EDITORIAL: County needs to come to aid of elections office

Published 11:00 am Saturday, February 6, 2021

History was made with record voter participation in last year’s general election and the U.S. Senate runoff. Although those races have been decided, the issue of election oversight is likely not going away anytime soon, increasing public scrutiny and interest in the voting process. While there is no major national or state election this year, there are local mayoral and city council races of major importance to consider, so 2021 will be a busy voting year. 

All of these factors make Baldwin County Superintendent of Elections Todd Blackwell’s recent plea to county commissioners all the more important.

Last month, Blackwell asked the county to consider forming a board of elections to assist his office with election oversight.

County officials need to move on coming up with a plan to assist Blackwell’s office. 

While county commissioners said they are taking Blackwell’s comments under advisement, they should consider his request sooner rather than later. 

At a minimum, the county should strongly consider adding staff to help out with local elections. 

There will likely be election reforms in our state — a proposal is making its way through the Georgia General Assembly this session. If a bill is approved, it will certainly require changes at the local level, resulting in added work for Blackwell’s office and a greater need for oversight. 

Last year was an anomaly for several reasons, namely COVID-19. We have no idea how the ongoing pandemic will impact all aspects of our lives and how our elections are undertaken long-term. 

Still, amid the pandemic, the nation smashed turnout records, and a record number of absentee ballots requests were issued. Locally, it went off all without a hitch, and that’s due largely to the hard work and preparation of Blackwell and his staff. But that doesn’t mean it was an easy undertaking. Blackwell noted recently that while wearing two hats as both elections supervisor and probate judge, elections take away from his other job as probate judge because there’s so much preparation required.

Said Blackwell to commissioners: “I do not believe that we’re in a position anymore that election supervision can be a secondary function of an office.”

Confidence in our elections has eroded for many Americans and we must do everything we can do to maintain and restore trust in our voting process. Voter frustration is at an all-time high nationally because of misinformation and a growing lack of faith in the democratic process. 

We’ve been very fortunate locally that our recent elections have skirted those issues and gone off largely without a hitch. That doesn’t mean, however, that we should take the hard work undertaken behind the scenes for granted. More help is needed in the elections office to see to it that our record of successful and transparent elections continues. If not in the form of an elections board, then with funding for additional staff. 

The county needs to find a way to ensure that.