Paulding Rotary Welcomes Paulding Elections Supervisor Deidre Holden

August 20, 2019, The Paulding County Rotary Club welcomed Deidre Holden Supervisor of Elections & Voter Registration for Paulding County. Introduced by club member and Elections & Voter Registration board member Raymond Phillips, Mrs. Holden gave a thorough explanation of the current advancements taking place to accommodate voters here in Paulding County.
Mrs. Holden outlined proposed precinct changes for 2019 to accommodate the substantial growth of the county's voting population. Complaints of long lines and waiting periods in our voting process have resulted in the proposed expansion from our 12 current polling locations to a newly recommended 17 locations.
Recommended locations include Burnt Hickory Park, Crossroads Library, Shelton Elementary school, Russom Elementary, Paulding Senior Ctr., Legacy Baptist Church, Watson Government Complex, West Ridge Church, The Events Place, Poplar Springs Baptist Church, Dianne Wright Innovation Center, Church at the Ridge, Nebo Elementary, White Oak Park, Mulberry Rock Park, Beulahland Baptist Church, and the Paulding Airport. Early voting locations include the Watson Government Complex, Burnt Hickory Park and the Dianne White Innovation Center. Work has already begun to affect these changes such as drawing new precinct lines and establishing polling places, advertising in Paulding's legal organ, establishing contact and securing the polling locations, and posting official notices that are required at all affected polling locations. The Paulding elections and voter registration will continue to communicate changes to the precinct locations and issue precinct cards to affected voters clarifying the changes to their polling locations while recruiting future poll workers.
Much thought and planning have gone into expanding the number of polling locations to accommodate the growing voter population. Additionally, security for schools is also a paramount concern. Fewer schools will be utilized as a polling location, and ultimately schools being used as polling locations will be phased out.
Paulding County has also been selected as one of the counties in Georgia to test the new voting system. The new voting system that Secretary of State Raffensperger has chosen is the Dominion Voting System. The process will be very similar to the process in the past as far as voter check-in goes. The voter will check-in at the poll. Upon verification of their eligibility status, the voter will receive a smartcard and begin their voting process. Once the smartcard is placed into the ballot marking device, they will make their selections, review the ballot, print the ballot, review the ballot again, then place their voted ballot into the polling place scanner for counting. All of the ballots go into a secure lockbox. The new system is one of the most modern, accessible and secure systems available. Most importantly it is auditable. We want the voters to walk away from casting their ballot with confidence, knowing that their vote was counted and was tabulated as they had selected. We are very excited to be a part of the 6 pilot counties in the State. We look forward to using the new system.
After her presentation, Mrs. Holden took questions from club members and thanked him for the opportunity to share the advancements in progress taking place with regards to Paulding County's elections and voter registration process. For further information please visit: https://www.paulding.gov/216/Elections-Voter-Registration

L to R: Matt Mason, Lacy Dunn, Deidre Holden, Jackie Crum, and Raymond Phillips