VALDOSTA – Residents will have a new place to cast ballots in the 2020 presidential election.

The Lowndes County Board of Elections met Tuesday for its final session of 2019. Members unanimously voted to approve the creation of a new voting precinct at Jaycee Shack for future elections. It will be the 11th voting location in the county.

“Other counties are reducing (the number of voting precincts) and we’re adding, so that’s great,” said Deb Cox, Lowndes County supervisor of elections.

The new voting precinct will be located at the Jaycee Shack facility on 2306 Jaycee Shack Road.

In the citizens to be heard portion of the meeting, Dennis Marks, vice chair of the Lowndes County Democratic Party, thanked the board for its work during the November election and December runoffs. He also addressed the board about concerns with the new voting machines and the need for increased voter education.

Marks said older residents reported difficulties finding the area to input their paper ballots into the scanners. Marks recounted a story told to him of a frustrated voter who had difficulty figuring out how to use the voting machine at the Naylor voting precinct before ultimately casting a ballot. After voting, the irritated voter said he would never vote again, according to Marks.

Cox reacted in surprise saying the Naylor voting precinct is one of the least busy precincts in the district, and should have had one poll worker at each machine assisting voters and talking them through the process.

Noting that some residents were unsure if their ballot was sent, Marks suggested adding a feedback noise such as a ding to notify the voter that a ballot had been cast.

Regarding voter education, Marks pointed out that while 17% turnout for a runoff election was decent, turnout for the Nov. 5 election was shockingly low.

“I think this shows up in the number of people voting,” Marks said. “I would love to see more people voting, and I would love to see more people voting intelligently about the issues.”

He said bringing back civics classes could help educate young voters and potential voters about the election process. Board member Ray Corbett agreed and espoused an idea having civics classes for high school seniors and college freshmen.

Other matters discussed included Cox reporting that the board of elections would apply for three different grants in January.

Additionally, Cox and her staff received an award for outstanding service in the Georgia Voting System Pilot Project at a recent state conference. 

This story was updated at 9:45 a.m. on Dec. 19 to reflect the frustrated Naylor voter did cast a ballot.