By Rebecca Gaunt
Anyone interested in learning more about the election process or applying for a job with the Cobb elections team should mark the September 10 open house on the calendar.
The ribbon cutting for the new Marietta building at 995 Roswell St. NE will take place at 11 a.m. The open house, with tours of the building, including some behind-the-scenes areas, will take place from 12 p.m. until 3 p.m. There will be giveaways and light refreshments.
Representatives from every department will be available for citizens interested in applying for jobs, including poll workers and the prep warehouse.
The Cobb County Board of Commissioners approved the purchase of the 60,000-square-foot facility for $7.5 million in 2020. Renovations cost about $3.9 million, funded by the county reserve and the American Rescue Plan.
The new building will consolidate election services previously spread out around the county.
“The new location keeps all supplies under one roof, so we are not transporting election materials from place-to-place. This provides for tighter chain of custody controls. There are also over 80 cameras on property as well as key card access on all the critical doors,” Janine Eveler, director of Cobb elections, wrote in an email to the Courier.
“All election activities will happen at the one location, except for satellite advance voting, and election day polls, of course.”
The building that served as the previous headquarters on Whitlock Avenue will be used by another county department, not yet announced.
There will be signs and personnel to direct any voters who mistakenly go to the old location during the upcoming elections.
Rebecca Gaunt earned a degree in journalism from the University of Georgia and a master’s degree in education from Oglethorpe University. After teaching elementary school for several years, she returned to writing. She lives in Marietta with her husband, son, two cats, and a dog. In her spare time, she loves to read, binge Netflix and travel.
