as the storm approaches Florida’s west coast. Milton is expected to make landfall as a Category 5 hurricane in west central Florida in the early morning hours Thursday, October 10. Georgia’s coast is under a tropical storm watch due to expected impacts from Milton in the state, with the threat of significant rain and high winds a possibility.

As Florida residents heed evacuation orders issued in many parts of the state, Georgia’s interstates are seeing significant upticks in traffic volume – as much as four times higher than historical averages. As of 8:00 a.m. Tuesday morning, volumes on I-75 northbound were 280 percent higher than normal between the Georgia-Florida state line and Macon. And on I-95 northbound between the Georgia-Florida state line and I-16, volumes were 89 percent higher than normal. In spite of significantly higher volumes, speeds on both highways were reported as normal.

Volumes were even higher Monday evening on both interstates, with an increase on I-75 northbound of 342 percent above normal, and 264 percent above normal on I-95 northbound.

The I-75 South Metro Express Lanes south of metro Atlanta will continue to remain open for northbound traffic only through Tuesday, October 8 to accommodate higher northbound traffic counts from Florida residents heeding local evacuation orders. Express Lanes can be accessed by motorists using a Georgia Peach Pass, Florida Sun Pass or E-Z Pass.

Evacuees into Georgia are finding shelter in some set locations as far north as Atlanta, with possible volume increases to the northern part of the state later in the week.

November 5, 2024 will be a long workday for poll workers, according to The Brunswick News.

During a meeting Tuesday of the Glynn County Board of Elections and Registration, board members discussed a new requirement by the state to hand count all ballots after the polls close on Nov. 5.

Christopher Channell, the county’s elections director, said three poll workers will be assigned to each polling place whose job is specifically to hand count ballots. The reason for new poll workers to report later to count ballots is because of concerns poll workers who work during the day will be too mentally fatigued to accurately count ballots.

The poll managers will oversee the ballot count and remain in the polling places until the process is completed and the ballots are securely taken to the elections office in Brunswick.

Board member Ward Schaumberg expressed concerns about the new state rules because poll managers will not be able to give their undivided attention to the ballot count because they will be busy filling out paperwork required by the state.

“This is not a more safe, efficient system,” he said.

Christina Redden, deputy elections director, said many who tried to register to vote online Monday, the deadline, were rejected by the state website.

“A majority of new voters who tried to register online were rejected,” she said.

Redden said people who unsuccessfully tried to register before the deadline should take a screenshot of the page on the state website to prove they tried to register.

Elections officials will have to buy a new camera to record the drop box in the main offices because the new law requires video surveillance tapes to be kept for at least two years. Channell said he is still trying to determine the cost of the state-mandated camera.

Early voting begins Tuesday and runs weekdays from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m through Oct. 25. Early voting hours are extended one hour, from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Oct. 28 through Nov. 1. Saturday voting from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. will be held Oct. 19 and 26.

Early voting locations are at the Glynn County Board of Elections and Registration office, 1709 Gloucester St. in Brunswick; Ballard Community Building, 30 Nimitz Drive in Brunswick; and Fire Station No. 2, 1965 Demere Drive on St. Simons Island.

Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools announced that schools will be closed and students online on Thursday, due to the threat of Hurricane Milton, according to the Savannah Morning News.

As indicated during Hurricane Helene disruptions to in-person learning, students will not be penalized if they cannot participate in the e-learning assignments due to power or connectivity issues. Alternatives for completing assignments will be presented to students to ensure they are marked present. Teachers should be available to assist and guide students through their e-learning assignments.

The news marks the fourth time in less than three weeks that SCCPSS has elected to have an e-learning day in lieu of in-person instruction or canceling instruction altogether. The change also comes less than a day before the district will present the SCCPSS Board of Education with a proposal to waive Aug. 6, Aug. 7 and Aug. 8 from the 2024-2025 academic school year calendar. Those days were non-instructional days due to Tropical Storm Debby’s impact on the Savannah area, particularly flood damage that delayed SCCPSS’s return to regular operations.

The proposal, agenda item 7.33, is part of the proposed consent agenda for Wednesday’s board meeting. SCCPSS is able to propose such waivers, which the board can choose to approve or not, because the district is within the Georgia Strategic Waivers School System (SWSS). According to the Georgia Department of Education’s SWSS website, the state allows districts “flexibility in the form of waivers of certain state laws, rules and guidelines in exchange for greater accountability for increased student performance.”

Appling County schools remain closed in the wake of Hurricane Helene, according to WTOC.

Appling County Schools gave an update on Tuesday, saying they will remain closed due to damage sustained from Hurricane Helene.

The school system says their buses are unable to operate safely, and approximately 55% of Appling County EMC customers are still without power.

They say they will continue to monitor the situation and provide updates next week.

On Augusta area school closings, from WRDW:

Students in the Richmond County School System will be returning to the classroom on Oct. 16, according to school officials.

Students in Columbia County will return for two days, Oct. 9-10.

And students in Burke County won’t go back until even later this month.

The [Richmond County school] district will not observe the previously planned PowerUp Asynchronous Learning Day on Oct. 11.

District athletic events will resume this Friday, Oct. 11.

Due to ongoing curfew restrictions and some road hazards caused by street light outages, athletic events will start early and limit the number of spectators for the safety of our students, staff and attendees.

The Columbia County School District will hold an employee workday on Oct. 8 and is asking all employees to report to work if it is safe for them to do so.

The district will also have a two-day school week for students next week, with them attending school on Oct. 9 and 10.

Students will not attend school on Oct. 11 because it’s a scheduled fall break.

Students and all staff will be off on Oct. 14 for the Columbus Day holiday.

Burke County Public Schools had originally planned for students to return Oct. 7, but that was revised Friday.

Many families throughout the county are still without power, and some are not expected to have power restored for some time. Some roads also are not yet cleared along bus routes.

Oct. 10 and 11 will be designated employee workdays. All employees are asked to report to work on those days.

Oct. 14-18 is the scheduled fall break, so no one will go to campus on these days.

Then students are to return Oct. 21, the district said.

Hurricane Helene decimated pecan orchards, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

The aftermath of Hurricane Helene is still wreaking havoc on Georgia’s agricultural sector. Unpicked cotton ripped early from its plants and dropped on the soil. Exposed, water-logged peanuts that should have been drying before harvest.

But the pecan – one of the state’s most iconic exports – could become an existential crisis for some of its famers.

“It’s a difficult thing to see in person and to put into words,” Lenny Wells, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension pecan specialist and author of “Pecan: America’s Native Nut Tree,” wrote in his newsletter on Monday. “We have not seen a storm with this level of destruction in the past.” He wrote the breadth of the damage stretched more than 260 miles through the state.

Georgia claims the crown as the top pecan producing state in the U.S., with nearly 200,000 acres planted. Favorable climate conditions, fertile soils, and well-established infrastructure support large-scale cultivation. Pecans’ rich, buttery flavor are featured in desserts on family tables across America, especially at the holidays. A headline last year even trumpeted an industry rebound “after tariffs, a pandemic and hurricanes.”

Experts now believe Helene damaged about one-third of the state’s pecan production area. An estimated 75%, or more than 36 million pounds, of this year’s crop in the storm-affected region has been lost. At blame: ripe nuts blown down to the ground or unripened ones that lingered in destroyed trees. Other losses will come from nuts claimed by clean-up process and poor quality nuts that remain on the tree.

“There is no way to know for sure at this point how much of the remaining crop in storm damaged areas will continue to mature normally and be eligible for harvest,” Wells concluded.

Mary Mikelyn Bruorton, executive director of the Georgia Pecan Growers Association, believes Hurricane Helene destroyed approximately 70% of trees that were 30 years or older, and about 40% of trees between the ages 8 to 29. And even some of the younger standing trees leaning more than about 30 degrees will not be worth trying to stand back up, according to experts.

Pecan trees take around 10-plus years to start producing pecans, and even then, Bruorton said, the early yields can’t match the production of the mature trees lost in the storm. It will take many orchards a decade or more to recover to their pre-hurricane Helene yield levels, she added.

Residents of an Effingham County mobile home park have running water again after a 12 day interruption, according to WSAV.

Rockdale County schools remain closed with students online after the Biolab fire, according to the AJC.

Rockdale County Public Schools is extending its remote learning another week due to safety concerns over last month’s fire at the destroyed chemical plant in Conyers.

In a statement, Rockdale Superintendent Terry Oatts said the decision was made early to give families and staff time to adequately plan for the extended virtual classes. Students had been scheduled to learn virtually Monday through Wednesday. That will now run through Oct. 18.

The announcement was made one day after the nightly shelter-in-place advisory was lifted for much of the county, outside of a 2-mile radius surrounding the BioLab plant, which caught on fire Sept. 29.

After the blaze, Rockdale Board of Commissioners Chairman Oz Nesbitt said the roof and walls of the plant collapsed, which has led to a tedious cleanup effort. He said crews have to get rid of the debris before they can safely remove the hazardous chemicals.

About half of the county’s schools are in that 2-mile radius from the plant, where a plume of smoke has continuously risen as the pool chemicals produced there reacted with water used to contain the blaze. Oatts said they were forced to take extra steps to keep students and the community safe.

“These precautions include extending our virtual learning to allow more time for interagency consultation and cleanup efforts at the site,” school officials said.

With no timetable given as to when the ongoing situation will be resolved, frustrated residents and business owners spoke out during a board of commissioners meeting Tuesday morning. There were repeated shouts for BioLab to be shuttered, and many asked for better communication.

Rockdale County Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor Kenny Johnson died at the Capitol’s Coverdell Legislative Office Building after testifying in a legislative committee about the BioLab fire, according to the AJC.

Kenny Johnson, the supervisor for the county’s Soil and Water Conservation District, had just delivered a “powerful testimony” on the negative impact that the BioLab explosion has had on his life and his community, the news release stated. The hearing was held at the Coverdell Legislative Office Building, near the Georgia State Capitol in downtown Atlanta.

“He complained of shortness of breath and subsequently collapsed in the hallway,” officials said. “State Rep. Viola Davis, a nurse by profession, administered CPR while medical professionals were summoned. Johnson was transported to Grady Hospital but did not survive.”

“Our collective hearts are heavy with sympathy for your loss, and we send these thoughts in remembrance of your loved one,” Georgia House Democratic Caucus Leader James Beverly said in a statement. “Please know that our thoughts, prayers and actions are with you during this difficult time. May cherished memories of Kenny and the work he did bring you comfort.”

The BioLab facility caught fire Sept. 29, leading to an initial evacuation of Conyers and shelter-in-place orders for the rest of Rockdale County. A plume of smoke has continuously risen as the pool chemicals produced there reacted with water used to contain the blaze. Currently, those living within a 2-mile radius of the plant are advised to shelter-in-place nightly.

In her own statement, Rep. Davis said, “(Johnson’s) unwavering commitment to environmental justice and his testimony on the effects of the BioLab chemical fire on the community remain etched in our memories. His efforts to improve our quality of life have left a lasting impact on our community, and we must honor his legacy by ensuring that we follow through with the requests he so fervently championed.”

Point of Personal Privilege: the chlorine gas in Atlanta has impaired me for about a week, feeling nasal, throat, and lung irritation and constant coughing. I hope y’all are doing well.

Gwinnett County filed a lawsuit seeking to stop the incorporation of the new City of Mulberry, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

After months of trying to fight in the courts to stop the city of Mulberry, Gwinnett County is now itself suing to stop the city from coming into existence.

The county filed lawsuits last week against the state as well as state Reps. Chuck Efstration and Derrick McCollum, state Sen. Clint Dixon, Lawrenceville City Manager Chuck Warbington and Jerry Hanes — all members of the Mulberry transition committee — to stop the transition to the city of Mulberry and have the the referendum that approved cityhood declared illegal.

Voters approved the city’s creation in May and are set to elect the first City Council in November, but county officials are arguing the voters were mislead with false promises of no city property taxes.

“A referendum must accurately inform the voters of its effects with respect to an action taken,” the county asserted in its lawsuit. “Where a referendum is misleading or fails to accurately inform the voters of the legal effect of their vote, the referendum is not lawfully ratified by the electorate.”

“A misleading referendum cannot be allowed to stand.”

[Sen. Clint] Dixon, who sponsored the Senate Bill that set up the charter and the referendum, called the county’s latest move “the definition of insanity” and a waste of taxpayer dollars.

“It’s disappointing that Gwinnett County continues to go down this path,” Dixon said. “They’ve been beaten in court, the lawsuit has been thrown out.”

Efstration also called the county’s legal maneuver disappointing and pointed out seven lawsuits have now been filed at various points this year over Mulberry cityhood.
“I wish Gwinnett County would instead work to forge a beneficial relationship with the new City of Mulberry,” Efstration said. “In the meantime, the Mulberry transition committee will continue working on recommendations for the new city when council members are elected this November.”

At the heart of the challenges to Mulberry’s existence is provision legislators placed in the city’s charter, which prevents it from levying a property tax. The charter was laid out in Senate Bill 333, which Gov. Brian Kemp signed into law in February.

“Under SB 333, the City of Mulberry is purportedly prohibited from establishing a millage rate or assessing, levying, or collecting ad valorem property taxes,” the county argued in its lawsuit. “This restriction is untrue, unenforceable, and plainly unconstitutional. A city’s power to tax is fundamental to its ability to carry out its Home Rule powers and can only be regulated by general law.”

“Further, the Georgia Constitution says a city ‘may exercise the power of taxation as authorized by this Constitution or by general law’ … SB 333 is a local law that purports to limit and regulate the City of Mulberry’s ability to tax, which cannot be lawfully done through a local law.”

“Striking the unconstitutional and unlawful provisions in SB 333 without nullifying SB 333 in its entirety would be tantamount to a ‘bait and switch’ for the voters,” county officials said. “The legislative intent behind SB 333 was a city (i) that lacked the power to levy property taxes, (ii) that would provide three enumerated services, and (iii) that could only modify its Charter via a referendum. All three promises fail.”

Dixon defended Senate Bill 333, however, arguing it is within the confines of the Georgia General Assembly’s authority.

“I argue it doesn’t (violate Home Rule) because the legislature is given a sandbox of local Home Rule (services) that a city can govern over and the only requirement is for three,” Dixon said.

“The whole thing of a ‘City-Lite’ is incorrect. It has to be three services, it doesn’t matter what those services are and them saying we’re limiting them because they have to go back to the voters if they want to implement a property tax — you know, we’re not taking anything away from a city.”

Alfreda Shepard was chosen as the new United States Magistrate Judge for the Middle District of Georgia, Albany Division, according to the Albany Herald.

Members of the state Merit Selection Panel as well as the District Court judges for the Middle District of Georgia have selected Alfreda Shepard to serve as the new United States Magistrate Judge for the Middle District of Georgia’s Albany Division.

Sheppard, who has worked for the Albany-based Watson Spence firm, will succeed retiring Magistrate Judge Thomas Q. Langstaff. She will conclude her role as a partner at Watson Spence at the end of this year and will officially begin her eight-year judicial term on Jan. 4.

“This opportunity marks a significant transition in my professional life,” Sheppard said. “I was both humbled and honored when asked to consider the position. Serving in this capacity is a tremendous responsibility, and I am deeply grateful for the trust placed in me by the members of the Merit Selection Panel as well as the District Court judges for the Middle District.”

The Georgia Environmental Protection Division approved permits for four wells in Bulloch and Bryan Counties to serve the Hyundai Metaplant, according to the Statesboro Herald.

“Georgia EPD’s well-informed decision after 10 years of review to issue permits is grounded in science and simply affirms that this project is environmentally safe and secure,” the Development Authority of Bulloch County said in an email response Monday night to the EPD’s decision. “We hope that EPD’s lengthy and thorough review of the withdrawals will help alleviate concerns of our citizens.”

Bulloch County’s permit will be for two wells, together drawing up to 3.5 million gallons per day as a monthly average but limited to 3.125 mgd as an annual average. Bryan County’s two wells, together, will be limited to 3.5 mgd as both a monthly and annual average.

All four wells will be located within southern Bulloch County near where Interstate 16 crosses the Bulloch-Bryan County line.

“We appreciate that any time new wells are proposed, nearby residents will be concerned about the impact on their homes and properties, and we hope they will be reassured by the depth of the analysis the Georgia EPD has provided,” the Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor Joint Development Authority said in an emailed statement. “It validates what we have seen since we started analyzing this site 10 years ago: there is enough water to support industry and agriculture while protecting and preserving the environment.

“We are excited about the estimated $7.59 billion in investment HMGMA will bring and the 8,500 well-paying new jobs that will be created, and we remain committed to working with the local community to develop this area responsibly.”

From the Savannah Morning News:

The wells are in Bulloch because Bryan is in a so-called red zone where pumping is restricted to limit saltwater entering the aquifer near Hilton Head Island.

EPD says there is no risk of saltwater intrusion into the aquifer in Bulloch County.

At full capacity, Hyundai plans to manufacture 300,000 electric vehicles per year and employ 8,500 workers at the 16-million-square-foot facility.

EPD estimates the depth of the Floridan will drop by as much as 19 feet near the new wells, and that private wells could decline by up to 15 feet inside the “cone of influence” created by the withdrawals.

The permits also mandate the creation of a fund to cover the costs of adjustments to existing private wells within a 5-mile radius of the new withdrawal sites if they are adversely affected by a corresponding drop in aquifer levels.

The Savannah Harbor-Interstate 16 Corridor Joint Development Authority, the Bryan and Bulloch County development authorities, and Hyundai have each contributed $250,000 to the well fund.

The University of Georgia dedicated the renovated Holmes-Hunter Academic Building, according to the Athens Banner Herald.

The building in 2001 was renamed in honor of Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter-Gault, the first African American students to attend the university.

Hunter and Holmes attended as undergraduates on Jan. 9, 1961.

“They faced incredibly challenging circumstances, but fortunately for them — and for us — their determination to succeed carried them through, and they blazed a trail for the many students who would follow them,” UGA President Jere Morehead told the gathering.

The $30 million project was approved in 2021 by the University System of Georgia Board of Regents and supported by a $15 million gift from the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation.

Others contributors included Georgia Power Company and Regions Bank.

Governor Brian Kemp hosted a meeting on civil litigation reform, according to WJBF.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp and state lawmakers listened to business owners at a roundtable at the Waffle House headquarters in Atlanta on Tuesday.

Governor Kemp says Georgia is seeing too many unnecessary lawsuits which is hurting consumers.

Entrepreneurs say sky rocketing insurance premiums are a result of frivolous civil litigation lawsuits which they say make it hard to run a business.

Some business owners say they are working against the clock on two issues — one is on public safety and crime and other is the rising civil litigation costs. They say if it’s too high they have to relocate or close shop which then puts people in that area in a food island — forcing them to drive miles to find their necessary items.”

“We have to have the same level access for products, for services. If we areas in the state where the insurance is so high because of the risk is so high. My pitch is to you that we are out of balance and we have get back in balance,” said State Insurance Commissioner, John King.

Some business owners say Georgia needs to see how other states are handling tort reform, which refers to a civil or wrongful act that causes someone injury. Entrepreneurs say while the goal is to keep employees safe at work — but that cannot come at such high premium costs.

“If we don’t address this issue it will be higher prices for our consumers and fewer jobs for our georgians which is why we are here. This is why I am so eager to hear how this problem is affecting all of you and your businesses — and how it has affected your hiring practices and the biggest challenges caused by these lawsuits,” said Governor Brian Kemp.

Governor Kemp and state lawmakers say there has to be a balanced approach to lower costs while protecting employees, because with the current slew of litigation, it will ultimately hurt the consumer by driving up costs.

State lawmakers will reconvene in January and take up tort reform finding ways to pass stricter guidelines to prevent such lawsuits.

In the auto and trucking industry, Governor Kemp says Georgia ranks as the 13th highest for full insurance vehicle coverage. Georgia’s insurance commissioner john king says some insurance providers are demanding a 25% rate hike and he says his team is working to lower those costs by bringing in more carriers.

County Commissioners Ben Ku and Kirkland Carden will host Transit Town Hall meetings, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

Gwinnett’s transit special purpose local option sales tax, or T-SPLOST, will appear on the Nov. 5 general election ballot.

Gwinnett voters are being asked to decide whether a 30-year, one-cent sales tax should be levied to raise $17 billion to fund a major expansion of the county’s existing transit system, Ride Gwinnett. The system is currently funded by property taxes but passage of the referendum to shift it to being funded by a sales tax instead.

Early voting for the election begins on Oct. 15.

Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis (D) has raised more than $2.1 million dollars for her reelection campaign, according to the AJC.

Willis, the architect of the still-pending election interference case against former President Donald Trump and numerous others, has raised more than $2.1 million this election cycle. She enters the final stretch of the race with more than $800,000 on hand, according to newly released financial records.

For context, that’s far more than winning statewide GOP candidates for agriculture commissioner, labor commissioner and school superintendent raised through the 2022 cycle.

And it far surpasses the hauls of some long-time U.S. House incumbents in the Georgia delegation, including Democrat Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, and Republican Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville.

Willis is heavily favored to coast to another term in deep-blue Fulton County. But her GOP opponent, Courtney Kramer, also has built a respectable war chest.

She’s amassed more than $270,000 since entering the race earlier this year, and has about $80,000 in the bank. Among her biggest donors: former Georgia U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler and the state GOP.

Actress Julia Roberts (D-Hollywood) will campaign in Georgia for Acting Vice President Kamala Harris’s presidential campaign, according to the AJC.

The Democrat’s campaign said the actress will headline five events on Wednesday and Thursday in metro Atlanta, where she plans to rally voters with Harris’ husband, Doug Emhoff; U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock; and former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams.

Roberts, a Smyrna native, endorsed Harris in September, joining other Hollywood stars who backed the vice president’s campaign over former President Donald Trump. She recently said she “couldn’t be more excited” for her two children to also vote for Harris.

Roberts is set Wednesday to attend an abortion rights rally at 6 p.m. in Cherokee County and a campaign office opening at 7:30 p.m. in Cobb County. She’ll be joined by Abrams for both those events.

On Thursday, she’ll attend a noon phone bank training session with Warnock and a 1:15 p.m. event with Emhoff kicking off Atlanta Pride. The day ends with a 6 p.m. rally in Clayton County headlined by Roberts.

Independent Crawford County Sheriff Lewis Walker and Republican Gene Parker meet in the General Election on November 5, 2024, according to 13WMAZ.

What would you do to reduce violent crimes in Crawford County?

Walker: Being vigilant and having a relationship in the community that we serve is really important. We got some training right now called community-oriented police and it is basically law enforcement having a relationship with their community

Parker: Increase the control visibility; visibility is 90% of crime determined when they see police officers in the area; they tend not to commit the crime because they don’t want to get caught

What role do firearms play in Crawford County crime and what needs to be done to address it?

Walker: We bring it in, and we investigate it, and we request an investigation if its death or crime. if it’s not death or serious crime than we pretty much do our own investigation.

Parker: The deputies need to know who needs guns and who doesn’t need guns. We need to detour the illegal tour of guns. Drugs play a big part in drugs.