State Rep. Terry Rogers (R-Clarkesville) is urging the Habersham County Commission to pursue an outside audit of the county’s elections office. Rogers says he spoke with commission chair Victor Anderson about pursuing an audit and investigation to address concerns over how local elections are managed.
Commission concedes
The Habersham County Commission on Wednesday called for a new election in the House District 28 GOP primary after conceding errors were made that could have impacted the outcome.
“I wholeheartedly commend the Habersham County Board of Commissioners on their decision to withdraw the motion to dismiss in the lawsuit contesting the Georgia House District 28 Primary election,” says Rogers. “It’s not easy to concede that mistakes were made, but they are correct in their decision to call for a new election.” He adds, “The integrity of our voting system is the cornerstone of our freedoms, and no voter should ever feel as if their ballot was compromised.”
Rep. Dan Gasaway first drew attention to the problem when he discovered that dozens of voters were given the wrong ballots during the primary. The error affected voters in his district (H.D. 28) and in Rogers’ (H.D. 10). It was later determined it happened because those voters were assigned to the wrong State House Districts.
READ Habersham commissioners call for new election in House District 28
Problem dates back to 2011
Anderson says the problem dates back to 2011 when the Georgia State Legislature redrew House districts based on the 2010 census. Since then there have been three election cycles in Habersham’s House Districts 10 and 28. “There’s not an indication that there would have been any significant impact on (those) other elections because one election was uncontested and one was won by a more significant margin than this one,” Anderson tells Now Habersham.
If Gasaway had not uncovered the error and brought it to the county’s attention, it’s questionable whether it would have been detected. Anderson says Gasaway’s lawsuit and the subsequent investigation into the H.D. 28 primary by the Secretary of State’s office “definitely put an impetus on the process.”
Despite assurances from Habersham County Election Supervisor Laurel Ellison that the problems have been corrected, Rogers still has concerns.
“This is not the first time that we have seen issues with an election,” he says. “With that in mind, I have talked with and encouraged Commission Chair Victor Anderson to explore an outside audit and investigation which makes certain that all the issues are now resolved beyond question. I’ve also asked that they work closely with the Secretary of State’s office in their current ongoing investigation. Victor is in complete agreement that we must have a system that is completely secure and in compliance so that this situation never comes up again.“
