Members of the DeKalb County Election Commission addressed the county commission last Monday night to request that more office and storage space be made available to the election commission.
Election Commission Administrator Dennis Stanley, Chairman Walteen Parker and Secretary Harry Lasser spoke to the county commission, stressing that the two cramped offices in the basement of the courthouse are already overflowing, and that among other things, security and privacy are major concerns with a busy election season looming ahead.
“We were hoping we would be allowed to have more square footage and more room with the transition to the complex but it never materialized,” Parker told the assembly. “Space is needed to accommodate voters, candidates, and citizens who come to our office to conduct business.
“That is business which is confidential or needs to be a private discussion,” she continued. “Much to our chagrin though, we often have to discuss private information, inquiries, and matters openly and we always lack the accommodations and conveniences that our handicapped and elderly citizens and voters deserve just to complete forms. We just don't have the space. Election night is always a cramped and crowded situation. We have six to eight people in a room trying to do our job. It’s just extremely overcrowded. We make this request, for more operational space," Parker said.
Lasser also stressed that the small offices, along with almost every nook and cranny of the courthouse basement  are filled with records and paperwork, and that meeting space and security are almost non-existent.
"We hold commission meetings in the back corner space,” Lasser said. “There are seven people packed in there with desks and filing cabinets.
“I get to sit between the door and the filing cabinets. It is not an exaggeration that Mr. (Kenneth) Moore and I have to take turns crossing our legs, otherwise we'd be playing footsie,” he shared. “I got to see my first county-wide election on March 6 and it was chaotic.
“Every chair was occupied by a commissioner or by someone who was coming to vote. The election workers were in and out with folks who had questions. The phones were ringing constantly. Voters wandered in there wondering where they were supposed to vote. Chaos is the most appropriate word I can think of to describe what election day was like. When you walk into those offices, there are voter registration cards on desks. Those voter registration cards have names, addresses, birth dates, and social security numbers. A person could very easily walk into that office and grab a handful of voter registration cards. We're the only office that I'm aware that doesn't have some form of counter or barrier to keep visitors from sensitive information,” said Lasser.
County Mayor Mike Foster said that there are already plans to make more storage space available at the new county complex for storing the election commission’s documents.
“I think we all agree with your problem," Foster said. “I think we have talked about doing some space. I went with Dennis out to the new building about storing all the things you need to store out there as soon as we can get two or three things done here.
“We've not even moved out of where I was into our new office,” Foster continued. “We're still in that process. I told Dennis we could start moving anything he wants to move out there in the way of storage. We also told Dennis that you can use the conference room upstairs, which is a much better place for you to meet. That should create a lot more room for you and be a bigger help," he concluded.
Stanley said that while the need for storage is a major concern, room for day-to-day operations is also at a premium in the current offices.
“There are two issues here,” Stanley told the commission. “One is a storage issue and the other is an operational issue. Really they are separate. On the storage issue, Mike (Foster) and I have talked and we have resolved most of that.
“I am not sure we need to move the election machines over there (to the county offices) and we'll talk about that, but a lot of the other stuff we can move over there and it'll be done. It will be out of the way.
“On the operational issue, we need at least one more office so we can open up the other two and make some counter space for people to register to vote and have some privacy,” Stanley continued, “At least a bar separating those people from our actual work. We've got stuff in the hall. We've got stuff in closets We've got stuff everywhere. It really needs to be organized.
“If we have more operational space, it will in the end give us more storage space as well. The only issue as far as storage inside the courthouse is simply voting machines and the printers. We really need some help. We've got a city election in June. It’s not very large. But we've got a county wide election in August and November and if those two are any worse than what we had in March as far as activity in our office, it’s going to be a nightmare,” Stanley went on.
"Privacy was a major issue. One office was full of election commissioners or an inspector. I was in the other office where the machine technicians were. I had a phone call from the state coordinator's office that really needed to be private. There's no privacy at all. It is a major problem. It’s rather embarrassing to me for someone to walk in and say I want to register to vote and I have to move a chair or have them move a chair and then I have to move stuff off of a desk so they can sit down and fill out a form. There is no counter there at all. Anything you can do to help us, we would certainly appreciate it and the sooner the better," Stanley concluded.
None of the commissioners had any questions or comments on the subject.