VALDOSTA – Signs across various polling places in Valdosta have stated “Your polling place may have changed. Check your precinct card or call 229-671-2850,” sparking concern with some voters as Election Day nears.

Hahira resident Deborah Rhoades is one of the voters. She said the signs are “vague” and do not inform voters specifically of possible changes.

“Normally, you’d get a notice in the mail showing the new polling place. I have no way of knowing if (the signs) apply to us. I vote early but my husband votes the day of. We never received notification. The signs are really not readable unless you can come to a close enough stop to read,” she said.

“In my opinion, this is not sufficient. If they could print a card, they could include our new polling place. It’s just a matter of doing a mail merge with the voter database. It isn’t rocket science.”

Rhoades said she, like others, interpreted the signs to mean that the polling places were no longer available, which would violate the Georgia Code stating that:

“Except in case of an emergency or unavoidable event occurring within 10 days of a primary or election, which emergency or event renders any polling place unavailable for use at such primary or election, the superintendent of a county or the governing authority of a municipality shall not change any polling place until notice of the proposed change shall have been published for once a week for two consecutive weeks in the legal organ for the county or municipality in which the polling place is located.“

The Lowndes County Board of Elections released a statement explaining that the state elections office usually produces cards directing registered voters to a specific polling location or place.

Deb Cox, Lowndes County supervisor of elections, said changes were made this year, and registered voters with a polling place change received generic cards in the mail directing them to a website where they can locate their specific polling place.

“Due to late redistricting changes statewide, the state elections office was unable to print and deliver precinct cards in time for this election, resulting in confusion with the voters,” she said.

“To help streamline the process, we are directing all Lowndes County voters to visit https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/ or call our office at (229) 671-2850.”

Tiffany Linkswiler, assistant supervisor of elections, said the changes in voters’ designated polling places is due to the addition of six new ones to accommodate a growing population.

“We used to have 13 polling places, and this year, we bumped up to 19. We moved some voters to new ones so the current one wouldn’t be so overcrowded. To comply with the law, we base the polls on population size, not the size of active voters. For example, we can’t just assign 10,000 voters to five machines,” she said.

Linkswiler and Cox also noted an ad was run publicizing that two separate board of elections meetings were held May 11, 2021 and June 8, 2021 to discuss the addition of the new polling places and all interested parties were “encouraged to provide feedback regarding potential changes.”

Primary Election Day is May 24. 

For more information: Contact the Lowndes County Board of Elections, (229) 671-2850; e-mail elections@lowndescounty.com; or visit lowndescounty.com/221/Elections-Voting.