JONESBORO, Ga. — Imagine standing in line for hours to cast a ballot for state and county elections and then having to get in your car and drive down the street to vote for city issues.
In a controversial move this week, city of Jonesboro officials voted to host its November election separate from the county. The vote is causing a lot of concern as it comes at a hefty price tag and will require voters to go to two separate locations to cast a ballot this fall.
“It really feels along the line of suppression, voter suppression,” said Jonesboro resident Asjah Miller, who is among those who appealed to the city council in hopes they would allow the county to run its November election simultaneous with the county’s election.
Instead, the city voted to do its own election at a separate location with times which don't include extended hours or weekends.
“I’m an educator here in Clayton County and so my work hours didn’t work with the hours that the city was offering," Miller explained. "The city was offering from 8:00 to 4:30 I believe, I have to be at work at 7:45. I’m in a bunch of different clubs at my job and so usually I don’t get off till after 5 o’clock. So it’s very difficult for me to get here to vote."
Despite the concern, the council voted 5 to 1 in favor of a separate election. In addition to limiting the time voters have to cast their ballots, Jonesboro Mayor Dr. Donya Sartor said it will also cost the city thousands more.
“We have a November regular election for mayor and three council seats and so we have the option to allow the county to run it and they would have ran it for roughly about $11,000," Sartor said. "They made the decision not to accept the memorandum of understanding and therefore will run the election in the city at about a price tag of $24,000."
Sartor explained that the nearly $13,000 difference is not even in the budget.
“So we allotted $20,000 for our 2023 budget for elections, knowing that we had two elections," Sartor said. "Our election in March cost us $23,000, which means we’re already $3,000 over budget. So technically there is no money in our budget line item to run an election in November."
But during Monday's commission meeting, supporters had a different take.
“I think it’s worth $13,000 to ensure that all votes are going through the way they should go through," councilmember Tracey Messick said. "We had problems with the county."
Miller said the stance is "disheartening," explaining that the decision to host two separate elections makes her have to choose between her job as a teacher and finding time to vote.
It’s also important to note the last time the county ran the city of Jonesboro’s elections, they had record turnout with voter numbers in the thousands -- compared to the March election where just about 400 people casted ballots. The city will also have to conduct the election without a city manager, with that position remaining vacant.