The First Baptist Church of Cornelia will no longer host the Habersham County South Voting Precinct, and the elections office isn’t sure where it will go long-term.
As we come up on the Nov. 2 general and special election, the precinct will be temporarily located at the Cornelia Community House.
“The First Baptist Church of Cornelia could no longer allow us to use their facilities due to the number of elections/runoffs and days needed for advance voting,” said Laurel Ellison, Habersham County Election Supervisor. “When we set up for an election, beginning with advance voting, we were having to tie up either their banquet room or their gym for at least 13 days for every election.”
The precinct will be in the Cornelia Community House for the upcoming Nov. 2 election and a runoff election, if necessary, which would be on Nov. 30. There will be no advanced voting offered at the location, and those who wish to vote early must do so at the Habersham North precinct, which is located in the Ruby Fulbright Aquatic Center in Clarkesville.
The county, at this time, doesn’t know where the South precinct will be for the next election but expect to have one selected by early 2022.
“The Board of Elections & Voter Registration has been looking for a new Habersham South Precinct for many months and we’re having a hard time finding a large enough facility, with all of the accessibilities that a precinct of this size needs,” Ellison says. “We will be continuing to look and will make an announcement as soon as we find a replacement.”
Voters affected by the precinct change should expect to receive a new precinct card within the next one to two weeks with updated information on where they should report to vote.
“The people of the First Baptist Church have been wonderful, and we appreciate the use of their facilities for the last several years,” Ellison says. “We will always be grateful to them for working with us during our election events.”
