Rockdale County adds second early voting site, seven ballot drop boxes

Rockdale County elections officials announced today(Oct. 14) that the county will open the Springfield Baptist Church Activity Center, 1877 Iris Drive, S.E., as a  second early voting site for the Nov. 3 General Election starting Monday, Oct. 19.

The Rockdale Board of Elections approved the second early voting site at an emergency meeting today.

Rockdale Elections Supervisor Cynthia Willingham said opening the additional location will provide voters with more than one location during the early voting period, which runs Oct. 12-30.

On Monday, the first day of early voting, Rockdale witnessed an unprecedented turnout at the 1400 Parker Road annex, with lines that circled the building. Some voters said they experienced four-hour waits. Willingham said processing voters took longer than usual as election workers verified through a statewide network whether voters had cast ballots by mail or not.

“Through most of the day today (Oct. 14), the wait time to vote at Parker Road was less than an hour.  At 2 p.m. today, there was no wait time. Voters were in and out within 30 minutes,” Willingham said.

In addition to approving the Springfield Baptist Early Voting site, the board also approved adding ballot drop boxes at seven fire stations, located throughout the county.

Willingham said the board was recently awarded a $276,681.25 grant from Tech and Civic Life to help make voting more convenient and accessible amidst the COVID-19 pandemic. Willingham said a portion of the grant was used to purchase and install the seven drop boxes, as well as surveillance cameras at each location.

The grant also is providing funding for:

• Personal Protective Equipment for staff, poll workers and voters
• Hire additional poll workers
• Election worker hazard pay and training expenses
• Polling place rental and cleaning expenses for Early Voting and Election Day         

In-person early voting will be held at Springfield Baptist Church’s Activity Center beginning next Monday. There is no Sunday voting at this site. The schedule is as follows:  

Oct. 19-23 (Mon. through Fri.), 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 24 (Sat.), 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Oct. 26-27 (Mon. & Tues.), 8 a.m. 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 28-30 (Mon., Wed. + Fri.), 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Extended hours

In-person early voting also is under way at the Rockdale County government annex at 1400 Parker Road. The schedule is as follows:

Oct. 12-23 (Mon. through Fri.), 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 24(Sat.), 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Oct. 25(Sun.), 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Oct. 26-27 (Mon. & Tues.), 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

Oct. 28-30 (Wed.-Fri.), 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Extended hours

For more information, contact the Rockdale County Board of Elections Office at 770-278-7333.