Chatham Elections Board member: ‘Heroes’ of the election deserve a big thank you
This is a column by Marianne Heimes, a Chatham County Board of Elections member and longtime contributor to the Savannah Morning News.
In this season of thanksgiving, I would be remiss not to mention what I consider the heroes of the past election, audit/recount, now a recount, another election to come, and who knows what else. Elections could not be held without these awesome volunteers, nor could it be held without our also awesome staff. The past few weeks have been a marathon and somehow the finish line keeps slipping away.
I'll start by thanking (Savannah Morning News editorial page editor) Adam Van Brimmer for his well-received complimentary column of Nov. 24. Thanks also go out to (Morning News staff writers) Will Peebles and Nick Robertson who took the time to research and write some great stories. More to come, guys!
Our board chairman, Tom Mahoney, has gone above and beyond what he imagined his job to be. Thank you Tom, your time spent on board issues is much appreciated. Another big thanks to Russell Bridges who, in the midst of the recount, took a little time off for his daughter's wedding. A good thing he didn't have to plan the wedding, he has had to do enough planning at work to last a lifetime. He was fortunate to have the expert help of Caity Hamilton. Thanks also to fellow board members Antwan, Debbie, and Malinda for the time they invested.
And there is more. Billy Wooten supervised the audit/recount with the help of Savannah, Gloria, and Vicky. Since there were at least 70 volunteers I can't name them all but trust me, I appreciate and thank you. I just saw 12 of them getting ready for the current recount.
And lets not forget our technicians led by John Leffler. They have done a fantastic job. Our new machines are much different than the old ones, so first of all their job of finding space for them was difficult. They are on call during elections and ready to run to the aid of a poll manager experiencing a problem. They do much more than that, of course. Thanks to Lee Wright for getting the machines to the right place at the right time.
And Lynn and Jeannie — what a team. They arrange for our volunteer and poll workers and spent the entire time with the group doing the audit/recount. And Bob and Tiara, your ears must be sore from answering the phones. Thanks to Tyler, too.
While I am in the grateful mood, I would also like to thank the Chatham County Commission and County Managers for procuring our "annex." Without it we might still be on the first recount.
The June election was as disappointing to all of us as it was to all of you. We were faced with — well, frankly we were faced with the unknown. I believe at that time we all took a deep breath and swore "that's not going to happen again."
But there are more elections and roadblocks ahead so we will take another deep breath and do our jobs. If you happen to see someone who helped make the election process a success, please give them a thumbs up. They truly deserve it.
