Elections Board delays election clerk interviews
The Floyd County Elections Board has postponed interviews set for Friday for the chief elections clerk position after legislation was filed this week to dissolve the current board and set up a new one.
“The board of elections has determined that in light of the pending legislation we cannot in good faith move forward with the scheduled interviews for chief clerk on Friday,” Board Chair Melanie Conrad said. “We have decided to postpone those interviews.”
Under House Bills 9EX and 8EX, the three-member Floyd County Elections Board would be dissolved and replaced with a five-member board. The five members would be appointed by the Floyd County Commission.
Floyd County’s state delegation — Rep. Katie Dempsey, R-rome, Rep. Eddie Lumsden, R-armuchee, and Rep. Mitchell Scoggins, R-cartersville — jointly filed the bill in the state house on Monday.
The bill went through the process of second reading on Wednesday and is expected to come up for a vote in the House on Friday, Dempsey said.
It will then go to the Georgia Senate for a vote. State Sen. Chuck Hufstetler, Rrome, has voiced support for the bill. It then goes to Gov. Brian Kemp, who has up to 40 days to sign it or it automatically becomes law.
The elections board also canceled a called meeting scheduled for Friday.
How it would work
Commissioners would choose four of the members from lists submitted by county executive committees of the two local political parties whose candidates for Georgia governor received the most votes in the previous election. At this point, that means two members from the Floyd County Republican Party and two from the Floyd County Democratic Party.
The fifth member would be chosen by the Floyd County Commissioners to serve as the nonpartisan chair of the board.
There would also be an elections supervisor, completely separate from the elections board, who would be a county employee. The board would make the recommendation but county commissioners would do the hiring.
If the legislation passes and is signed into law, members of the revamped board would officially take office by Dec. 1.