CAIRO, Ga. — The NAACP is weighing possible actions in response to the relocation of a Cairo voting precinct they say may have impacted the ability for some people to vote. 

Leah Aden, deputy director of litigation for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, sent an election day letter to Grady County Probate Judge Denise Maddox, questioning whether adequate notice was given to voters for the Cairo 5th precinct prior to the Nov. 6 election.

“We are considering all options to better understand what decision making happened before this Tuesday,” Aden said in a statement Friday.

The precinct, typically at the Grady County Agriculture Center, was temporarily relocated to the First Baptist Church while FEMA occupied the building following the devastation from Hurricane Michael.

Aden said she was concerned many voters were still unclear as to where they should vote in future elections, including a potential run-off election in December.

Maddox said she did everything that was asked of her by the county and that the relocation did not have an impact on the number of voters who participated in the election.

“The precinct that I moved had more voters than any other of the 13 precincts (in the county),” Maddox said. “It had the highest amount of voters out of all 13 of them. It also had the highest percentage (of voters) since I’ve been here in 2010.”

Maddox said she consulted the county attorney and secretary of state’s office regarding the precinct change, including what notice needed to be provided to voters, prior to making the change.

Prior notice for the move was given in two articles in the The Cairo Messenger, published on Oct. 24 and 31. 

The Messenger article indicated Cairo 5th precinct voters would receive new precinct cards informing them of the relocation.

Margaret Tyson was among eight volunteers with Organizing for Grady County who redirected between approximately 150 and 200 people who attempted to vote at the Agriculture Center on election day upon learning of of the relocation.

“There was a little bit of an assumption that people get the paper and they would somehow see (the notice),” Tyson said. “But we talked to people and we tried to ask them, ‘did you get the paper? Did you see it in the paper?’ Some would say they get the paper but didn’t see it and other people would say they don’t even get the paper. If that was their way of notification then it was insufficient.”

Tyson, a licensed professional counselor, said none of the individuals who attempted to vote at the Agriculture Center had received new precinct cards as was stated in the Messenger article. 

Maddox said the updated cards were unnecessary since it was an emergency relocation, but she nevertheless requested they be printed anyway.

“The vendor (who printed the cards) was not able to get the cards sent in time,” Maddox said. “But I did have an order for them. They were just not printed in time for me to send them out.”

County officials were not present to redirect voters, but a FEMA representative inside the building was informed of the relocation and told to provide directions if needed.

Tyson said the posted signage informing voters of the precinct change was not conspicuous enough among the other FEMA-related signs outside the Agriculture Center. 

“We did see someone after 2 p.m. who put a sign out by the road,” Tyson said. “It was a pretty small sign.”

Maddox said signs were posted outside the Agriculture Center and inside the banquet hall where voting would normally take place. 

Sandre Sallee, another volunteer with Organizing for Grady County, said it was unknown how many people attempted to vote at the Agriculture Center prior to the volunteers arriving at approximately 11:30 a.m. Tuesday, but a FEMA representative at the building informed her he redirected approximately 30 people.

Sallee, a retired school librarian, said she was concerned about the implications of a polling location with a large minority population being relocated with little notice.

“Overall, I can’t say whether any of this confusion was intentional,” Sallee said. “But I do know the looks that passed between the people of color that I told was going on. They would look at each other and I could tell that they knew. This was not the first time something of this nature had happened to them.” 

Maddox said any implications of racial motivation behind the relocation were incorrect.

“I will tell you that’s my precinct,” Maddox said. “That’s my family’s precinct. (That’s) my daughter and her husband’s precinct.”