Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 2A
THE JACKSON HERALD
WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 30, 2020
a non-partisan group directly partisan.
Johnson’s being named as elections board chair
man was suspect from the start. Although elections
board chairmen are supposed to be non-political,
Johnson continued his work with the state GOP.
After the other two members on the board com
plained to the court about the situation, Johnson re
signed as chairman in mid-2019, just before the new
five-member board took office.
But Johnson’s politicization of the board had set
into motion a headache for Logan, who found her
self not only juggling the day-to-day responsibility
of running elections and adopting a new elections
system and training poll workers for 2020, but also
navigating what had quickly become a board of par
tisan bickering, big egos and internal strife.
Of the two issues, the new elections system proved
to be the easier mountain to climb. With that, Logan
soon became “the” expert.
“Training and documentation on how to use the
system was either vague or non existent,” said hus
band Joel Logan. “I saw Jennifer excel and learn
how to use the new equipment by spending count
less hours working through issues and figuring out
how to use it when there was almost none or very
little help from the State of Georgia or their vendor.
Other election people in counties all over and often
the State themselves will contact her for help and
with questions because she has become so knowl
edgeable on the new system and equipment.”
THE BOARD
While Logan adjusted to the new equipment, ad
justing to a bickering, partisan elections board was
a bigger problem. Meetings soon became lengthy
with a slew of off-topic discussions and rants. Af
ter Johnson quit in 2019, there was hope the board
would stabilize, but that only lasted a short time.
In early 2020, the elections board faced a difficult
decision regarding a candidate for city council in
Hoschton. A citizen of the town challenged the res
idency of candidate James Lawson. That challenge
went to Logan’s office where she convened a meet
ing of the elections board to rule on the issue.
Although the board faces these kinds of challeng
es occasionally, they aren’t common and this one
was especially thorny given the tremendous turmoil,
including a recall effort, that had been happening in
Hoschton during the previous months. Making it
more problematic was that one of Logan’s elections
board members had been directly involved in the
political controversy in Hoschton, raising a question
of fairness.
The elections board at first ruled that Lawson
wasn’t a resident and couldn’t be a candidate. Law-
son sued and a judge ruled in his favor, putting the
city’s election on hold and instructing the elections
board to take another look. In March, it held a sec
ond hearing and this time, ruled in Lawson’s favor,
with one Republican member of the board voting
against the decision.
Lawson eventually won at the ballot box, but the
episode left the elections board divided and was a
sign of things to come. As 2020 moved on, bickering
on the board became more intense, sometimes with
shouting and personal recriminations aired during
meetings.
Logan had to deal with all of that and still do her
job despite a fractured board.
THE VIRUS
The nation knew that there was a dangerous virus
in February, but few saw the huge impact it would
have.
By March, everything changed. As the pandemic
washed over the nation, businesses closed, a stay-
at-home order was handed down by the state and
everything, it seemed, was put on hold.
That included the March primary elections, which
were postponed until May, then postponed again un
til June.
One thing that wasn’t on hold, however, was the
planning for the election. Logan and her staff were
one of the only county offices still functioning as the
virus hit.
“She struggled to bring in as many poll workers
who were brave enough to help and the county man
ager Kevin Poe sent to her several county employ
ees from other departments to help with the insane
amount of work,” Joel said of last spring’s shutdown.
To help keep people safe, the state began to en
courage absentee balloting, a move that quickly be
came controversial.
In May, the elections board voted 4-1 to encour-
Logan continued from 1A
age the state to move to absentee-only voting due to
the pandemic. The vote was non-binding and only
a suggestion, but it split the local Republican Party.
Board member Erma Denny, who pushed the idea,
was asked to resign by the local GOP. She didn’t
resign until later in the year and continued to clash
with other board members and local Republican
leaders over absentee balloting and a host of other
issues.
As a result of the virus, a lot of people did vote ab
sentee in the spring primary, a situation that flooded
Logan’s elections office with a massive amount of
work. Signatures on absentee envelopes have to be
matched with signatures on record in the office and
verified and absentee ballots then have to be handled
in a special way. Absentee voting creates a lot more
work than in-person voting for the elections office.
In addition, Logan had to find enough poll work
ers who would agree to work at voting locations for
the primary amid the pandemic.
In the end, the June voting proved to be a massive
undertaking. The state hadn’t equipped the county
with enough scanners for the flood of absentees.
And some elections board members at first were re
luctant to help with the election night processing of
ballots as was traditional. (The board did ultimately
help, staying late into the night helping process ab
sentee ballots.)
Amid all the delays and turmoil caused by the vi
rus, Logan was able to rally enough front line poll
workers to hold the election and then tally the re
sults. It took time due to the state’s equipment short
age, but she had survived what was perhaps the most
difficult election in the county’s history.
“We knew coming into this year, we would be
faced with brand new equipment and a heated pres
idential election — that alone would make it a chal
lenging year,” she said. “But no one could have pre
pared us for this year! With lots of long 12-18 hour
days, lots of weekends and a wonderful, dedicated
staff, we managed to overcome the all challenges we
faced and are better prepared to move forward in the
future.”
AGAIN, AGAIN AND AGAIN
While the primary election was a major undertak
ing given the delays, new equipment, the virus and
the flood of absentee ballots, the work wasn’t over.
First there was a recount of the state court judge’s
race in Jackson County following the primary in
June.
Then there was an August runoff for a handful of
races.
Then came November and the controversial presi
dential race. The county had its highest turnout ever,
over 37,000 ballots were cast in that election.
Then there was a state-mandated hand recount of
all ballots.
Then there was a state-mandated machine recount
of all ballots.
The November ballots were counted three times,
but still some people, including the president, con
tinued to claim the state’s election had been rigged
or stolen.
Logan said she did get calls from people who
echoed what they were seeing in the media about
the election, but that her office also got a lot of pos
itive feedback.
“We do our best to explain our processes and be as
transparent to the public as we can possibly be to en
sure our voters that we are doing everything we can
to conduct accurate and safe elections in our coun
ty,” she said. “We have heard a great deal of won
derful feedback and support from our community.”
Despite that, one of Logan’s board members, a
newly-appointed Republican member, voted against
certifying the county’s November election results
despite there being no problems and no evidence of
any kind of fraud. It was a stab in the back to the
county’s elections system by one of its own board
members.
Even after all of that, the chaos for Logan in 2020
wasn’t over.
A controversial runoff for the state’s two Senate
seats is slated for Jan. 5. Just before Christmas, Ron
Johnson — the same Ron Johnson who had once
been the controversial chairman of the elections
board — brought a spurious challenged against over
2,000 registered voters in the county.
A deeply divided, partisan county elections board
rejected his challenge 3-2, but the situation drained
time and resources away from Logan preparing for
the looming runoff.
And it also demonstrated just how deep the poi-
Jackson County elections director Jenni
fer Logan during one of November’s ballot
recounts.
son of the national political culture had infected our
local politics.
DIFFICULT YEAR
It’s clear that Logan has faced a very difficult year
holding elections amid a pandemic, a national politi
cal hothouse and a local elections board that at times
has been little more than partisan drama writ small.
And it’s not been easy for Jennifer. Husband Joel
said that the bickering and national disdain for our
elections system has affected her.
But it’s not stopped her.
“The main thing that keeps her going is serving
the citizens of Jackson County and knowing that
they are able to vote and take part in what is an im
portant cornerstone of our great nation,” Joel said.
He also pointed out that unlike some other coun
ties, the elections in Jackson County this year have
been done without major problems.
“I think you don’t have to look very far to see there
is a night and day difference in how our elections run
verses other counties,” he said. “Though she is not
the only person responsible for this — she has many
great poll workers and employees that make it pos
sible — I believe her endless work and dedication to
her job has made our elections successful and stand
out when compared with other counties. Please keep
in mind I am married to her and love her very much
so I am also very biased.”
Joel may be biased, but it’s clear that he’s right
about the tremendous dedication Jennifer has had
for conducting fair, honest and accessible elections
in Jackson County.
For her part, Jennifer credits her staff for the suc
cess of 2020 despite all the challenges.
“I have a wonderful extended work family whom
I can depend on to show up at a moment’s notice,”
she said. “Just a text or email is all it takes to fill
my office with hardworking individuals, who work
tirelessly on any task given. My work family extends
from my wonderful office staff and helpers from
other county offices, to my dedicated poll officials...
a group like no other, with big willing hearts and
warm smiles that make it all worthwhile.”
Previous Newsmakers
Those previously selected as “Newsmakers of the
Year” were:
•2019 Hoschton Recall Committee
•2018 Marty Clark and the ag facility steering commit
tee
•2017 Warehouse growth
•2016 Mark Beardsley, Commerce News editor
•2015 Steve Nichols, director of public safety
•2014 John Jackson, Jefferson City Schools superin
tendent
•2013 April Howard, Jackson County Schools super
intendent
•2012 Brantley Gilbert, country musician
•2011 Shannon Adams, county school superintendent
•2010 Shane Short, chamber of commerce president
•2009 Katherine Rintoul, Scott Rogers and Bill Gamer,
Pendergrass “whistleblowers”
•2008 Shaun Whitehead, solider killed in Iraq
•2007 Darren Glenn, Jefferson police chief
•2006 Kathy Wilbanks, county BOE chairman
•2005 Pat Graham, Braselton mayor
•2004 Stan Evans, sheriff
•2003 Concerned Citizens of Jackson County
•2002 Scott Martin, IDA chair
•2001 Emil Beshara, BOC
•2000 Jerry Waddell, BOC chair
•1999 Rep. Scott Tolbert
•1998 Richard Cathey, chamber of commerce
•1997 Pat Bell, commissioner
•1996 Citizens United for a Better Jackson County
•1995 Ronnie Hopkins, Jefferson BOE chairman, and
Andy Byers, Jackson County superintendent
•1994 Jerry Waddell, BOC chair
•1993 Charles Segars, Arcade mayor
•1992 Bill Mahaffey, BOC chair
•1991 Sandy Beem, concerned citizen
•1990 Henry Robinson, BOC chair
Request
for letters
remembering
JHS Coach
Jack Keen
Plans continue for the
Celebration of Life event
honoring the late Coach
Jack Keen to be held on
Sunday, April 25, in The
Arena at Jefferson High
School. An exhibit of
memorabilia showcasing
the life of Coach Keen
will open at 1 pm and the
ceremony will begin at 2
pm.
One of the day’s events
will be a presentation
to the Keen family of a
bound book of letters of
peoples’ memories of
Coach Keen and how he
impacted their lives. If
there is a memory you
would like to share with
the family, you are invit
ed to write a letter to be
included in the book.
Starting on January
4, 2021, letters may
be dropped off at the
Crawford Long Muse
um, located at 28 Col
lege Street, Jefferson,
in downtown Jefferson,
or mailed to Letter to
Keen Family, 28 College
Street, Jefferson, GA.,
30549. Letters may be
emailed to blaughing-
house@cityofjefferson-
ga.com.
Letters must be typed
or handwritten in ink and
should be limited to one
page. Letters will be ac
cepted for inclusion in
the book through March
12,2021.
Jack Nolan Keen
passed away on July 25,
2020. He spent 50 years
in education; 42 of those
years were at Jefferson
High School as a teach
er, coach, and mentor to
thousands of students.
Motor vehicle
department
to be closed
Jan. 13-18
The Jackson County Tax
Commissioners Office’s
Motor Vehicle Department
will be closed January 13-
18. The office will resume
normal business hours
Tuesday. January 19.
This is a statewide clo
sure for each county due
to a software update by
the Georgia Department of
Revenue and Department
of Driver’s Services. In ad
dition to office closure, on
line services and kiosks will
also be disabled during that
time. If your renewal period
falls within those dates pen
alties will be removed.
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Jefferson, GA
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Winder, Georgia
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