Oconee County mailed out 571 absentee ballots for the Nov. 3 election on Monday (Oct. 5), the first day ballots could be issued, Jennifer Stone, Assistant Director of Elections and Registration, told the Board of Elections and Registration at its meeting on Monday.
The county also issued 49 electronic ballots to voters outside the U.S., including in the military, Stone said, bringing to the total number of issued absentee ballots to 620.
At the end of the day on Thursday, the number of issued ballots had increased to 696, with 13 returned.
Early voting begins on Tuesday, and on the first day of early voting for the Nov. 8, 2022 election, the county had issued 1,122 absentee ballots, a number that grew to 1,347 by the end of early voting. By the end of voting in the Nov. 8, 2022, election, 1,239 voters had cast a ballot absentee.
The final day to request an absentee ballot for the Nov. 3 election is Oct. 23.
Oconee County Director of Elections and Registration Sharon Gregg told the Board on Monday that the Logic and Accuracy Testing for all of the county’s equipment that will be used in the Nov. 3 election has been completed and “All the equipment has been proven accurate. We did not have any issues with any equipment.”
Gregg said voting devices and ballot scanners have been allocated to each of the voting locations on election day as well as for Advance In Person voting at the county Administrative Building, 7635 Macon Highway, north of Watkinsville.
Victoria Cruz, speaking to the Board during the public comment section of the meeting on Monday, said she was concerned about pressure being placed on residents in long-term care facilities by the staff as the residents decide whether to and how to vote.
Voter Registration And Equipment Allocation
Stone told the Board that the county had 34,524 registered voters at the end of the day on Monday, with 32,809 Active and 1,715 designated as Inactive.
 |
| Gregg and Stone, 10/5/2026 |
Monday was the last day to register, but Stone told the Board that some registrations were still in the system.
At of the end of the day on Thursday, the county had 34,459 voters, with 32,710 Active and 1,749 classified as Inactive.
Of those voters, 19,149 are in the Oconee Central Precinct, 3,729 are in the Oconee South Precinct, 4,568 are in the Dark Corner Precinct, and 7,013 are in the Northeast Precinct.
Gregg told the Board on Monday that she is allocating 33 Ballot Marking Devices to Oconee Central on election day, 13 to Oconee South, 11 to Dark Corner, and 15 to Northeast.
Advance voting will have 17 machines, she said.
Five ballot scanners will be at Oconee Central, two will be at each of the other precincts, and six will be at Advance voting, she said.
At the end of voting on Nov. 8, 2022, the county had 30,164 Active voters, 74.7 percent of whom cast a ballot, 66.0 percent of them Advance In Person.
Cruz On Concerns About Coercion
“I called Chair Gregg and sent a letter to her with some updates on things about elections that you should know,” Cruz said when she approached the podium in the Commission Chamber at the meeting on Monday.
 |
| Cruz 10/5/2026 |
“One was a statement from the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services,” Cruz said, which is revising previous guidelines for how voters in nursing homes and assisted living facilities can be approached for voting, emphasizing that even though these people are in facilities, they still retain their right to vote if they want to, register to vote if they want to, and vote in the way that they desire.”
“Often, these voting sessions for the nursing home residents are conducted by activity directors or someone else among the staff,” Cruz continued.
“Most of these people, unless they are in memory care units, still retain their ability to choose whether to vote and how to vote,” Cruz said. “But often they feel compelled to vote the way they're told to vote because they are under the care of people.”
“They have people assigned to them,” she said. “They have aides assigned to them. And if that ability is approached to them, they may get the idea that their care will be lessened if they don't follow all the instructions they're given.”
Cruz had provided Gregg with a copy of Special Alert-Nursing Homes issued by the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services on July 20, 2026, that states that “Residents in nursing facilities retain all constitutional and statutory rights enjoyed by other citizens, including the right to vote and the right to decline participation in elections.”
Cruz said she is hoping that the state legislature will pass legislation with “specific guidelines coming down to all the counties about what can be done to ensure that these residents are able to vote in a free and fair manner.”
Cruz said she also wanted to discuss a document from the Office of the Under Secretary of War on the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) she provided dated Aug. 28, 2026, but she had exceeded her three-minute time limit and was not allowed to continue.
Cruz, who is active in the Oconee County Republican Party, speaks frequently to the Board of Elections and Registration and to the Oconee County Board of Commissioners about her concerns about elections and voter registration.
Board Rotation
At the end of the meeting on Monday, Board Member Ken Davis said his four-year term expires at the end of year and that he does not intend to seek reappointment.
 |
| Hanley And Davis 10/5/2026 |
Davis is the Democratic Party nominee to the Board.
Davis said that it is his understanding, confirmed by Oconee County Democratic Party Chair Harold Thompson at the meeting, that the party plans to nominate Susan Noakes to replace Davis.
Board Chair Jay Hanley said his term also ends on Dec. 31 and that he plans to reapply.
Kirk Shook, Board Vice Chair and the Republican Party nominee to the Board, said he was still “thinking” about reapplying.
The Board of Commissioners appoints the Board members, with the terms of Tammy Gilland and Shami Jones continuing until Dec. 31 of 2029.
Early Voting
Early voting begins at 8 a.m. on Oct. 13 and continues through Oct. 30.
On weekdays from Oct. 13 to Oct. 23, early voting will run from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
On Oct. 26 to Oct. 30, early voting will be from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Saturday voting on Oct. 17 and Oct. 24 will be from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
No early voting will take place on Oct. 31.
All advance voting will be at the Oconee County Administrative Building, 7635 Macon Highway.
Renewal of the Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) is on the Nov. 3 ballot, and the Board of Commissioners is holding a Town Hall meeting at 6 p.m. on Oct. 20 at the county Administrative Building to discuss the tax.
Video
The video below is of the Oct. 5 meeting of the Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration.
I could not attend the meeting. At my request, Harold Thompson, using my camera, recorded the meeting.
Cruz began her comments at 1:05 in the video.
Gregg began her director’s report at 5:27 in the video, and is followed by updates on registration and absentee balloting by Stone.
No comments:
Post a Comment