CAMILLA, Ga. — One of the flashpoints to emerge on Election Day in Georgia was in the small city of Camilla.
Situated in far south Georgia in Mitchell County, the city of a little more than 5,000 people was conducting its own special elections for city council seats that ran into major administrative problems.
Some online reporting of the situation suggested that this was impacting the city's votes in the general election -- for races such as president and Congress. 11Alive looked into what actually occurred in Camilla.
THE QUESTION
Was general election voting impacted in Camilla, Georgia?
SOURCES
THE ANSWER
No, general election voting wasn't impacted in Camilla.
WHAT WE FOUND
The impact on Camilla, Georgia voting was confined to the two special elections for city council seats.
The court order from Mitchell County Superior Court Judge Heather H. Lanier lays out some of the issues that arose in the city. On Monday, the day before Election Day, the city's election superintendent, Rhunette Williford, and assistant election superintendent, Cheryl Ford, "purportedly tendered their resignations."
Then, at a City Council work session that night, the court order says "it was stated that the special election would be canceled and election day voting would not take place." A Facebook post also stated the special election was canceled, according to the order.
On Election Day, Mayor Kelvin Owens, the order states, "personally placed signs on the doors of Camilla, Georgia, City Hall stating that the scheduled special election had been canceled" and the special election polling sites did not open. Judge Lanier concluded the special election "has been unlawfully stopped" and issued an order requiring the city to open its two locations and conduct special election voting for 12 hours. It also appointed two interim, emergency elections supervisors for the voting.
The key distinction in all this is that this impact fell only on the city council special elections.
Voting in presidential elections is conducted at the county level -- meaning Mitchell County, not the City of Camilla, was responsible for opening polling locations where people would vote for president.
As you can see here, the city election polling sites in Camilla were designated for 30 East Broad Street (City Hall) and 212 E. Broad St. (The Depot). The Mitchell County polling sites in Camilla, as noted here, were at the County Elections & Registration Office (32 Court Ave.) and the Resource Center at 123 Perry St.
The locations impacted for city council voting weren't the same locations impacted for county general election voting.
Further, Georgia NAACP President Gerald A. Griggs addressed the issue on social media, saying his team was investigating it but noting, "It has come to my attention that only the special election has been canceled. Not the general election. Voters in Camilla, Georgia can still vote in the presidential election and the general election."
So, 11Alive can verify that city council special election voting was affected in Camilla, Georgia, but not the general election voting for races such as president.
