Author Archives: Tammy Joyner

Ongoing efforts by state legislatures in Georgia and elsewhere to ban private donations to local election offices could cripple America’s elections process, warned one voting advocacy group, Democracy Docket. “Underfunded elections will exacerbate all the problems–long lines, slow vote counting, poor staffing–that plague our elections,” the Democratic-funded group said in its latest newsletter. “We can expect our […]

Early last year, Fulton County election officials dispatched a series of internal emails to top county executives asking for police protection for some election workers dealing with a barrage of threats and harassment sparked by the 2020 presidential election’s outcome. The Fulton election officials alerted the county that the poll workers were being harassed, both […]

The federal government is not doing enough to protect election workers from a growing barrage of threats and intimidation, according to a recent national poll of local election officials. Nearly eight in 10 election officials said the federal government is either doing nothing to support them or not doing enough, according to the poll from the Brennan […]

Derek Bowens is no stranger to election problems, public attacks and federal investigations. The veteran elections administrator set in motion a turnaround plan to rescue Durham County, N.C.’s elections operation soon after becoming its election director in 2017. But just two weeks ago, he withdrew from consideration for the open position to head the embattled Fulton County […]

A newly passed bill that gives Georgia’s top law enforcement agency unfettered power to pursue any allegations of election fraud sets a troubling precedent for future elections, some election administration officials contend. Before Senate Bill 441 passed on April 4, in the last hours of the state legislative session, it was up to either the state Attorney […]

After 20 years in the military organizing troops, Gloria Hamilton is now using her military training to get more involved in causes in her community – including the upcoming election. The retired Army veteran was one of 10 vets from around the Southeast who recently participated in a one-of-a-kind, five-day training retreat in Atlanta organized […]

After 20 years in the military organizing troops, Gloria Hamilton is now using her military training to get more involved in causes in her community – including the upcoming election. The retired Army veteran was one of 10 vets from around the Southeast who recently participated in a one-of-a-kind, five-day training retreat in Atlanta organized […]

Atlanta is  “one city with one bright future,”  Mayor Andre Dicken told the region’s top business leaders, lawmakers, and dignitaries Monday at his first State of the City address. “The state of our city is strong,” Dickens said at the early morning business breakfast at the Georgia World Congress Center. “We are — and will […]

Rick Barron is leaving the building – but not before he gets a few things off of his chest. After nine years heading Georgia’s largest elections operation, Barron has weathered enough criticism, controversy, and procedural changes to give him a full, unvarnished understanding of the political landscape. He’s seen the future, and he’s had enough. […]

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit two years ago, metro Atlanta’s county election offices were able to deploy tens of millions of dollars in outside donations to hire extra poll workers, pay hazard stipends, and buy extra voting equipment, such as machines to process the surge in mail-in ballots. For Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett […]

The U.S. Census Bureau undercounted Blacks, Latinos, and Native Americans for the 2020 census, new government data shows – an omission likely to affect political representation and federal funding for minority communities for years to come. The national population count every 10 years is used to draw legislative maps for both state and federal elected offices in […]

Georgia’s 159 county elections offices are facing myriad new challenges this year as they gear up for the all-important May primaries and midterm elections in November. Concerns over new, more restrictive election laws, along with retirements, have sent thousands of seasonal poll workers packing and prompted experienced county elections staff statewide to retire. Meanwhile, private […]

Georgia’s 159-county election administrators are heading into the midterm elections with deepening concerns over more restrictive legislative mandates, increased legal risks, fewer workers–and scarce resources. Their heightened anxiety follows two tumultuous years for poll workers and local election offices, who had to contend with a global COVID-19 outbreak, verbal and physical harassment, and a deluge of recounts, fueled […]

Don’t get Marla Thompson-Kendall started about America’s two-party political system. “They’re both ineffective,” the Riverdale resident said of the Democratic and Republican parties.  Although she’s voted for Democrats over the years, she remained open to what Republicans had to say and even came to appreciate some Republicans such as former president George W. Bush. “He […]

Democrats and Republicans have reigned over American politics since the 1850s and many Americans have had enough. Some 62% of American voters want the option of a third party, according to a recent Gallup Poll. The history of political parties in America is a complex and fractured one. Our political-party system has morphed at least […]

Chickamauga native Angela Pence wants to represent the people of her Northwest Georgia community in Congress. The only thing standing between the Libertarian candidate and the 14th Congressional District seat is a $5,220 qualifying fee, 23,000 signatures – and Marjorie Taylor Greene. But the district’s infamous, far-right Republican incumbent is the least of Pence’s concerns right […]

By Tammy Joyner and Meredith Hobbs It’s effectively impossible for a third-party candidate in Georgia to run for the U.S. House of Representatives because of an unusually restrictive ballot-access law that the state legislature enacted almost 80 years ago to keep Communists out of Congress. The Libertarian Party of Georgia has spent the last five […]

The American appetite for a third political party is greater than ever, but getting a third-party candidate on the ballot in Georgia is nearly impossible. With the exception of the Libertarian Party, candidates from parties beyond the Democrats and Republicans rarely make it on statewide or local ballots. “Our ballot access laws are some of […]

Lisa Morgan is facing one of the biggest challenges in her 23 years as a teacher in Georgia. It could cost her school millions of dollars if she gets it wrong. Georgia lawmakers are considering a package of “divisive concepts” bills that would radically change how Morgan and thousands of other educators statewide can talk […]