Augusta Chronicle: Lincoln County provides open-records ‘runaround’ in polling closures fight

Lack of notice. Vague excuses. Routing requests to the wrong people. Refusing to answer basic questions. Changing rules mid-stream.

Those are some of the roadblocks Lincoln County Board of Elections has thrown up to the public, the media, state and national groups seeking answers about its plan to close multiple polling places ahead of the May primaries.

“They’re making it very difficult for people to access services that should be a right that people have,” said Aunna Dennis, executive director of Common Cause Georgia. “Trying to put a veil over it doesn’t help anything.”

The elections board revealed a plan last year to close all seven existing polling places and require voters to use a new central location. Last month, the plan changed to closing all but two sites and combining the remaining five precincts into one.

Rather than provide information about the proposals, the board, through its director, chairman and attorney, has refused to release any information about them — to voters, lawyers, reporters — ahead of planned votes on them, including one Feb. 23.