'Voting is our privilege': Cobb voters head to the polls in Tuesday's runoff

MARIETTA — Voters across Cobb headed back to the polls just four weeks after the May 24 primaries to settle runoffs in what is expected to be a low-turnout election.

“Voting is our privilege, and it’s something that we all should be doing,” said Glenn Harris as he finished voting in Tuesday’s runoff at Elizabeth Baptist Church.

At the federal level, Dr. Rich McCormick squared off against attorney Jake Evans for the Republican nomination for the recently redistricted 6th Congressional District seat. Previously held by Democrat Lucy McBath, the seat is widely expected to flip Republican.

On the Democratic side, the top two vote getters for lieutenant governor in the primary, Kwanza Hall and Charlie Bailey, are competing to face Republican Burt Jones in the November general election.

Bee Nguyen faces Dee Dawkins-Haigler for the Democratic nomination for secretary of state, and the winner will face the incumbent, Republican Brad Raffensperger, come Nov. 8.

Janine Eveler, the county’s elections director, reported no issues as Cobb voters cast their ballots Tuesday.

“I believe in voting as a citizen, so that’s what I did. I’m a conservative kind of thinker, so I align myself with more conservative candidates and policies that go more toward a conservative, traditional way of thinking,” voter Mark Fuglio told the Journal.

Fuglio’s wife, Cindy Fuglio, said the voting process was straightforward and the technology worked well.

“Voting went very smooth. Everything is very up to date. I voted my convictions. I’m more conservative so I went that way. I voted for Jake Evans and James Luttrell (for Cobb Superior Court judge),” she said.

Cindy Fuglio said she votes for candidates she sees as best prepared for the job. Picking Evans had a lot to do with his being endorsed by Donald Trump.

“I voted for Jake Evans because he was Trump-endorsed and I researched Luttrell. It seemed like he had more information about what he wanted to do, as opposed to Sonja Brown. I didn’t see much online for Sonja, but I will say that I didn’t put much time in, so her plans could be online,” Fuglio added.

Rita Farmer of Marietta, who also voted at Elizabeth Baptist, said the process was easy.

“There were only two you could vote for on the Republican ticket, and I voted for Jake Evans, then I voted for a judge, who I didn’t know much about. I voted for Evans over McCormick because he was Trump-approved, so since I didn’t know either one, that’s who I voted for,” she said.

Retired insurance agent Robert Gilchrist also said he voted for Evans, mainly because he was Trump-endorsed.

“I can’t understand why people don’t vote, I really and truly don’t,” said Aline Collins, a retired Cobb County native.