Under the gold dome in Atlanta Wednesday, the House of Representatives approved a measure to reduce the number of early voting days for municipal elections. But the amended version of House Bill 891 gives city officials around the state the option of deciding whether to have one week of early voting before an election or keeping the early voting period at three weeks. It now heads to the Georgia Senate for consideration. The proposal surfaced after some city officials around the state complained it’s inefficient and costly to staff polling places for three weeks, especially in rural areas where one or two people vote each day. However, the NAACP and other agencies opposed the measure, maintaining it could infringe on some people’s voting rights.
In Warner Robins, Elections Superintendent Kathy Cummings thinks early voting for municipal elections should be shortened.
“I think it’s a great idea,” Cummings said. “Some cities may have two or three people that come in and vote all day. But you still have to have (election officials) there for the whole day.”
Cutting the early voting period by two weeks, Cummings said, would save time, energy and money spent to keep election workers at the polls. Cummings didn’t know the exact amount of the possible savings.
Full Article: State may cut back city early voting.