Cobb County elections director departs after 12 years
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Photo Illustration: Lindsey Bailey/Axios. Photo: Courtesy of Cobb County
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.
- Elections directors in Fulton, Gwinnett, and DeKalb, as well as Augusta-Richmond and Macon-Bibb counties, have all left within the last two years.
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 county agreed to consent orders giving affected voters additional time.
- Eveler previously said the four-week turnaround between a general election and runoff, a new requirement stemming from S.B. 202, "is an almost impossible task."
The big picture: Eveler told Axios she hopes state legislators will pump the brakes on changes to election laws that seem to come "year after year" every session.
- Those changes force local departments to tweak their policies and, at times, hire additional people, which can cost money.
What's next: Eveler told Axios she plans to travel and spend time with her grandchildren and will consider returning to the elections arena to do some part-time work.
The bottom line: Despite the recent onslaught of false claims of voter fraud, Eveler told Axios that election workers are "dedicated to fair elections [and] doing it right."
- "It's just virtually impossible for anybody to get away with something when there are so many eyes on the process," she said of Cobb’s chain of command. "And we actually welcome the eyes to be on the process."
What's next: The elections board will finalize the interview process for replacement candidates tomorrow.