Habersham voters line up, speak out, on Election Day

CLARKESVILLE, Ga. — Habersham County voters lined up at the Ruby Fulbright Aquatic Center Tuesday, generally with little-to-no wait mid-afternoon. They presented their driver’s licenses, signed in, and then made their way to the dozen-some polling stations inside.  Most were in and out in less than 10 minutes.

A few voters stopped to discuss their votes, and none was more voluble than Dayden Roland of Clarkesville, who was voting for only the second time.

“My beliefs line up more with the Republican side,” said Roland, a student at the University of North Georgia. He cited the abortion issue in particular, noting former Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms’ ardently pro-choice stance and the pro-life positions of Republican candidate Rick Jackson.

“I know some of the people working in anti-abortion clinics,” he said, referring to crisis pregnancy centers, which counsel pregnant women to consider adoption.

Marty and Glad Simmons of Clarkesville were also self-declared straight Republican voters, and Mr. Simmons commented with a laugh, “I went with the lesser of two evils.”

“We’re pretty Republican,” he continued, his wife nodding along, though he cited no decisive issues in particular.

A 30-year-old, self-described “stay-at-home mom” was one of only two voters interviewed who said they voted the other way.

She said she voted for incumbent State Senator Bo Hatchett over challenger Dave Cooper, but otherwise, went with the Democratic ticket straight down the line.

She cited healthcare and education as her two most important issues, and said she favored the Democratic position on both. The young mother gave her name but asked that it be withheld from publication.

For Eric Seleen of Clarkesville, it was “all Republicans; I come in pretty conservative… the Democrats have nothing for me.”  He and his wife, who stood nearby, have a business cleaning Airbnbs and cabins, mostly in the Helen area, he said.

Brad and Kristen Mitchell also embraced the county’s majority’s view: “We always vote Republican,” he said.  For them, Mr. Mitchell added, the big issue is immigration.

But one voter, possibly directly affected by the Mitchells’ big issue, went the other way.

Lucy Frias of Clarkesville said she voted because of “the whole thing; the high prices on everything.” Inflation is up cumulatively some 7.1 percent during President Trump’s second term, according to Reuters.

And, the Mexico native quietly added, she didn’t like how they (the Republican administration) treat people—immigrants—suggesting she knew several who’d been hurt by deportation.

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