MACON, Ga. — Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections staff is gearing up for runoff early voting, but Maconites won't be able to cast ballots on a Saturday this time.
Georgia law does allow Saturday voting for a runoff, but Elections Supervisor Tom Gillon says they're working out some challenges.
"The runoff is four weeks after the election, so that doesn't give us a whole lot of time anyway," he said. "It would have rushed things far too much to try to get it ready for Saturday. Monday is much more doable."
The time factor was made worse with added computer connectivity problems from trying to defend against last month's apparent Bibb County data breach. While the county says the elections office is not directly impacted, they are seeing indirect effects.
"We got new laptops for two of our personnel to access the state system," Gillon said. "Because the state limits access to any county that's had any sort of cyber incident until the county demonstrates that everything is clear."
Gillon's staff usually has up to 12 computers they can sync with the state. Despite the challenges, they're getting ready for most of Bibb County to hit the polls.
"We have 22 of the 31 precincts will be involved. So it's not going to be everybody in the county. It's most everybody," Gillon explained.
Daphne Lawson is in one of those 22 precincts. She says she plans to vote because so many other people ignore runoff races.
"I think we're in district 8. So we are in the runoff, so yes. I am planning on voting in the runoff election," she said. "There's not as much publicity around the runoff and we forget. I mean, as a community and every day life. So, it's very important if you want to see your candidate win, because sometimes, that's going to be the deciding factor."