![]() ![]() Over the course of 2020, local election administrators across the country have had to recruit a whole new class of volunteer poll workers during the pandemic to replace seniors who disproportionately filled those roles in the past. “All we can do right now is plan for contingencies, have a plan B available, and hope we don’t have to use it.” “Not everyone is following the advice and not having large family gatherings or going to Christmas gatherings,” said Joseph Kirk, the elections supervisor for Bartow County. Several election administrators noted concerns that the timing of the Senate runoffs, right after the holidays, could cause staffing problems. “It just so happened, thank God … it was not during an election week. “We’ve had to close our elections office twice because of potential exposures to Covid-19,” said Marjorie Howard, the chair of the board of elections in Talbot County, a tiny county of about 4,500 registered voters. The pandemic is also weighing on preparations, with election administrations hyperaware that Covid cases could throw a wrench in their plans at the last minute. And that’s really weighing on a lot of them.” “At the end of the day, what that means is you don’t trust your neighbor who’s running the election. “The sheer flood of disinformation has undermined people’s faith,” said Gabriel Sterling, one of the top officials in the secretary of state’s office. Walthour said some poll watchers thought they could “walk around and do whatever they wanted to do” in November, contrary to state guidelines that both dictate who can serve as a poll watcher and what they can do on site, generally restricting them from interfering in the voting process. The litany of unfounded complaints and conspiracies about Georgia’s general election results stemmed partly from lack of knowledge about election administration - admittedly a niche subject even for political junkies before this year. That is below average for a complex of its size housing low-income residents, according to data reviewed by the AJC.“I’m going to try to have another class prior to the actual election, because I don’t want any issues like I had in November,” Walthour said. There were also seven code complaints in those same five years for things such as leaks and roaches, records show. Records show nine crimes were reported at the building in the past five years. The apartment building has been the focus of two lawsuits this year from men seeking damages after a metal ceiling grate from the elevator fell on their heads. The Georgia secretary of state’s office also announced it would investigate whether the foundation had filed the paperwork required of a charitable organization. Since those stories appeared, a conservative watchdog group has filed a complaint asking the Internal Revenue Service to look into whether the Ebenezer Building Foundation was concealing its involvement in the apartments. Several stories related to the apartment tower were first reported in a conservative news outlet, The Washington Free Beacon. MLK Village Tower’s partner is MLK Village Corp., which has the same address as the church and shares three of the same principals as the building foundation, records show. The foundation owned the 96-unit building until January 2007, when it sold the property to MLK Village Tower LP for nearly $1.5 million. Warnock heads the Ebenezer Building Foundation A security guard prevented the AJC from entering.Ī web of interlocking organizations is involved in the building’s ownership and maintenance. Walker urged reporters to go into the building and talk to residents. ![]()
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