Long lines and long wait times greeted voters at the polls in Clarkesville on election day.

Habersham County consolidated its voting precincts two years ago, paring them down from fourteen to two. Since the county commission made that change there had not been a major election, until last week. While voters in Mt. Airy, Demorest and Baldwin cast ballots at their city precincts, all other city and county voters had to vote at either the Habersham North Precinct in Clarkesville or Habersham South Precinct in Cornelia. Lines at those precincts were steady throughout the day with peak wait times reaching close to three hours in Clarkesville.

Last Tuesday’s election was eye-opening for voters and local election officials alike. Superintendent of Elections Laurel Ellison says they expected there would be lines but no one anticipated them being as long as they were. Board of Elections Chairman Ernie Garrett says he has spoken with county commissioners and a number of voters who expressed their dismay over the long wait at the polls but, he adds, he doesn’t think consolidation is to blame. Garrett spoke with poll workers during the election and says a lack of workers and other resources at the consolidated precincts appears to have been the problem. “The primary thing that we looked at was the check-in time. The line backed-up when you checked in. It wasn’t the voting machines, there were plenty of those. There were machines we didn’t utilize because of the time it took to check-in.”

Garrett says the Board of Elections is exploring its options on how to improve Habersham’s voting process and speed up voter verification.

“We’re considering all options including more manpower, more computers and more printers. We want to utilize the potential of all the voting machines and adding those things would speed up check-in.” Garrett says if the Board of Elections decides to add more resources the money will have to come from the Habersham County Commission.

Newly-elected commissioner Victor Anderson says improving the county’s election process is a top priority. “I have heard from many people, both directly and indirectly, who had issues, faced delays and stood in long lines,” Anderson says. Though it’s too early to know what, if any changes, might be proposed by the Board of Elections Anderson says he is willing to support measures to make voting easier and less time consuming in Habersham. “First and foremost, we need to have adequate access for everyone to vote that is eligible. With that in mind, yes, if there were recommendations from that commission (Board of Elections) to make changes I would strongly consider that.”

With no formal recommendations yet on the table – the Board of Elections won’t meet again until December – accurate cost projections can’t yet be made. Still, local officials are determined to do something to make voting easier in Habersham. “I hear what people are saying and it needs to be addressed,” Anderson says. Personally, he supports the premise of consolidation but says two precincts might not be enough. “There should be a happy medium,” he says.

Garrett says although he’s not inclined to support adding more precincts – “I think the worst thing we could do at this point is move people around” – he says all options are on the table and will be discussed during the Board of Elections’ next meeting on December 18. That meeting is scheduled for 4 p.m. in the basement of the old Habersham County courthouse. Garrett urges anyone with voting suggestions or concerns to contact the board prior to its meeting. You can do that by calling the Habersham County Elections and Registration Office at 706-839-0170 or by emailing your comments to Elections Superintendent Laurel Ellison at lellison@habershamga.com. Anyone wishing to address the Board of Elections in person during next month’s meeting must be on the agenda. To get on the agenda contact Ellison at the number or email address listed above no later than December 1st.

Whatever steps the Board of Elections and County Commissioners decide to take Garrett assures voters the problems will be addressed and corrected before the next election.

Habersham County veterans were honored today during programs at North Habersham Middle School in Clarkesville and at Wilbanks Middle School in Demorest. No other formal community-wide Veterans Day celebrations were held. Air Force Veteran Bennie Smith that’s because the local chapter of the Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW) – which has in the past sponsored Veterans Day services in Habersham – chose not to do so this year in order to free up its members to attend local school events. Smith says, “That way our guys can go to the schools and support the kids.”

South Habersham Middle School held its Veterans Day program on Monday and Level Grove Elementary School held a special flag raising ceremony on Friday (pictured above).

Smith says these types of school events are inspiring, “As I was listening to the kids at South Habersham Middle School give some good speeches that they wrote I thought ‘how great it is for the kids to learn about what the soldiers have done and where their freedom comes from.'”

Smith knows a lot about the price of freedom. He served in the Army National Guard in the early 1960s then joined the U.S. Air Force. He was sent to Vietnam in 1964. Smith spent two six-month tours in Vietnam working as a crew chief, managing flights and repairs on U.S. aircraft. He left the military when his last tour ended in 1965.

Fellow Habersham Countian Raymond Hudgins, Jr., also served during the Vietnam War era.

Hudgins was drafted into the Army in 1965. His father was a World War II vet. Hudgins says, “The day I was drafted was the only time I ever saw my dad cry.” Hudgins expected to receive orders to go to Vietnam, instead, he was sent to South Korea. He spent two years there before returning home and settling back into civilian life.

“I don’t know if I would have gone into the military if I hadn’t been drafted,” Hudgins says. The draft ended when the Vietnam War ended in 1973. The United States now has an all-volunteer military force. “These people today who join now have some courage,” he says.

Hudgins and Smith both remember the anti-war protests of the ’60s. “It was disgraceful how veterans from Vietnam were treated,” Hudgins says but he quickly adds, “Times have changed. We haven’t seen this much support for our veterans and soldiers since World War II.”

After the war Hudgins and Smith both went on to raise families and build successful civilian careers. Though they left the service, the service never left them.

Today they are leaders at the local VFW Post 7720 in Cornelia and spend much of their time raising money to support local charitable and veterans causes. Just this past weekend they handed out buddy poppies to shoppers outside local stores. The small red flowers are handcrafted by disabled veterans living in veterans’ homes and distributed by VFWs nation-wide. Though the flowers are free most people who receive them give a donation. That money goes back into supporting programs for disabled veterans and other veterans in need.

The VFW and Ladies Auxiliary passed out nearly 3,000 buddy poppies in Habersham this past weekend. Smith says people were generous, especially members of the local Hispanic community. He says that makes him feel as though they appreciate the freedoms they enjoy here in America. “One little Hispanic girl came up with her family and said, ‘I studied about you in school today,'” Smith recalls. “That just cut me to the core. So I took her and gave her a buddy poppy. ‘Here’s you one,’ I said and she looked so excited and so did her parents.”

That wide-eyed excitement is a far cry from the harsh words and gestures many Vietnam War veterans endured back in the ’60s. Yes, things have changed but one thing that won’t change, Hudgins says, is the need to maintain a strong U.S. military. “If we hadn’t had a strong military after 9/11 we might not still be a free nation.” Now with the threat of terror groups such as ISIS looming local veterans warn our nation must continue to stand on guard.  “The price of freedom was paid on the battlefield in war zones around the world with Americans’ blood,” says Smith. “I just hope there’s not a lot of these terrorists coming across the borders so that one day we wake up and we’re fighting those battles here at home.”