Two East Cobb residents presided over the Cobb Board of Elections meeting on Monday, but their elevation to those posts last month has been called into question.
Two Democrats—Jennifer Mosbacher and Stacy Efrat—were voted as chair and vice-chair of the five-member board in July, as two other members were slated to rotate off the board due to term limits.
But the board’s lone Republican attempted to change the by-laws to allow for elections after new members begin their terms.
That GOP board member, Debbie Fisher of East Cobb, tabled her motion Monday and said she would bring it up again in September.
The terms of the Cobb legislative delegation appointments, Democrats Tori Silas and Steve Bruning, expired at the end of June.
The existing elections board by-laws state that officer elections are to be held every odd-numbered year in July “unless otherwise necessary.”
But the delegation, which has a Democratic majority of one, was late in naming their successors, Reginald Turner and Kendall Watkins, who will begin their tenures in September. (Cobb Republican legislators have objected to those appointments, saying they weren’t properly consulted beforehand.)
The elections board approves policy for the administration of Cobb Elections, which is non-partisan, and certifies elections results, among other duties (more on the board and what it does here).
During a contentious meeting Monday afternoon, Fisher said in reference to the board officer elections that “what happened was unprecedented.”
Fisher was the lone vote against the elections of Mosbacher and Efrat in a 3-1-1 vote. Abstaining was Silas, the outgoing chairwoman.
“There is a problem that exists with just having the language that exists today,” Fisher said in explaining her motion.
A number of public speakers commented in favor of her proposal, and for greater transparency on the elections board, which has a 4-1 Democratic majority. Others said the board had done nothing improper or illegal.
Mosbacher was appointed by Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, a Democrat, and Efrat is an appointee of the Cobb Democratic Party. Fisher was appointed by the Cobb Republican Party, which on Monday called for an audit of the board officer elections process.
Fisher said near the end of the meeting that “once the voters’ trust is lost, that is not something that is easily restored.”
Some commenters took aim at Mosbacher for previously not standing for the Pledge of Allegiance. She did so on Monday. Cobb resident Hugh Norris, who’s been openly critical of her before, said he noticed she didn’t have her hand over her heart, alleging that she “might have allegiances elsewhere.”
He did commend Silas, an attorney who in her closing remarks noted that the board officer elections “have come at a time of heightened polarization, unlike anything I’ve seen in my 51 years on this earth.
But said she reminded the audience that the administration of Cobb Elections is non-partisan, and that during her tenure she was committed to her “top guiding principle . . . what best serves Cobb County voters.”
You can watch the full meeting below; it’s around an hour and 43 minutes.
Related:
- Ga. Congress members respond to ‘One Big Beautiful Bill’
- Ga. Congressional members issue statements on Iran attacks
- Editor’s Note: An uneventful ‘No Kings’ rally in East Cobb
- Allen takes office as Cobb commission elections certified
- Kemp won’t challenge Ossoff in U.S. Senate race
- MORE: Visit the East Cobb News Politics & Elections Page
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