Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for September 30, 2020

Wyoming adopted the first state constitution to allow women to vote on September 30, 1889.

President Woodrow Wilson spoke in favor of Women’s Suffrage in an address to Congress on September 30, 1918. The bill to pass the 19th Amendment would die in the Senate that year after passing the House.

On September 30, 1927, Babe Ruth hit his 60th home run of the season.

On September 30, 1976, Democrat Jimmy Carter led the Harris Poll for President over President Gerald Ford by a 50-41 margin. In November 1976, the popular vote tallied 50.08% for Carter to 48.01% for Ford, with an Independent taking nearly a point.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

October 5, 2020 is the voter registration deadline for the November general election. You can sign into the Secretary of State’s MVP webpage to check that your registration is up-to-date.

Vice President Mike Pence arrives in Atlanta around noon today, according to the AJC.

The vice president is set to arrive in Atlanta around noon Wednesday and then will head to the Cobb Galleria Centre to speak at the Faith & Freedom Coalition Policy Conference.

His visit comes on the heels of President Donald Trump’s campaign stop in Atlanta on Friday to court Black voters – and polls that show the state has become increasingly competitive.

Aside from Pence, this year’s agenda includes U.S. Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler; Gov. Brian Kemp; anti-tax advocate Grover Norquist; and local pastor Benny Tate.

Kwanza Hall and Robert M. Franklin, both Democrats, took the top slots in yesterday’s election for the Fifth Congressional District, and head to a December runoff.

From the Associated Press via AccessWDUN:

Voters will be called back to the polls for the Dec. 1 runoff, deciding whether Hall or Franklin will get only a month in Congress representing the Atlanta-centered district. The November general election between Republican Angela Stanton King and Democrat Nikema Williams will decide who serves the full two-year term that begins in January. Neither was on Tuesday’s ballot.

Franklin, now a professor at Emory University, raised the most money of anyone running — almost $130,000, including $20,000 of his own. The 66-year-old reemphasized Tuesday as results came in that his experience and training would allow him to pick up Lewis’ mantle and bring “moral clarity” to Congress, saying he would focus on COVID-19 relief, voting rights and reducing police violence against African Americans. The latter two of those issues are unlikely to make any progress in Congress before January.

Hall, who lost a race for Atlanta mayor after three terms on the City Council, said he was called to the race by a sense of “personal obligation.” The 49-year-old said he would try to make the district a pilot site for efforts to fight COVID-19 and to spend more on infrastructure.

Governor Brian Kemp made several stops yesterday in North Georgia, according to AccessWDUN.

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp said this afternoon that having 200,000 rapid COVID-19 tests coming to the state is a “game-changer” during a stop at the the Dawsonville Pool Room as part of a North Georgia tour.

“One of the frustrations for parents has been having to quarantine just because you’re close to somebody who that maybe had a positive test,” said Kemp. “If we could test those individuals that they’re in that position every day, or every couple of days, it may be where you could change that guidance.”

“One of the things that Dr. Toomey and I have tried to do is to make sure that we are putting things out there that people can buy into,” said Kemp. “And to go backwards on that, I just don’t think people would be able to comply with it.”

Kemp was expected to make four more stops at small businesses today during the North Georgia tour. These included CAIRE in Ball Ground, Geraldine’s Bodacious Food Company in Jasper, CORE Center in Ellijay and Mercier Orchards in Blue Ridge.

From the Gainesville Times:

Gov. Brian Kemp paid a visit to North Georgia on Tuesday, Sept. 29, making a stop in northeast Hall to laud Kubota Manufacturing of America Corp.’s expansion at a groundbreaking ceremony for an $85 million engineering and design center.

“I think it’s important in these tough times … to stop and celebrate the good things we have going on in our state, not only for our people to see but for the rest of the country and the world to see,” Kemp said to a group of government and business officials. “It makes a difference on decision makers from an economic development perspective.”

“The only thing I would ask is when you get the facility finished, I would like to come up and try some Kubota vehicles and other things,” Kemp said to the crowd, drawing laughter. “And I heard you’re building this in a very friendly way to the neighbors, so I won’t be causing any disruption.”

Gwinnett County has issued nearly 120,000 absentee ballots for the November general election, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

“With this year, we’re not confident we could come up with even a pretty accurate estimate of turnout just because everything is so different,” Gwinnett Elections Supervisor Kristi Royston said. “We’re not sure — is it absentee-by-mail, is it individuals who do vote in person during advance (voting) or is it election day — you know, where are we going to see the higher participation.”

One indicator that turnout is going to be high is the number of absentee-by-mail ballots that have been requested in the county. Gwinnett officials said they have issued about 118,650 absentee ballots, including overseas and military ballots, as of Tuesday morning.

By comparison, Gwinnett sent out about 100,000 absentee ballots for the primary election, but got back roughly 85,000 ballots, Royston said.

“We had said, when we were prepping and planning for this, that it wouldn’t surprise us if we did 250,000 (absentee ballots sent out for the general election),” Royston said. “That being said, a large number of the ones we would expect are already here. It’s the ones that were on file, the ones that individuals are starting early.”

Royston did warn that voters who go to the My Voter Page system provided by the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office need to understand there is a difference between the date an absentee ballot is “issued,” and the date on which it is mailed to the voter.

“If we’re working today and (elections staff workers) key in the application, that’s the issue date,” Royston said. “The issue date is not reflective of the mail date. As far as what is issued today, it’s not going to be mailed today.”

Royston said Gwinnett will have 23 absentee ballot drop boxes around the county for the general election. The boxes will be located at all 15 libraries in Gwinnett as well as at all eight early voting, or advance-in-person voting, sites in the county. Ballots put in the drop boxes are expected to be picked up by elections staff on a daily basis.

Chatham County announced the locations for eight new absentee ballot drop boxes funded by the League of Women Voters, according to the Savannah Morning News.

At a press conference Tuesday, Board of Registrars Chairman Colin McRae said seven of the eight new boxes have been installed, though they won’t be accessible for “about a week” because of the installation of surveillance cameras.

“We’re going to announce the date that they formally come online. We’re hoping that it will be either late this week or early next week,” McRae said. “That will give us time to get all the logistics in place to have the footage available to us.”

Absentee ballot boxes are required to be in a location with 24-hour video surveillance. Additionally, the boxes will be affixed to the ground. They have to be emptied every 72 hours prior to the early voting period. During the early voting period — from Oct. 12 through Oct. 30 — they have to be emptied every 24 hours.

“Several of these locations are still in the process of getting the [surveillance cameras]. We are in the process of getting the hardware installed to ensure our access to the security cameras footage,” McRae said.

The Gainesville Times profiles the candidates in State Senate District 50, currently held by Republican Bo Hatchett.

Bulloch County notched its first full week with fewer than 100 COVID-19 cases since June, according to the Statesboro Herald.

Clayton County public schools will stay online-only for the time being, according to the AJC.

Several members of the 55,000-student south metro Atlanta community’s school board made it clear at a Monday meeting that they are uncomfortable sending teachers and students to brick-and-mortar classrooms due to the coronavirus pandemic.

“Right now, I am not for going back,” said Alieka Anderson, board vice chairwoman. “We need to look at things a little bit more. We need to see how this flu season is going to carry out.”

Clayton Schools leaders say they have been deluged with emails and calls from parents and faculty worried that the south metro district would feel pressure to follow Cobb, Fulton, Henry and other metro school systems in allowing students the option of returning to classrooms for in-person instruction.

Gov. Brian Kemp weighed in on the subject Tuesday, saying his administration has provided the tools to make going back easier, but that the decision to reopen is up to local leaders.

Richmond County will hold jury selection at the James Brown Arena, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

Move over rock stars, barrel racing pros and graduates — James Brown Arena is to be the new setting for Richmond County residents to become trial jurors.

Since the pandemic, all courts statewide have been under emergency orders imposed by Georgia Supreme Court Chief Justice Harold Melton that prohibited juror trials and grand jury sessions. But his latest order earlier this month cleared the way for the resumption of grand jury sessions and planning for jury trials.

Richmond County Court Administrator Noland Martin said Tuesday that the county’s plans must be approved by the Supreme Court, but the judicial staff is confident it will be and that jury trials can resume by the end of November.

Because of the need for social distancing, there wasn’t a space big enough in the Augusta-Richmond County Judicial Center for selecting juries. But there is in the arena. Superior Court Chief Judge Carl C. Brown Jr. signed an emergency order designating the arena as a courthouse annex, which allows jury selection to take place there.

Glynn County is moving forward with consideration of new rules for short-term rentals, according to The Brunswick News.

At the heart of the issue, according to [Commissioner Peter] Murphy, is a desire to put a stop to unruly renters in residential neighborhoods who disturb the peace, impose safety requirements on short-term rentals and collect taxes from those who aren’t paying.

Complaints abound from county residents who have had negative experiences with large groups renting homes in their neighborhoods, Murphy said. In addition, many short-term rentals operate on an uneven playing field, gaining an advantage over hotels, motels and other forms of lodging by dodging the 5 percent nightly bed tax on room rentals.

A short-term rental ordinance has been kicked around for so long — the entire four years of Murphy’s tenure, in fact — that he feels there’s not much left to discuss.

“We need to take a vote up or down,” he said.

The Gwinnett County Tax Commissioner‘s Office is sending property tax bills beginning Thursday, according to the Gwinnett Daily Post.

Oconee County received a $750,000 grant of federal funds from the Georgia Department of Community Affairs to expand the Senior Center, according to the Athens Banner Herald.

Savannah City Council deadlocked on a choice of three candidates for city manager and may restart the hiring process, according to the Savannah Morning News.

“At this point we could not get consensus on a singular candidate,” Mayor Van Johnson said Tuesday morning. “It appears we are at an impasse.”

The council and mayor met Monday in a closed session to discuss the finalists. The meeting lasted more than three hours.

Johnson said the council was “nowhere near” an overwhelming majority in favor of any one of the candidates. In fact, none of the three had the support of at least five council members — a simple majority — during the discussion, according to Johnson.