Take politics out of State Election Board process

Independent voters unite! By that, I mean all Georgia voters because we are all free to vote for the candidates of our choice. One thing that unites us is that we care about having our elections run with transparency, honesty, and efficiency.

Back in the chaos of 2021, Georgia passed the infamous SB 202, which gave the GOP-majority legislature weapons for taking away the independence of our local election boards and gave more investigatory power to the state attorney general without transparency/accountability to Georgia voters. It made it more difficult for working, disabled and elderly voters to exercise their rights, made it easier to “take over” local election boards and made it easier to ignore the will of the voters in future elections.

Currently, the State Election Board has five members, with three chosen by lawmakers. That is not fair to Georgia’s independent voters, which is all of us. Instead of having parties and politicians choose the election board members, why not have yearly rotations of randomly selected Georgia voters, like jury duty?

CHRIS MILLER, ROSWELL

Hope ‘24 sees change in nation’s direction

Re: The Dec. 29 opinion piece, “‘23 gave us reasons to give up, but I won’t,” there were abundant reasons for us to give up in ‘23, but hope springs eternal.

We knew that Joe Biden’s term would end and hoped something would be left to build on again.

The opinion piece author says some version of autocracy is likely, and that’s possible; at least a voice of authority with the backing of Congress.

If Donald Trump will close our Southern border to unauthorized migrants, unshackle our police officers and stop the squandering of tax dollars, we will be on the road to recovery.

JACK FRANKLIN, CONYERS

Keep Reading

Members celebrate as the House of Representatives passed President Trump’s domestic policy bill at the Capitol in Washington on Thursday, July 3, 2025. The House on Thursday narrowly passed a sweeping bill to extend tax cuts and slash social safety net programs, capping Republicans’ chaotic monthslong slog to overcome deep rifts within their party and deliver President Trump’s domestic agenda. (Eric Lee/The New York Times)

Credit: NYT

Featured

UPS driver Dan Partyka delivers an overnight package. As more people buy more goods online, the rapid and unrelenting expansion of e-commerce is causing real challenges for the Sandy-Springs based company. (Bob Andres/AJC 2022)

Credit: TNS