MILTON, Ga. — In a report to officials, Milton’s new elections consultant raised concerns about the way elections decisions were being made, including that some councilmembers were inappropriately involved in the process.
Consultant Vernetta Nuriddin writes that SB202, a state elections bill passed in 2021, assigns the elections superintendent as responsible for “selecting and preparing polling locations as well as conducting the city’s elections.”
The Milton City Council appointed City Manager Steve Krokoff to the position in April, yet the council voted on the quantity and location of polling places in May.
Nuriddin cautions that the decision was, in her view, Krokoff’s to make.
She goes on to say it was an error “to close Election Day polls in areas with high concentrations of people of color. If the city only wants [two Election Day] polls then it should consider placing one in the aforementioned area.”
While not yet given workspace in Milton City Hall, Nuriddin was hired as a consultant in late May to help organize and operate Milton’s first self-conducted municipal election.
Nuriddin is the former vice chair of the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections.
The report is dated July 17 — when Milton scheduled a work session to include an elections update. A special-called council meeting was also scheduled that day. Both were canceled.
The special-called meeting was rescheduled for July 20. Officials did not reschedule the work session, but after the July 20 meeting councilmembers went into an executive session.
Executive sessions are meetings closed to the public in which officials may discuss matters of personnel, real estate or litigation.
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