County Adds Safety Procedures For Early Voting Starting May 18

The county has put into place a series of precautions as early voting for the postponed June 9 Democratic and Republican primaries and the nonpartisan judicial races begins at 8 a.m. on Monday and runs through June 5.

A plexiglass screen has been installed at the Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration Office across from the Courthouse in downtown Watkinsville, separating office workers and voters to protect both from COVID-19 as the voting process begins.

Only four people will be allowed in the lobby at a time, Fran Leathers, director of Oconee County Elections and Registration, told the other members of the Board of Elections and Registration at their meeting last week. Leathers chairs that Board.

The county has received a $3,000 grant as part the federal Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act passed by Congress on March 27 for purchase of Personal Protection Equipment by election workers, Leathers said.

The equipment will be used both during early voting and during the actual election on June 9, according to Leathers.

The county also has installed a secure drop box with a surveillance camera in front of the Board of Elections and Registration Office at 10 Court Street so voters who asked for an absentee ballot can drop off their ballots rather than put them in to the mail or bring them to the office.

For more on the story, with a video of the Board of Elections and Registration meeting, please go to Oconee County Observations.