Wow, what a statement! Our latest county commissioner was elected under district voting rules by a landslide: 2,200 (70 percent) out of 3,200 voters decided who would fill this seat.
As reported in this paper, the turnout of voters from this newly formed district was an embarrassing 20 percent of all registered voters in that district.
Considering that there are approximately 77,000 Fayette County residents over the age of 18, the 2,200 votes cast for the new commissioner equates to about 2.9 percent of all age-eligible voters in Fayette County. What a landslide!
We are told the district voting is required because certain groups of our citizens cannot get “fair” representation. Now we have a commissioner with 20 percent influence (1 of 5) put into office by less than 3 percent of countywide age-eligible voters. I guess that is what some call fair.
It is highly unlikely that had this election been at-large, the results would have been the same, but hey, once the game is fixed there’s no real need to play. Maybe that’s the real point.
Alan Felts
Peachtree City, Ga.
