Page 5 - Tom Smiley News Today : Breaking News, Live Updates & Top Stories | Vimarsana

To reach our newsroom with tips or questions, email news@gainesvilletimes.com. In 2014, the passage of a bill formerly titled HB 1131 created a unified five-member board of elections and registration for Hall County, subsequently abolishing the board of registration. The elections board assumed the powers to conduct elections and registration and absentee balloting measures. The board would maintain a partisan split among the four board members — two Democrats and two Republicans — and the elections superintendent served as a nonpartisan, non-voting chair who provided updates to the bo...

To reach our newsroom with tips or questions, email news@gainesvilletimes.com. Wurtz is in her third year as the elections director. She was hired after the Hall County Board of Commissioners made a “home-rule” amendment in 2018 to state legislation that created the elections director position years earlier. The change also placed oversight of the director in the hands of the county administrator. In Wurtz’s 2019 evaluation, obtained by The Times through an open records request, Wurtz was graded positively and staff noted that she “met expectations” in every category. Wurtz’s 201...

Opinion: Elected officials must consider election reform Voters cast their ballots Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020, at the Brenau Downtown Center at the Gainesville IV voting precinct. - photo by Scott Rogers Like millions of other Georgia citizens, I am very concerned about election integrity. I strongly support and applaud Hall County Election Commission’s Tom Smiley for his ideas on election reform. I like some of the reforms proposed in the Georgia state Senate and House; I hope they will carefully consider Smiley’s proposals.�...

The Hall County Board of Elections and Registration turned aside four challenges to local voters at a special called meeting Wednesday, Dec. 23 at the Hall County Government Center. Three of the challenges called into question the addresses of 8,502 voters, while a fourth challenge questioned the validity of the registrations of 40 voters who signed up to vote in Georgia's U.S. Senate runoffs after the Nov. 3 election.  Hall County Elections Director Lori Wurtz presented the challenges to the board, identifying the citizens who brought the challenges as Ricky McQueen, Theresa Webb of True ...

By Regan Spinks, AccessWDUN Staff Dr. Tyler Smiley accepts the symbolic baton from Lakewood Baptist Church Deacon Leadership Chair Neal Booth on Sunday, Dec. 13 before being installed as the church's seventh senior pastor (Photo: Lakewood Baptist Church). Dr. Tyler H. Smiley was installed as the seventh pastor of Lakewood Baptist Church on Sunday, Dec. 13. Smiley has served in leadership roles at Lakewood since 2013, when he was named the church’s Associate Missions Pastor. In 2019, he was promoted to Senior Associate Pastor. In addition to his ministerial work at Lakewood, Smiley served a...