Gilmer Registrar honored with Frances Duncan Award
News September 3, 2021
ELLIJAY, Ga. – Gilmer, like the rest of the state and the nation, has gone through quite a lot since the 2020 Presidential Election. From early voting lines and record setting mail-in ballots to recounts and audits, all while monitoring and maintaining security and integrity in the election results. Now, one award is bringing recognition back to Gilmer County among the entire state.
There is no denying the levels of stress this puts on those running the election in the county and counting the results. Especially under an election that is still being scrutinized today.
To perform and succeed in this situation is one thing, but excelling is something worthy of acknowledgement.
From left to right, Gilmer Probate Judge Scott Chastain, Chief Registrar Tammy Watkins, and Registrar Sherri Jones pose for a picture with Watkins holding the Frances Duncan Award.
That acknowledgement came this week for Gilmer County and it’s Registrars’ Office. Specifically to the county’s Chief Registrar, Tammy Watkins.
Tammy Watkins, Chief Registrar of Gilmer County was honored by the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials (GAVREO), by receiving the Frances Duncan award.
According to Gilmer’s Probate Office, “This award is given to just one person in the entire state of Georgia in recognition for their excellence in elections management.”
Tammy Watkins just returned this week from the GAVREO Conference and training under the Carl Vinson Institute of Government, according to the Registrars Office.
According to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, previous to 2020 and the COVID-19 outbreak, Georgia held one of the largest meetings of election officials in U.S. history in Savannah with more than 700 local and state elections officials from across Georgia attending a four-day conference.
Though Ms. Watkins was unavailable for comment, the Probate Office of Gilmer County issued a statement saying, “This is a very big honor and we would like to congratulate Tammy for a job well done. Gilmer County is very fortunate to have Tammy serve as our Chief Registrar and we should be so proud that one of our own was recognized with such an honor.”
Board of Registrars could become the Board of Elections
News January 14, 2021
ELLIJAY, Ga. – Discussions are continuing amongst the Gilmer County Board of Commissioners and the Gilmer County Probate Office over the introduction and creation of a Board of Elections in the county.
Still hesitant, the commissioners went deeper into talks over the possibility of an Elections Board including make-up and representation on the board. During discussions, the board made reference to representatives from both the republican and democrat parties. However, they did not mention including representatives from third parties in the meeting.
The board did mention third party representation in a previous meeting’s discussion, but did not refresh that sentiment in January through their discussion over the topic. All three commissioners did indicate their hesitation in moving forward quickly with the agenda item, meaning more discussion is likely to come before they have any final or official decisions on the board.
Gilmer County Probate Judge Scott Chastain
Probate Judge Scott Chastain continued to ask the Commissioners for their consideration and urged the importance of having a Board of Elections in the county, especially considering the major issues the country has seen in the most recent elections. Chastain noted the sheer amount of work involved in elections indicating that it was too much for his office and that he wants to rid the Probate Office of all Elections involvement.
Chastain said in the meeting, “I don’t know that it’s a problem for the citizens of Gilmer County as much as it is a problem for my office.”
He asserted the growing weight of Gilmer’s population and growth, saying that increased growth means and increase in the volume of work for his office during elections.
Chastain also repeated the appearance of possible impropriety of having the elected position of a Probate Judge involved in elections including ones he is running in. He said that in such situations as those he is running in, he has to pay someone to watch over the elections process because he legally can’t be involved, yet he is still held responsible should any issues arise.
January provided a prime example of such a situation where Chastain removes himself from the process. The January 5, 2021, runoff election concluded rather smoothly, despite some early issues with voting machines in one precinct, according to Chief Registrar and Elections Manager Tammy Watkins.
Gilmer County Chief Registrar Tammy Watkins
Throughout the night after polls closed, as FYN spent the night present in the Probate Office reporting results, Watkins worked diligently with Associate Judge Tracey Teague and members of Elections, the Probate Office, and Registrar’s Office. Much of the staff was present, with 6 people counting absentee ballots and four others running the counting machines. Yet, Judge Chastain did not appear.
Chastain recently appointed Associate Judge Teague for exactly such situations. As stated in previous Commissioner Meetings and the 2021 Budget meetings, having an Associate Judge would cover situations when Judge Chastain is unavailable due to trianing, meetings, or other circumstances. This came partially at the suggestion of the Council of Probate Judges as many Judges were being quarantined or sent home due to positive COVID tests and exposures, including Judge Chastain.
As the elections superintendent, Probate Judge Chastain is more of an overseer to the elections process with staff of the two offices being the ones who do the counting and processing.
Discussions continued amongst the commissioners and Chastain with indications pointing towards the county going forward with the creation of an elections board. However, rather than rushing through local legislation to put this in, Commission Chairman Charlie Paris said that they will likely take the time to fully flesh out the creation of a board and all the details involved before taking it to state representatives to be put into local legislation. Even with this push, indications pointed that with an early enough vote in the 2022 legislation, Gilmer could be converted into a Board of Elections before the Governor’s Race next year.
Gilmer County Commission Chairman Charlie Paris
Paris went on to say to Watkins that she should take it as a compliment that the board wants to go slow with the process and understand it as meaning that they have been pleased with the handling of the elections and don’t feel the need to rush into a change.
Originally, Chastain came to the Board of Commissioners with two options, creation of an Elections Board or an increase to his stipend for elections work. As such, Watkins was briefly considered to simply take over the Elections Superintendent position in his stead. More recently, the BOC seems entirely focused on a Board rather than a single person.
However, Watkins is still proving to be a top candidate in replacing Chastain in some form. Looking at other counties, it was noted during the meeting that some have the Chief Registrar as Chairperson of the Board of Elections, others have the board selecting the Chief Registrar who operates under that board.
Some comments even seemed to point that the county could consider consolidating the Board of Registrars into the Board of Elections, but, again, details have not been fully confirmed or set on how Gilmer County will create theirs.
The fact is, counties all across Georgia have created and operate their boards in many different fashions. A fact not lost on Gilmer’s BOC as they acknowledged early in the meeting that if the state moves to force every county to adopt a Board of Elections, they could create required standards or structure.
Moving forward, each of the commissioners noted how important or how big of a change this will be for Gilmer County. While it was said that citizens will not see any difference in polls or operations from their point of view, it will entirely change how Gilmer County runs its elections and how it operates internally during the process.
As always, citizens are welcome in the Commissioner’s monthly meetings as well as directly contacting the office of the Board of Commissioners.
Voter turnout is high as Gilmer extends one precinct tonight
Election, News January 5, 2021
GILMER COUNTY, Ga. – Gilmer County Chief Registrar Tammy Watkins is reporting high voter turnout to each precinct just as expected during today’s election.
While runoffs like this are not usually very busy with fewer people coming to vote and with fewer offices on the ballot. Gilmer only has three choices to make on their ballots today for offices. Despite the usual trend, however, Watkins said, “We’ve been really busy today. I think we’re going to have a good turnout.”
This is continuing from the higher early voting turnout the county saw in recent weeks and in the final days preparing for today’s election.
Watkins previously predicted a higher than normal turnout for such an election, but did also say that she did not expect the same numbers that Gilmer saw in November’s presidential election.
Watkins said the day has progressed smoothly with only one major issue and a few recurring items such as people having requested early voting ballots but changing their minds and showing up today to vote in-person.
Watkins did say that if citizens have already submitted their absentee by mail ballots, they will not be allowed to vote today, but for those who requested ballots but did not submit them, they must go through a process to cancel and void the allocated early ballot at the precinct as they show up to vote in-person.
The major issues that Watkins reports was an error at the Town Creek voting precinct. Due to an error on the poll pads, the precinct had a 40-minute time period under maintenance after polls had opened. Officials fixed the error and returned to business with Watkins saying that they did not have to turn anyone away at the precinct. She did note that one person was reported to have left during the issue, but said they would return later in the day.
Because of the issue, Watkins said that they must extend the precincts open time until 7:40 p.m.
With Town Creek staying open later, it could delay results a little bit, but Watkins said there is no reason to believe that the results will not be finished and counted tonight.
County budget pushes Probate-Elections debate to next year
Election, News December 8, 2020
ELLIJAY, Ga. – Among budget discussions, the County’s Board of Commissioners revisited a major topic of discussion in recent months over elections in the county and what office or board should oversee them.
While approving an increase for Tracey Teague as she was appointed Associate Judge, the county has not settled on a decision on how to move forward with elections within the Probate Court Office, Registrar’s Office, and the possibility of an Election’s Board.
While the BOC stated it understands the importance of this subject to the Probate Court, Chairman Charlie Paris questioned saying, “I think the decision we have to make is how important is it to the county as a whole.”
Paris stated that he was speaking only personally when he noted that he has not found an Election Board configuration that he liked for Gilmer.
Additionally, adding an additional Election Board would increase the budget to fund that board. While the Probate Judge, Scott Chastain, receives a stipend for being Elections Superintendent of $4,500, Paris said a full election board would increase above that.
Probate Judge Scott Chastain
The board said collectively that they understood the impact and added stress of having the elections in his office as well as some concerns of the running and operating the elections that he also is running for his position in.
Post Commissioner Hubert Parker pointed out some community response as citizens have spoken with him saying that they debated the point saying he knew the elections were a part of the job when he first ran for office.
An alternative to an election board, the commissioners discussed increasing the stipend for Chastain to continue overseeing the elections. An idea Chastain himself brought up in a county meeting previously.
While the entire Probate Office operates and is used for elections through their office, the Commissioners discussed that much of the detailed work and oversight is undertaken by Chief Registrar Tammy Watkins. Elections, in essence, is already overflowing out of the Probate Office into Registrars. However, this is nothing new. Watkins has been working on elections in some degree for years, reaching back into the previous Probate Judge Anita Mullins.
The difference since those previous years has come as Watkins went from simply working on elections, to overseeing large portions of the process as Chief Registrar. Early Voting is completely undertaken in the Registrar’s Office at the courthouse, Watkins has also spoken recently with the second recount that was called for Georgia elections about the work she and staff has undertaken.
Chief Registrar Tammy Watkins
Increasing the stipend for Probate Judge Scott Chastain as overall Superintendent would increase his pay for that process, but would not change much in the office as far as the operations. However, creating an Elections Board would increase more costs for the county as they establish an entire board for oversight.
A comment from Post Commissioner Karleen Ferguson brought up another avenue explored previously by the board as she again questioned appointing another person as Election Superintendent. Previously, Watkins, as the county’s Chief Registrar, was considered to take the position of Elections Superintendent and, possibly, move the stipend from Probate Judge to Chief Registrar. Previous concerns over the election superintendent not being an elected position brought up questions about the position’s responsibility and how they answer to the people.
The commissioners agreed that they understood that the Chastain shoulders a lot of responsibility as the Elections Superintendent, and respected the request for something to be done. As discussion continued, the Commissioners opted to continue and finish out the current elections “as is.”
Moving forward, the commissioners will revisit the conversation in 2021 to take action on the item before the next big elections coming in 2022. Paris said that he wants to look into the subject and revisit the subject on a timetable rather than just leaving the item in discussion at every single commissioner’s meeting.