Judge Todd A. Blackwell has overseen dozens of memorable elections in Baldwin Co.

Published 7:00 am Saturday, November 9, 2024

When it comes to preparing and overseeing elections in Georgia, it would be difficult to find someone who does it any better than Baldwin County Probate Judge and Elections Superintendent Todd A. Blackwell.

In the last 25 years, he has been directly involved in dozens of city and countywide elections.

The man whose attention to detail about how things are to be done according to state elections laws oversaw his last election Tuesday night.

County officials have decided to create a board of elections and hire an elections director to oversee all county elections beginning in 2025.

Commissioners agreed earlier this year that it would be in the best interest of the county if they went ahead and created an elections board as opposed to waiting for it to become state mandated.

After Tuesday’s General Election was completed, Blackwell was asked how he felt about overseeing his last election.

“Well, I don’t think it ends because I’ll still be here and I plan to help out where I can and continue to have successful elections here, and that’s what it’s all about,” Blackwell said. “This is my community right on, and seeing it succeed in elections is near and dear to me.”

The longtime elections superintendent said he will serve in an advisory capacity for the new county elections board.

Blackwell said he had not had time to reflect on what life will be like not being involved in so many facets of the election process.

“It will be different,” he admitted. “I’m proud of my office staff and what we’ve done throughout the years. Elections in this county will continue to be a success. We have it on a good path for Baldwin County.”

When it comes to organizing elections and overseeing them, many believe Blackwell is by far the best.

One of those who shares that belief is Baldwin County Sheriff Bill Massee.

“It will be a tremendous loss to Baldwin County when Judge Todd Blackwell quits handling the elections,” Massee said. “If he is not the best at elections operations in the state of Georgia, then he’s so close to it. It’s unbelievable.”

The longtime sheriff said Blackwell has meant so much to the county.

“We have always had challenge-free elections since the day Todd Blackwell started running these elections,” Massee said. “We’ve had no lawsuits, no real complaints. And any of the small problems we have had, he’s always put out those fires in a professional way. His departure as our elections superintendent is really going to be a big loss to our county.”

Baldwin County Chief Voter Registrar Felix Jones is another official who lauds Blackwell for the outstanding job he has done during his tenure as elections superintendent.

“Todd is just the guru when it comes to elections,” Jones said.

“I have been to many conventions with him and many people from all over the State of Georgia and the Secretary of State’s Office highly respect him because of the great job he’s done in Milledgeville over the last 25 years with elections.”

Blackwell is a man who knows his job well and prepares for each election in ample time, including ensuring that each voting machine is working properly.

One could easily say Blackwell knows the job forward and backward.

“He knows the entire voting process, and the voter registration part of it as well,” Jones said. “If you look at other counties and things that have happened in the past, it’s never happened in Baldwin County. We’ve never been sued; and we’ve never had any major problems when dealing with elections.”

Jones said Blackwell has also served as a “great” consultant to the Baldwin County Board of Registrars Office.

“There’s never been a problem too large or too small that he couldn’t resolve,” Jones said. “Todd has always been there for us even back when Rick Williams was the chief registrar and Liz Rodgers was the chief registrar.”

Jones said Blackwell has always just been a phone call away.

“We are truly going to miss working with him as closely as we have over the years,” Jones said.

For the last six years, Baldwin County Chief Deputy Registrar Randy Morrow has worked shoulder to shoulder with Blackwell.

“He’s probably one of the most dedicated and honorable  politicians I’ve ever met,” Morrow said. “His word is gold. His word is just like having gold. He always puts the voter and the county first. I just a tremendous amount of respect for him.”

Morrow said he thinks so much of Blackwell that when he leaves his job one day as chief deputy registrar he would be happy to go work as Blackwell’s campaign manager if he seeks re-election.

“And I’d do it free of charge,” Morrow said. “He’s a super guy.”

Even complete strangers were impressed at how Blackwell orchestrated his last General Election Tuesday night.

A couple came to Baldwin County serve as ballot monitors for the Georgia Democratic Party.

“We came here to observe that the election ran smoothly, and they clearly do, here anyway,” said Jon Schoenhorn,  a lawyer who noted he had a choice to go to Wisconsin or Georgia. “So, I said who wants to be in Wisconsin in November?”

Once he decided Georgia was the state he was going to, he said he read up on Georgia election laws.

“It was perfect; it was a well-oiled machine,” said Carol Schoenhorn of the 2024 Presidential General Election conducted in Baldwin County. “Judge Blackwell explained everything to us and it ran perfectly in line with everything he said it was going to be.”

Blackwell said her comments were humbling.

“But I don’t take credit for all of that,” he said. “It’s a team effort from my office staff to the registrars, the sheriff and his deputies for the services they provide because it’s not one-man operation. It truly isn’t.”