Muscogee elections board delays Sunday voting for study

Columbus will have no Sunday voting before the Nov. 4 general election.

That was the decision Thursday of the Muscogee County Board of Elections and Registrations, which voted to study the proposal next year as a possibility for 2016.

Other Georgia counties such as DeKalb have decided to add a Sunday to their early voting schedules. DeKalb is a Democratic stronghold, and when some Republicans learned a voting precinct would be in a mall with a predominantly African-American clientele, they sensed collusion between party operatives and local leaders.

It’s no conspiracy, Sunday voting advocates told the local elections board.

“Voting should not be viewed as a conspiracy,” said District 1 Muscogee school board representative Pat Hugley Green.

Her sister-in-law, Democratic Georgia House District 136 Rep. Carolyn Hugley, said voter participation in elections needs to improve, and Sunday voting could be more convenient for residents who aren’t Christians.

Democratic Georgia District 15 state Sen. Ed Harbison also urged the board to OK Sunday voting, as did Democratic Georgia House District 135 Rep. Calvin Smyre, who suggested that like DeKalb, Muscogee use a mall for Sunday voting: “We have a mall.”

In his political blog Sept. 6, Atlanta Journal-Constitution commentator Jim Galloway reported that DeKalb’s idea of using a shopping mall came from Columbus.

Referring to DeKalb County’s interim chief executive Lee May, Galloway wrote: “The idea of placing a polling station in a mall came from Muscogee County, which experimented with a rent-free station during the May 20 primary, May said.”

On Sept. 5, local political consultant Karl Douglass emailed a link to Galloway’s piece to Muscogee elections director Nancy Boren, asking if Columbus would consider Sunday voting. He suggested Muscogee have weekend voting Oct. 25-26, eliminating Saturday voting here on Oct. 19.

This election year Douglass is political director for Democrat Jason Carter’s gubernatorial campaign.

Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson on Sept. 7 sent a copy of Douglass’ email to Boren without mentioning its source.

“Interesting,” Tomlinson wrote. “Have we considered this? A citizen forwarded this to me and I thought I would pass it along.”

Among proponents at Thursday’s election board meeting were two ministers, Reggie Williams of South Columbus Methodist Church and J.H. Flakes III of Fourth Street Baptist Church.

Also endorsing Sunday voting was Nate Sanderson, head of the local NAACP chapter.

Speaking in opposition was Rick Allen, a frequent Republican candidate for Congress.

He said a last-minute change in voting could spawn public distrust, and offend those who hold the Sabbath sacred.

“We as a community, a Christian community, have had a sanctity about the Sabbath, about the day of Sunday. So there’s going to be a lot of consternation, a lot of thought about this change late in the day,” he said.

Religion should not be a factor, Sanderson said: “We’re getting into an area that I don’t really think we should go into. If we want more access to voting, that is what our decision should be.” Injecting religion into the issue could open a “Pandora’s box,” he said.

Because critics blasted the elections board in 2010 for cutting Columbus’ voting precincts from 48 to 28, the board reconsidered the matter, holding public hearings on poll consolidation before approving it on a second vote.

Board members Thursday said they felt they should repeat that process before switching to Sunday voting.

Board member Linda Parker proposed the board hold three public hearings next week. The board rejected that idea.

The board representative most opposed to adding Sunday voting this year was U.D. Roberts, who proposed the board use next year to ponder the proposal and hold public hearings, possibly approving it for the 2016 elections.

The five-member board voted 3-1 for Roberts’ proposal. The board chair votes only if other board members tie.

Roberts said he was not opposed to Sunday voting, but didn’t want to rush into it a month before Election Day: “It’s like the fourth quarter of the election.”

Besides Allen, another Republican in the audience addressed the matter. Joseph Brannan asked only that the board ensure it had the authority to OK Sunday voting and to make sure the site and times were the same as for Saturday voting.

Boren said the city attorney advised the board that it did have the authority under state law, which sets a minimum standard for Saturday voting, but does not prohibit adding Sunday voting.

With the proposal delayed a year, the Oct. 14-31 schedule for early voting remains what the board approved at its Sept. 4 meeting. Here are sites and schedules:

City Services Center off Macon Road, 7:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, and on Saturday, Oct. 18 and Oct. 25.

Columbus Baptist Association on Steam Mill Road, 9:30 a.m.-6:30 p.m. Monday-Friday, but no voting on Oct. 28, when the site will be unavailable.

Peachtree Mall on the Manchester Expressway, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Friday.

All city voting precincts will be open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on Election Day.

This story was originally published October 2, 2014 at 9:37 PM with the headline "Muscogee elections board delays Sunday voting for study."