Absentee Information For November Election Announced

August 22, 2020
By:

The DeKalb County Election Commission has announced deadlines and procedures to vote by mail for the November 3, 2020 Presidential Election.

“The process starts with the voter making a request to vote absentee by mail,” said Dennis Stanley, Administrator of Elections. That request can be made in person, by mail, fax or email. The request must include the voter’s signature. A printable request (application) can be found online at www.dekalbelections.com and copies are available at our office.”

In Tennessee, voters must have a legal reason listed in the law to be eligible to vote absentee by mail. Some of the most common legal reasons are voters who are 60 or older and voters who will be out of their counties during the election.

Eligible voters who have a special vulnerability to COVID-19 due to an underlying illness, physical disability, or other health condition and who cannot appear at the polling place on Election Day due to this condition may vote by absentee ballot under the “illness or physical disability” reason. Likewise, eligible voters who are caretakers to individuals with a special vulnerability may vote by absentee ballot under the “caretaker” reason.

Voters should consult trusted guidance from medical experts and use common sense in determining whether they have a special vulnerability. The CDC provides a website with helpful information that voters may wish to consult.

“We have been receiving absentee requests daily since August 5 and some voters may be wondering why they have yet to receive an official ballot,” Stanley continued.

County election commissions will start mailing out ballots in September. Election officials are currently taking steps to finalize the November ballot, including certifying the August election results as well as waiting on both major parties to officially confirm their presidential nominees.

“We will be prepared to send the voter the actual ballot as soon as it is available,” Stanley said. “Once you receive that ballot, vote it and mail it back as soon as possible so it is ready to be counted on Election Day.”

Absentee by-mail ballots must be returned by-mail. This includes the U.S. Postal Service and services like FedEx and UPS. Each state is different when it comes to election law. Tennessee law does not permit voters to turn in their ballots in-person or for the use of drop boxes.

U.S. Postmaster General Louis DeJoy announced recently the postal service “is ready today to handle whatever volume of election mail it receives this fall” and “we will deliver the nation’s election mail on time and within our well-established service standards.”

For the last information on the Nov. 3 election log onto www.dekalbelections.com or follow the state’s social media channels: Twitter–@SecTreHargett; Facebook—Tennessee Secretary of State; and Instagram–@tnsecofstate.

August 22, 2020
By:

After a week into the season, the Lady Saints Soccer team sports a 1-0 conference record with an overall 1-1 start.

On Tuesday, August 18th the Lady Saints played host to Thurman Francis Middle School, a soccer powerhouse from Smyrna. At half time the Lady Saints found themselves behind 1-0. During the second half, possession went back and forth, and finally, Lady Saint Katherine Knowles scored to tie 1-1. Shortly after, Thurman Francis added another goal to make it 2-1. The Lady Saints had hoped to tie the match again but last-second goal by the visitors made the final score 3-1. The Junior Varsity team also fought hard but lost 3-0.

On Thursday, August 20th, the Lady Saints had their first away game against conference foe Upperman. The Lady Saints didn’t take long to get started as they scored 4 goals in the first 10 minutes of the contest. Defensive mids Zoe Keys, Hailee Merriman, and Larissa Mooneyham helped keep the ball on the offensive third of the field as the Lady Saints added 5 more goals in the second half enroute to a 9-0 victory.

The goal-scoring didn’t stop there as the JV team cruised to a 3-0 victory.

Varsity:
Goals: Katherine Knowles (3), Tatum Young (3), Addison Miller (2), Emily Robinson (1)

JV:
Goals: Yoselyn Garcia (2), Elizabeth Sanchez (1)

The Lady Saints are on the road again as they travel to Jackson County on Monday, August 24th. The next home game will also be 8th-grade night set for Thursday, August 27th where the Lady Saints will take on the Avery Trace Raiders. Ceremonies start at 5 pm with kickoff at 5:30 PM.

August 22, 2020
By: Dwayne Page

For the third month in a row, the county commission Monday night will consider a speed limit request.

During Thursday night’s “Committee of the Whole” meeting of the County Commission, Fourth District member Janice Fish Stewart said a constituent who resides on Puckett’s Point Road has asked that the posted speed limit there be changed from 30 to 20 miles per hour due to safety concerns.

“He (constituent) talked about the traffic on that road and how fast people drive. He said there have been fatalities and serious accidents on that road. There have been two wrecks there within the past eight weeks. Currently the speed limit posted is 30 miles per hour half a mile from the Cookeville Highway intersection. He is proposing that the sign be changed to 20 mph which would make the road a continuous speed limit throughout and that a “Reduce Speed Ahead” sign be placed 100 feet from the intersection of Cookeville Highway. He said the general consensus of neighbors on that road is that this should be done because of increased traffic and dangers due to speeding especially when two vehicles pass each other,” said Commissioner Stewart.

Fifth District Commissioner Anita Puckett questioned the effectiveness of posted speed limit signs with little or no enforcement due to limited law enforcement manpower and she called for consistency if the county is intent on continuing to establish speed limits.

“We should contact law enforcement and find out how fast these people were going when they had these wrecks (Puckett’s Point Road). I guarantee you it wasn’t 30 miles per hour. I’m having issues with this. We have opened a can of worms that we can’t close. They already have a 30 mph speed limit (on Puckett’s Point Road). If it were 55 miles per hour with no speed limit I would totally agree but they already have a 30 mile per hour limit and now they want it to be 20 mph. I guarantee you with these 2 wrecks they were going faster than 30 miles per hour. If there is nobody to enforce this it’s not going to change. There could be two more wrecks next week with 20 mph signs. This is something we should be careful about and we should be consistent in the county. If we are going to put speed limit signs on these country roads we need to be consistent on all country roads. If 55 mph is the general consensus that the state sets, but we’re going to put 30 mph limits then put 30 mph limits on all county roads not 20 here, 30 there, and 35 somewhere else. We need to be consistent with what we put on all these county roads,” said Commissioner Puckett.

In July, the county commission voted to establish a posted 35 mile per hour speed limit on the Ragland Bottom Road to the US Army Corps of Engineers line and a 30 mile per hour limit on the Four Seasons Road from the Young Bend Cemetery to the Corps of Engineers line. A 30 mile per hour speed limit was also established on Dearman Street from the Smithville City Limits to Bright Hill Road. The portion of Dearman Street in the city is already posted at 30 miles per hour.

In June, the county commission established a posted 35 mile per hour speed limit on the Johnson’s Chapel Road.

Last November, the commission voted to establish a 35 mile per hour speed limit on Tramel Branch Road near Alexandria and to have signs posted to warn the public.

In each case, the actions were taken in response to either petitions or verbal public requests.

Under state law, the speed limit on any county road is 55 miles per hour unless the county commission acts to change it.

The DeKalb County Commission will meet in regular monthly session Monday night, August 24 at 6:30 p.m. in the main auditorium of the Mike Foster Multi-Purpose Center.

The agenda is as follows:

Sales Tax report

Budget amendments

Annual financial reports for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020

Discuss a request to rename Felts Cemeterv Road to Billings Cemetery Road

Discuss a request to name a private drive Peace Passage

Discuss a request to remove the end portion of Oak Drive at Lakeview Mountain Estates from the county road list

Appointment of a commissioner to the DeKalb Utility District

Discuss a request to establish a speed limit on Puckett’s Point Road to 20 miles per hour

Any other business properly presented

Notaries

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