The 2020 elections were rough on elections officials in every county in Georgia. But in Cobb County it was a particularly challenging job, where false claims of election fraud led to equally false accusations of the shredding of ballots, and where voting rolls were challenged in a game of dueling spreadsheets.

Those pressures were added to the already heavy workload of a high-turnout, hotly-contested presidential election.

But in this calm-before-the-storm year, when the upcoming municipal elections are the main contests of 2021, Cobb County Elections Director Janine Eveler received professional recognition from her fellow election officials for her work.

She was selected as the winner of the 2021 Ann Hicks Award during the 2021  Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Elections Officials Conference.   This award is presented to an election official to recognize their excellence in elections administration in the year prior to the conference. 

“It’s an honor to be selected for this award from the many outstanding Election Directors in Georgia,” Eveler said afterward. “This recognition is also a testament to the dedication and expertise of the Cobb Elections department staff and to the hard work of our poll workers.”

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger presented the award.  

The Courier asked Eveler in an email to give her reaction to the award, and she wrote, “I just want everyone to know that an honor like this doesn’t just belong to me. It really says so much about the dedicated and knowledgeable staff we have here at Cobb Elections. I realize there are some who still have questions about past elections, but we’re doing all we can to be transparent and thorough, so we can demonstrate the integrity of our operation.”