Some Peachtree City voters must vote in 2 geographically separate precincts

Do you live in Rising Star Precinct? Or on Strathmore Lane? Or are you a resident at Legacy Ridge? You may have trouble on Election Day.

I asked the Fayette Elections Office to provide a list of precincts that will have Electronic Voting Equipment for the Peachtree City Special Election on Election Day.

They sent a list of 12 precincts. The problem is that we have Peachtree City residents in 15 precincts.

If you live in Rising Star Precinct, live on Strathmore Lane, or are a resident at Legacy Ridge Assisted Living, you must anticipate problems you may have on Election Day because Rising Star Precinct, Whitewater Precinct, and Dogwood Precinct will not have voting machines for you to vote in the Peachtree City Special Election.

You will need to vote for the General Election ballot in your assigned precinct and then go to your assigned Municipal precinct that lies inside the border of Peachtree City to vote in the Peachtree City Special Election.

I brought this to the attention of the Peachtree City Mayor and City Council, and the Fayette Elections Office. I have not had a response from any of them concerning this issue.

Plus, if you get to Rising Star Precinct, Whitewater Precinct, or Dogwood Precinct late in the day, they will not have Provisional Ballots for you to use for the Peachtree City Special Election.

That is, unless they change their current plans.

I became aware of this issue while working on the details for the Legacy Ridge 96-year-old, legally blind woman who had trouble voting in the Peachtree City Special Election.

I discovered issues with Longboat Subdivision. It appears the Elections Office has attempted to add a municipal code for the Longboat residents that would permit them to vote in the Municipal Election without the need for a Provisional Ballot. A representative of their HOA assured me they are aware of their need to ask for a Provisional Ballot if necessary.

Other areas aren’t so lucky.

RISING STAR PRECINCT:

There are 3,790 registered voters in Rising Star Precinct. Of those, 2,065 are residents of Peachtree City. It should be outlined on your “MyVoterPage” that your “Municipal” precinct is Braelinn Precinct if your residence is inside the city boundary.

Peachtree City residents in the Rising Star precinct voting on Election Day will need to vote at Rising Star Middle School for the General Election, and then go to Braelinn Elementary to vote in the Special Election.

WHITEWATER PRECINCT — RESIDENTS ON STRATHMORE LANE:

We have 17 voters Strathmore Lane, which is inside Peachtree City, who are assigned to the Whitewater Precinct.

If any of them vote on November 8th, they will need to vote in the General Election at the Fayetteville Church of Christ, at 870 Redwine Road and then go Braelinn Precinct #22 (Braelinn Elementary) to vote in the Peachtree City Special Election.

DOGWOOD PRECINCT – LEGACY RIDGE RESIDENTS:

We have the same scenario for the 17 residents who live in Legacy Ridge of Peachtree City. They were not reclassified to a precinct inside Peachtree City when annexed in 2018. They are registered in the Dogwood Precinct and on November 8th will need to vote in Grace Church on Flat Creek Trail. In order to vote in the Peachtree City Special Election they will then need to go to McIntosh Precinct (McIntosh High School) to vote a Provisional Ballot for the Special Election.

SUMMARY:

When you look at the voters in the three precincts, they will face a challenge if they vote on Election Day, November 8th. It’s not easy to go to two separate polls to vote. Sometimes it’s a challenge to vote at just one.

Plus, any of these voters who will need to vote in two locations, miles apart, may be caught off guard and be unprepared to go to both polling locations before the polls close.

We view this as a serious issue in terms of making it more likely that voters will be unable to vote both ballots on election day, or will simply choose to not vote in the Special Election because of the hardship and frustration.

From an Election Integrity point of view, we want to do things to mitigate this hardship so everyone has a fair chance to vote in both elections.

We asked Peachtree City Council to address this issue to the Board of Elections.

We asked the Board of Elections to address this issue.

Since “time is of the essence” I’m taking it to the voters:

If you are in either of these precincts you might want to give serious consideration to casting your vote during Early Voting to avoid the need to vote at two different polling locations on Election Day.

Every Fayette County resident can vote at any of the four Early voting locations.

We are in the last few days of early voting, it ends at 5 pm on Friday, November 4.

You can still early-vote through Friday this week, 9:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m.)

The four early voting locations are:

FAYETTE COUNTY ELECTION OFFICE

140 STONEWALL AVE, SUITE 209

FAYETTEVILLE, GA 30214

FAYETTE COUNTY LIBRARY

1821 HERITAGE PKWY

FAYETTEVILLE, GA 30214

PEACHTREE CITY LIBRARY

201 WILLOW BEND RD

PEACHTREE CITY, GA 30269

TYRONE RECREATION OFFICE

945 SENOIA RD

TYRONE, GA 30290

[Suzanne Brown is retired after 21 years in federal law enforcement, has a BS from Cornell and an MS from Colorado State, and has lived in Peachtree City for 3 years. She often speaks at local government meetings during public comment time, pointing out various laws and regulations that need to be followed to preserve our communities, and in support of a patriotic agenda.]