County Commissioner's Office

County Talk
By
Lamar Paris - Commissioner

Q. Now that the primary election is over, who will we be voting for locally in November?
A. The Commissioner’s race will be between me and Harold Cook.  The Sheriff’s race will be between our current Sheriff, Scott Stephens, and the challenger, Tom Jones. The Tax Commissioner will be between J.W. Payne, the incumbent and Lee Knight, and the Clerk of Court will be between Judy Odom, who works in the Clerk’s office and Herbert Kelley the challenger. This is the only county position without an incumbent, as long time Clerk, Allen Conley, is retiring.

Q.  In November, do we have to choose a ballot for either a Democrat or Republican?
A.  No.  In November, you can vote for anyone you wish of either party.  It will also be the presidential election.

Q.  At 41.42%, was our voter turnout lower than normal or the rest of the state?
A. Yes it was and that is very unusual.  I was surprised that our turnout was not higher. In a primary, it is totally dependent on how many candidates have competition as to how many people vote.   We ended up having 5,355 who voted out of about 13,000 registered voters.  For a comparison, in the 2004 primary, we only had a 35% turnout and 3,868 voters, however, there was little local competition.  We have picked up about 2,300 registered voters in the past four years.

Q. Were there any reported problems with the voting machines in this election?
A.  I have not received any.  Our voting machines, although they do not print out a receipt, are exceptionally accurate and easy to use and most new voters are surprised at how easy it is to vote with them.

Q. Does the Commissioner’s office have anything to do with the election process?
A. No. The only thing I am responsible for is furnishing the money for the Election Board’s budget.

Q. What is the difference between the Election Board and the Board of Registrars?
A.  The Election Board strictly handles the election process on election day, although there is a lot of work required leading up to that day, including finding poll workers, training the workers, making sure the equipment is all certified and working, ordering supplies, counting the votes and a whole lot more.
The Board of Registrars is responsible for the registration of all voters, absentee ballots and all early voting.  Both require a lot of dedication and hard work and we should all give them a big “thank you” for the long hours they put in during the election.

Q. Who controls the poll workers?
A. That is the Board of Elections and if you are interested in becoming a poll worker, you should contact them.  The poll workers start around 5:30 to 6:00 on election day and do not get off until eight in the evening.  While most of us take all of this process for granted, it takes a tremendous amount of planning, coordination and cost to make an election happen and we appreciate the work by all those involved.

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