Early voting for a mayor and five council members for the City of Blue Ridge is underway as the Tuesday, November 2, General Election nears, but a recent city council vote could create a negative impact.
In a regular Tuesday, October 29, meeting of the council, members approved appointing city employee Gina Quinton as the assistant absentee ballot clerk.
Quinton was appointed as a result of Absentee Ballot Clerk Rebecca Harkins and Assistant Absentee Ballot Clerk Kelly Crowder’s anticipated absences this week, the week of October 25.
In the meeting, Crowder, who is also the city clerk, told the council that Harkins would be on vacation and she had to take a child to an appointment for oral surgery, hence, the need for another assistant.
A call to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office revealed that if there are any issues, a formal audit at the state level will ensue.
“I guess that’s sort of a management issue,” a spokesman for the Secretary of State’s Press Office said. “If something goes wrong, then that case would be investigated by investigators from the Secretary of State’s office, and then their findings would be presented to the state election board, and, so, there could be some sort of sanction. It could be a fine or a letter of instruction...if there’s some law broken they could be referred to a prosecutor. The blame could go to everybody.
So, not just these interim clerk and assistant clerk but that blame could be shared by the actual permanent clerk and the assistant clerk and the local board.”
Vacations and time off for city employees are approved by department supervisors.
The early voting period ends Friday, October 29, at 5 p.m. Registered voters can stop by city hall, 480 West First Street, to cast votes between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m. during early voting.
The General Election will be on November 2 from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at city hall as well.
Contact Elections Superintendent Barbie Gerald at 706-632-2091 for more information.