Whitfield County Board of Elections 05/14/20

1. Mary Hammontree, the director, said an order has just been issued stating all persons entering the courthouse must have their temperatures taken. If they have a high temperature, they won’t be allowed to enter, and she said their names will be taken. This won’t be done by her staff but by courthouse staff located at the entrance. This will be a problem when early voting starts Monday. She said she has stated they can’t keep people from voting. Board member Rob Cowan noted a judge had died in Albany from COVID 19. They discussed the possibility of giving voters who aren’t allowed to enter absentee ballots. Ms. Hammontree will send the order to the members, and said she’ll check it further.
2. Ms. Hammontree reported they have PPE for the early voting and plexiglass barriers have been put up around voting booths. Some of the older poll workers are canceling but she feels she has enough volunteers to take their place. For June 9, she is contacting polling places, asking that other events not take place that day at those locations.
3. Ms. Hammontree reported that there will not be enough space in some polling places to be in compliance with CDC guidelines. She is working on a plan to reconfigure the space, trying to be in compliance. She’ll send her plan to the BOE when it’s complete.
4. Ms. Hammontree reported they have sent out 9,000 ballots, and have received 2,229 Republican and 639 Democratic completed ballots. They have a drop box in front of the courthouse, and they are getting about 50 ballots a day there.  She said the local postmaster has contacted her about adding barcodes to the return envelopes.
5. Ms. Hammontree reported they are sending out letters to both parties for visitation teams when they count absentee ballots June 9. They will be sequestered. She believes they will be allowed to open envelopes before June 9 but won’t be able to count them until June 9.
6. Ms. Hammontree said they are looking for another polling place to replace the Westside school site for November. It’ll be used for the primary.

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