Update: A South Georgia judge has ruled that the Special Election for Camilla City Council must continue, despite its earlier cancelation due to a dispute between election officials and the Georgia Supreme Court.
Voters who go to the polls in Camilla will now be able to vote in all races including the presidential race and the Camilla special election.
The original story with all the details about the controversy is below.
The Camilla special election was briefly canceled due to the Election Superintendent Rhunettte Willford and Assistant Election Superintendent Cheryl Ford resigning.
At 3:40 p.m. Monday, the officials resigned due to a disagreement between the two elections officials and the Georgia Supreme Court.
In a social media post, the former officials declared, “The mental duress, stress, and coercion experienced by recent court decisions regarding our role in elections and the ultimate requirement to violate our oath of office as election officials is not something either of us are willing to participate in.”
This abrupt change is due to the Georgia Supreme Court deciding that votes towards former Camilla city councilman Venterra Pollard would not count. In December 2023, it was discovered the Pollard did not live within Camilla city limits, and he was removed from the council. While Pollard is not eligible to run, he remains on the ballot for the election. Signs have been posted outside voting precincts informing voters of this, but many voters who participated in early voting have expressed disapproval that their votes did not count.
Due to these court decisions, both the election superintendent and the assistant election superintendent stepped down, resulting in a cancelation of the special election.
Despite the cancelation of the special election, there should be no confusion that the general election is still occurring in Camilla. You can still vote for president and participate in democracy.
The Georgia NAACP is currently investigating the matter to ensure a fair resolution to the situation, but the presidential election will still continue in Camilla.
