The mix of municipal and countywide items up for a vote Tuesday confused some metro Atlanta voters who were required to vote in two precincts.
Gwinnett County voters who live in cities holding elections, such as those in the city of Snellville, had to visit two precincts in order to vote, according to Gwinnett County's election office. Voters had to cast one ballot to vote in municipal elections at city hall locations and a separate ballot at county precincts to vote for countywide issues, such as the education sales tax.
Precinct manager Jimmy Don Murray and his staff at Snellville United Methodist Church spent the first hour of Election Day sorting out voting locations for confused residents.
The difference in polling places is an inconvenience for voters, Murray said. "People come in on their way to work, stand in line only to be told that they have to go to another location to vote for something else instead of being able to take care of everything in one place."
Mayor Jerry Oberholtzer said Snellville discussed consolidating elections with Gwinnett County about 12 years ago. But he said Gwinnett officials weren’t interested, citing the expense of redrawing precinct lines and other costs.
“It would be good to do in the future,” Oberholtzer said. “But like everything else, it’s about power and control.”
Doraville residents in DeKalb County had the opposite, but no less confusing, experience at their precincts.
Instead of city residents having to vote at two separate locations, the city and county items were combined on one ballot in one location at Doraville City Hall. But residents used to voting at two area schools didn’t get the message and Sharon Bouchard, precinct manager at city hall, heard about it.
“We got so many people confused about it, that we called over to the school and had them put a sign up directing people here,” Bourchard said. “And these were not first-time voters, these were people who vote all the time.”
By consolidating the locations, DeKalb was trying to avoid the situation happening in Snellville, said DeKalb County elections director Maxine Daniels. Prior to the election, the county got approval from the federalJustice Department to move the election to one location in Doraville and Stone Mountain.
“We did try and get the information about the consolidation, unfortunately not everyone received the information,” Daniels said, noting that elections staff went out Tuesday and posted signs at the other locations in the two cities to notify voters of the change. Bouchard said she's preparing to discuss Election Day issues with city and county staff.
With redistricting, the county will consider permanently combining city and county polling locations in Doraville into one precinct at city hall. DeKalb’s other cities already consolidate municipal and county elections at the same locations.
Staff writer David Wickert contributed to this report.
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