Election Day, a day building in both excitement and tension for months – if not years – is fast approaching, and this country’s voters may or may not know immediately on which side history will be made.
When the results of next Tuesday’s presidential election are finally tallied, the United States will either have its first female president or its first president back in office after being voted out. Kamala Harris is trying to win the first distinction and Donald Trump the second.
Nationwide, in Georgia, and in Baldwin County, it remains a race too close to call.
In Baldwin County, Trump lost to Biden in 2020 by just 237 votes, 1.2 percent, and this year may be just as close. With Republicans designated red and Democrats blue, some political observers dubbed Baldwin County one of the “purplest” voting locales statewide, split almost perfectly down the middle.
Voters in Baldwin County have already set two records in this year’s election cycle. The county established a new single-day early voting record on Tuesday, Oct. 15, when 1,333 ballots were cast, easily topping the 870 mark set in 2020.
According to Chief Voter Registrar Randy Morrow, as of this past Tuesday afternoon, 11,190 Baldwin citizens had voted early and 857 absentee ballots had been returned, together representing 41.25 percent of the 29,203 eligible to cast ballots in the election.
Morrow pointed out that number well surpasses the 10,526 figure of 2020, with three days remaining to vote ahead of Election Day.
Baldwin County Probate Judge/Elections Superintendent Todd Blackwell said Wednesday morning nothing unusual will confront voters Tuesday.
“It will be business as usual. There are no rules that have come along that will impact the process as far as the voters are concerned,” he observed. “Hopefully we are going to have a great election day.”
While recognizing voter turnout has been strong so far, Blackwell said he’s uncertain a new percentage-wise record will be set.
“I suspect we’ll vote about 70 percent, which is a good number,” he said. “We may vote more total numbers this election, but as far as the percentage of the active registered voters, I don’t know that it will break any percentage record. Back in 2016, we had a 77 percent turnout, and back in 2012, we had a 75 percent turnout.”
The two local Party heads have seen the increased turnout thus far, though their perceptions differ significantly.
Janice Westmoreland is chairperson of the Baldwin County Republican Party and has taken her turn as a poll watcher. She senses a difference this year, a more positive demeanor.
“I’ve seen many firsttime voters,” she said early this week. “Many have just turned 18. I’ve also seen older, first-time voters. A young man stopped in front of me while putting on his ‘I Voted’ sticker and said, ‘I’m 43 years old, and this is the first time I’ve voted.’
“I’ve seen many parents and grandparents bringing their young kids with them to vote,” Westmoreland continued. “The youngest was only two weeks old. We also saw a mom who homeschools four kids, and she took this opportunity as a teaching moment for them.”
Westmoreland said she was most impressed with those who had to exert the most effort to make their voice heard, particularly elderly citizens.
“Many were in wheelchairs, some using walkers, some were carrying oxygen tanks,” she recalled. “I saw their determination to vote and they were really proud to put on their ‘I Voted’ stickers.”
Quentin T. Howell, chairman of the Baldwin County Democratic Committee, expressed mixed feelings about the turnout and said issues remain that need to be addressed.
“We’re seeing record numbers across the state,” he said. “I think we’re seeing many new voters joining the election. It reminds me of 2020, when Georgia went blue for the president as well as the senatorial election.
“But it cautions me because we have also had record complaints with the voting machines, record complaints with the voting system in a variety of areas,” Howell added. “The large numbers are great, probably first-time voters, but us being in an uphill battle, we understand we’ve got to keep the proverbial foot on the gas.
“We have momentum, but we don’t come into this fight thinking we are the lead dog at all,” he continued. “We come into this fight understanding that we have to be the fight dog.”
With more than 1,300 voters on the first day, Howell also noted the longest wait time in Baldwin County was about seven minutes.
Polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5, with anyone counted in line when the polls close allowed to cast their ballot.
Each local precinct will have at least three contested races: President, U.S. Representative, and State Representative, where Democrat Darrius Butler is challenging incumbent Republican Congressman Austin Scott.
There are two proposed statewide Constitutional Amendments, one dealing with homestead exemption values, the other with the establishment of a Tax Court, which would have venues, judges, and jurisdiction concurrent with Superior Courts. There also is a statewide referendum question, which, if approved, would raise the tangible personal property tax exemption from $7,500 to $20,000.