>> COUNTY COMMISSIONERS
Baldwin County’s two requests for local legislation this year will go forward even though one of the proposals did not have the full support of the Board of Commissioners.
The commissioners voted in December to request that the board’s election cycle be changed to staggered terms and for legislation to create a board of Eeections. The vote for the staggered terms was unanimous, while District 4 Commissioner Henry Craig opposed the elections board measure.
Commissioners voted 3-2 in March of 2023 for the change to staggered terms. State Reps. Ken Vance and Mack Jackson and State Sen. Rick Williams made it known that the request would require a unanimous vote. When the issue came up for a vote again in December, all five board members did approve the request.
The proposal for the creation of the board of elections, which would replace both the board of registrars and Probate Judge/ Election Superintendent Todd Blackwell as the superintendent of elections, was approved 4-1, with Craig dissenting.
Since the local officials want the change to staggered terms to be effective in this year’s election and qualifying begins March 4, the bill must be put on the fast track.
“Rep. Mack Jackson and I have already talked about it, and we’re both in agreement to push it forward,” Vance said last week. “Local legislation generally moves pretty quickly.”
The representative said Williams is on board with the bill.
“We’re all on the same page,” he said.
Vance said Tuesday afternoon he hoped both measures would be introduced this week.
“The legislation is being drawn,” he said. “I hope to drop them (introduce the bills in the House of Representatives) this week, depending on when legislative counsel completes them.”
According to the staggered terms proposal, candidates in Districts 1 and 2 will run for four-year terms this year, while those in Districts 3, 4, and 5 will be qualifying for two-year stints. The latter three will be on the ballot in 2026 for four-year terms.
Vance indicated before he was willing to introduce the election board measure even though the county vote wasn’t unanimous.
Williams echoed that sentiment this week.
The state senator acknowledged in a telephone interview this past Monday morning he has told local officials in the past he wants local legislation requests to be with the full support of the local government, including a unanimous vote.
“That goes back to that consolidation issue the county went through,” he explained. “Where there was a big push by some, and not everybody was on board. That’s kind of where that stems from.”
Williams said this situation is different.
“What it comes down to, something is going to happen,” he said of the creation of the board of elections. “There’s already some legislation out there, and either I put in some wishes of Baldwin County or Atlanta is going to dictate all of what happens in Baldwin County. So I am going to have to do that to make sure Baldwin County has some say-so in their legislation.”
Craig said in December he was opposed to partisan politics being a part of the appointment process for board of election members. He reiterated that this past Friday.
“Non-partisan influenced elections is basic to our local, state, and country,” he said. “Our concept is deeply flawed. As I said before, I have no confidence in either local political party to be non-partisan in their nominees.”
According to the legislative proposal adopted by the Board of Commissioners, when the initial terms of the members of the new board expire, the two political parties will nominate a majority of the five-person board, subject to the commissioners’ approval.
That is not a sufficient safeguard for Craig, who pointed out that the state is moving toward enacting legislation that will require all counties to have boards of elections.
“I hope that when the state is successful in requiring local boards of elections, they restrict the concept of local party appointees.”
The legislation creating the new board, if approved, will be effective in 2025, with the current board of registrars remaining in place through this year’s elections. The five members of the existing panel will automatically serve for the initial term of the new board of elections, according to the proposal adopted by the Board of Commissioners.