Approaching the upcoming presidential election, Georgia College & State University (GCSU) hosted the 2024 Georgia Election Administration Symposium Sept. 30 in its Peabody Auditorium.
The symposium was the start of In Defense of Democracy Week at the college, which focused on discussions of democracy, professions, elections and more. It was a collaboration of the university’s Center for Georgia Studies, Rural Studies Institute, Election Certificate program, American Democracy Project and department of government and sociology, as well as the American Bar Association on Democracy.
Senior lecturer for Political Science Claire Sanders planned the symposium. Prior to teaching, Sanders’ career was in local Georgia election administration. When she began teaching, she incorporated that experience to teach a special topics class in election administration. It focused on the process behind elections.
“Over the last few years, we developed an undergraduate and graduate election administration certificate, which allows students to take courses related to the administration of elections and part of it requires students to do field work,” said Sanders. “In the last few years, some of our students have served as poll workers in their counties.”
Courses related to the certificate “examine the administrative, political, and legal issues that surround election administration.” In addition, the field work requirement ensures that students complete an internship in election administration to add on an experience- based learning component.
“We wanted to promote service in election administration and encourage career paths in election administration. With that said, for the symposium, we wanted to gather election officials from across the state to discuss topics important to them based on their career experience,” said Sanders. “We hoped with the symposium we could provide a space for election officials to share the most important information and expertise with our students and the public.”
To do this, the symposium hosted two panels of current and former state and local election officials from across Georgia, who educated the public on the election process and shared their experiences as election administrators. “It is an area of law and political process that does not get as much attention as the actual campaigns,” Sanders stressed. “We want to increase information levels so people have confidence in the election system.”
Students Emily Lanham, Lauren Trinkwalder, and Nicholas Wimbish served as poll workers as part of this certification and spoke on panel one, titled “Georgia’s Election Workforce and Promoting Public Service in Election Administration.” These students spoke about their roles and responsibilities and what they learned through active employment. In addition, former state and local election official Dr. Jesse Harris, Baldwin County Probate Judge Todd Blackwell, and Jones County Board of Elections and Registration member Vikki Moody spoke on the topic.
“They discussed who are elected officials, what they do and what the challenges of recruiting and maintaining an election workforce for future elections is, training poll workers, the need for resources at the county level to maintain a healthy election workforce, and students shared their experiences managing polls,” said Sanders.
Panel two was titled “Election Administration in a Battleground State” and “Preparing for the 2024 Presidential Election from the Perspective of State and Local Officials.” Former Georgia Secretary of State and GCSU President Cathy Cox, Richmond County Board of Elections Executive Director Travis Doss, Bartow County Board of Elections and Registration Elections Supervisor Joseph Kirk, Gwinnett County Board of Elections and Registration Elections Supervisor Zach Manifold, and Greene County Board of Elections and Registration Elections Supervisor Rebecca Anglin served as the panelists.
“They all shared their perspectives on preparing for the presidential election, the challenges for preparing for elections and administering them in a battleground state,” said Sanders. “A battleground state refers to a state that is very competitive and close politically. For the presidential election there are about six or seven battleground states that polls suggest are very tight … So we describe Georgia as a purple state because it is neither blue or red.”
Sanders stated that the information discussed at the symposium was meant to help not only new voters but all ages as they consider their opinions on the election process and how they wish to be a part of the process.
“The audience of the symposium had students, locals, and election officials from across the state,” said Sanders. “While attendance was affected by Hurricane Helene passing through just prior, we had many who tuned in online or drove to campus to hear these expert voices. Considering everyone’s mind is on the next election, it was the perfect time for our elected officials to educate the public.”
Sanders hopes that the students learned the importance of serving their communities and changed their perspective to understand that the election process is something they can be a part of.
“We do have plans to host a symposium next year,” Sanders confirmed. “Though, we do not currently have any concrete dates or information to announce at this time.”