New leader heads Coffee Co. Elections Board after forced resignations

DOUGLAS, Ga. (WALB) - Coffee County now has a new elections supervisor. The former supervisor resigned “in lieu of termination.”

James Barnes is now the new elections supervisor. He told WALB News 10′s Gabrielle Ware he began this month.

We looked back on the events that led up to the change.

Former Elections Supervisor, Misty Martin, and former Elections Assistant, Jil Ridlehoover resigned in February. The board says the two did this to avoid being fired.

This comes two months after the board was unable to certify their recount results in the 2020 Presidential Election. That occurrence prompted the Secretary of State’s Office to launch an investigation.

They said in part, “every other county was able to complete this task within the given time limits.”

Despite the investigation’s timing, the board said both employees resigned for falsifying timesheets.

Board Chair, Ernestine Thomas-Clark, said the Board of Elections and Registrations Office resumed operations, the first of this month. They plan to hire an assistant E]elections supervisor by May 15.

Barnes said they will start advertising that position next week.

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