By Joe Earle
DeKalb County Commissioner Nancy Jester is calling for a new vote on the city of LaVista Hills after state officials launched an investigation into the Nov. 3 election on whether to create the proposed new city.
“Voters in DeKalb deserve to have confidence that elections are conducting with integrity and security,” Jester said in a prepared statement on Nov. 6. “Due to the nature of the allegations, the fact that DeKalb election officials have themselves reported this matter, and furthermore that this employee has been placed on leave, I believe that the citizens should be allowed to vote again on this measure.
County elections officials reported approval of LaVista Hills fell 136 votes short on Nov. 3. DeKalb election officials said 6,925 voters said no, while 6,789 said yes. Voters in the areas to be incorporated were the only ones who cast ballots in the election.
WSB-TV Channel 2 reported Nov. 5 that Leonard Piazza, second in command at DeKalb County’s office of voter registration and elections, claimed serious irregularities regarding the LaVista Hills vote.
Piazza said voters were turned away at their polling place and voter material wasn’t properly secured, Channel 2 reported. He also told Channel 2 that a memory card used to collect citizen votes was loose in the office.
Read more of this story at Reporter Newspapers.
