Presented with petition, Lincoln elections board takes no action on polling place closures

The Lincoln County Board of Elections chose not to vote on a plan Wednesday to close all but one polling place after opponents gathered hundreds of signatures for a petition and attracted national media attention.

Board Chairman James H. Allen told those in attendance he’d made changes to the meeting agenda and that “right off, we will not vote tonight.” After the meeting he said the board needed time to verify the signatures but had no intention of keeping the precincts open.

“This is still an ongoing project," he said. "This is just a bump in the road."

A 'test case' for disenfranchisement? Lincoln County takes on effort to shutter polling places

Video: Lincoln County polling locations

More: Lincoln County looks to eliminate all polling places but one

Starting in November, a group that includes the Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda, Black Voters Matter, Common Cause Georgia, the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and the Augusta Interfaith Coalition have worked on the effort and canvassed the rural county for signatures from Lincoln voters opposed to the changes.

Executive Director of the Georgia Coalition for the Peoples' Agenda Helen Butler addresses members of the media during a press conference before the Lincoln County Board of Elections vote in Lincolnton on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022.
Executive Director of the Georgia Coalition for the Peoples' Agenda Helen Butler addresses members of the media during a press conference before the Lincoln County Board of Elections vote in Lincolnton on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022.

Rev. Denise Freeman, a Lincoln County resident and human rights activist, has led the local effort, working with the Coalition for the People's Agenda. She said Wednesday the board’s plan is reminiscent of the Jim Crow era, but actually impacts voters of all colors and persuasions in Lincoln County.

"The Bible says the poor will be with you always," she said. "It is unconscionable that we would even have anyone to think about closing precincts in 2022. It takes us back to an era that we should never have to go back to," she said.

Helen Butler, executive director of the Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda, said the groups will not back down.

"We will take any new steps that we need to take, whether that's litigation or doing another petition drive. Whatever it takes, we will do that to make sure that people are able to exercise their right to vote without having to go 30 miles away, 15 miles away," she said.

Fenika Miller, Georgia Senior State Coordinator for the Black Voters Matter Fund, addresses members of the media during a press conference before the Lincoln County Board of Elections vote in Lincolnton on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022.
Fenika Miller, Georgia Senior State Coordinator for the Black Voters Matter Fund, addresses members of the media during a press conference before the Lincoln County Board of Elections vote in Lincolnton on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022.

The Chronicle traced the path a Lincoln County voter might easily have to travel to the Walker T. Norman Gymnasium, where the board wants to transfer all voting. By car, one route took as long as 25 minutes.

In addition, Butler said the county's lack of internet service in many areas will ensure voters can't apply for absentee ballots online, while some don't have driver's licenses.

Bishop Wille Jackson of the interfaith coalition said the board's actions Wednesday reflected "a tragedy in the making."

"It sounds like they are just as confused as the nation," he said. "It seems like politics is taking a dive and just serving the politicians and not the people."

Lincoln's elections board moved a plan forward last year to close Lincoln’s existing seven polling places and move all voting to the gym, named for the county commission chairman. The site is somewhat centrally located in Lincolnton, the lakeside county's only city.

The board made the plans after Sen. Lee Anderson, R-Grovetown, passed bills dismantling the former elections board last summer and establishing how members would be replaced.

Rev. Denise Freeman delivers the petition to stop the closure of Lincoln County polling locations to the Lincoln County Board of Elections before their vote in Lincolnton on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022.
Rev. Denise Freeman delivers the petition to stop the closure of Lincoln County polling locations to the Lincoln County Board of Elections before their vote in Lincolnton on Wednesday, Jan. 19, 2022.

Freeman and others have said Lincoln County is where they believe Georgia legislators, determined to restrict voting, are testing the system. The steps being taken align with Senate Bill 202, which allows boards to be dismantled, elections directors removed, polling places and ballot drop boxes shuttered and numerous new voting rules and requirements imposed.

Republicans have defended the bill as actually increasing opportunities to vote and reassuring voters who question the integrity of the state's elections. Opponents say any lack of confidence in the voting system is based on the "Big Lie" that Donald Trump lost the presidential election due to fraud.

Fair Fight Action, the advocacy group founded in 2018 by gubernatorial candidate Stacy Abrams to fight voter suppression, also spoke out Wednesday about Lincoln County.

Bishop Willie Jackson with the Greater Augusta Interfaith Coalition hands a petition opposing polling place closures to Lincoln County Elections Supervisor Lilvender Bolton prior to the board of elections' planned vote on the closures. The board later held off on the vote.
Bishop Willie Jackson with the Greater Augusta Interfaith Coalition hands a petition opposing polling place closures to Lincoln County Elections Supervisor Lilvender Bolton prior to the board of elections' planned vote on the closures. The board later held off on the vote.

“The county’s plan is part of a broader attack on democracy stemming from the Big Lie and subsequent signing of anti-voting bill Senate Bill 202,” the group said in a statement.

Lincoln’s effort and others are further examples of why Congress needs to pass the Freedom to Vote: John R. Lewis Act, the statement said.

The Lewis Act imposes federal standards intended to prevent the establishment of barriers to voting and restores preclearance, the mandatory Justice Department review of voting changes in states with histories of discrimination. The bill suffered a setback Wednesday when Senate Democrats failed to secure enough votes to change filibuster rules, which they need to get the bill passed.

Aunna Dennis, executive director of Common Cause Georgia, said Wednesday that Lincoln County is evidence of another nationwide problem: Counties' conducting election planning outside the view of the public, largely in response to Democratic victories in the 2020 elections.

Lincoln Elections Board Chairman J. H. Allen defends a plan to close all but one of the county’s polling places.
Lincoln Elections Board Chairman J. H. Allen defends a plan to close all but one of the county’s polling places.

“Election administration should not be a closed-for-business operation. It’s supposed to be about the voters and the people,” she said.

Allen and others have said the board held two public hearings on the proposed changes, but few cared enough to attend.

John Stone, the former GOP congressional candidate who now owns the Lincoln Journal newspaper, questioned Freeman Wednesday about why so few attended the hearings. Freeman said that most were unaware of them and were still contending with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Three hours before the meeting, Freeman presented the petition to Lincoln Elections Supervisor Lilvender Bolton. Freeman said it contained more than 600 signatures, which she believes sufficient to block the polling place changes, at least temporarily.

Under state law, if at least 20% of voters in an affected precinct register their opposition, the board can't take the action. According to Bolton, Lincoln County has approximately 6,400 registered voters spread across its seven precincts.

Kevin Pallasch, media strategist for the Southern Poverty Law Center, said based on the center's legal analysis, obtaining 20% of signatures from any one precinct would effectively block the current proposal, which bundles the closures in one measure. The block would stand at least until Lincoln crafted a different piece of legislation, he said.

Freeman said the group's next step is observing the signature verification process.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Lincoln County elections board does not vote on polling place closures