Activists Warn Georgia County Closure of Early Voting Sites for Runoffs Harms Voters of Color Most

Six voting rights groups have written to election officials in Cobb County, Georgia, urging them not to reduce the number of early voting sites in the county as the state prepares for two Senate runoff elections on January 5. The groups warned that the closures would adversely affect voters of color.

Cobb County Director of Elections Janine Eveler said that a lack of manpower meant early voting sites would be reduced from 11 to 5 for the runoffs. The runoffs will decide control of the Senate.

On Monday, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund sent a joint letter with five other voting groups, including the Georgia NAACP and ACLU Georgia, calling on Cobb County to reverse the decision.

"While these closures are likely to adversely affect many Cobb County voters, we are especially concerned that these closures will be harmful to Cobb County's Black and Latinx voters because many of the locations are in Black and Latinx communities," the 10-page letter said.

"We urge you to maintain eleven advance voting locations for the upcoming runoff election."

Cobb County is the state's third-most populous county, with a population of more than 760,000. President-elect Joe Biden won the county with 56 percent of the vote and it has been trending toward the Democrats, according to The Associated Press.

"Advance voting opportunities are vital to ensuring voters can safely, securely, and freely participate in our democracy. The COVID-19 pandemic, which is ravaging the nation, has had extremely harsh effects in Black and Latinx communities and makes in-person voting on Election Day an untenable option for many voters," the letter went on.

"Moreover, due to widespread concerns with the reliability of the United States Postal Service, many voters are not comfortable requesting or casting absentee ballots by mail. As demonstrated by the record turnout during the advance voting period for the 2020 general election, advance voting is the only acceptable option for safe and secure voting for many voters."

Writing on Twitter, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund said "election officials plan to slash the number of early voting locations from eleven to five for the upcoming runoff election. This move will harm Black and Latinx voters as many of these polling places serve communities of color."

Cobb County initially had nine early voting locations before the November 3 election but this was increased to 11 as a result of record voter turnout. Eveler, the county's director of elections, said the number of sites would be reduced because of worker fatigue following an audit and recounts.

In response, the voting rights groups said they would provide assistance to the county "including help recruiting and training poll workers or poll managers." Cobb County had not responded to this suggestion at the time of writing. Early voting in the Senate runoffs begins on December 14 and will continue until New Year's Eve.