Another metro Atlanta elections director is stepping down following a series of elections that put a national spotlight on a once little-talked-about job.
Driving the news: Janine Eveler, who has served as elections director for Cobb County for the past 12 years, will step down from that post on April 14.
What they’re saying: Eveler told Axios that retiring after 18 years with the county is “bittersweet” because she loves the work.
- “I’ve really enjoyed the people that I’ve worked with and, of course, just being a service to the community,” she said.
- “Democracy hinges on free and fair elections, right? And so, to be a part of that and to be in charge of it has been an honor.”
What happened: Eveler’s tenure was uneventful until 2020 when what she described as the “perfect storm” — the pandemic and the implementation of new voting machines — snarled wait times for early voters across the county and the state.
- Along with the new equipment, Eveler said the office was dealing with a shortage of shift workers, social distancing requirements, high voter turnout, a spike in voters using absentee ballots and delays required to clean and disinfect machines.
- “Everything was turned on its head,” she said.
Even as tensions grew during the 2020 election and 2021 Senate runoffs amid former President Trump’s false claims about voter fraud, Eveler told Axios she didn’t get the amount of vitriol hurled at former Fulton elections director Richard Barron.
- She did receive “a lot of mean emails” and phone calls, however.
- Staff members reported being followed while running errands and observed people going through the trash outside the Jim Miller Park and Events Center where the county was recounting the ballots.
Yes, but: The Cobb elections office, which Eveler said has about 40 on staff and 10 vacancies, has had its share of controversy in recent months. It came under scrutiny last year when it did not mail out thousands of absentee ballots in time for the general election and runoff.
- The…
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