Local Elections Matter: Lessons from a Georgia Elections Leader

In this episode, host Tate Fall sits down with Deidre Holden, longtime elections director in Paulding County, Georgia, for a conversation grounded in service, experience, and a deep commitment to voters.

With nearly three decades in election administration, Deidre Holden from Paulding County, Georgia, shares how she got her start, why she’s stayed, and what continues to motivate her work. From maintaining accurate voter rolls to advocating for election officials at the state level, she offers a candid look at what it takes to run elections, while earning public trust, over the long haul. 

They also discuss the importance of local elections, the real impact of misinformation, and why voters should always turn to their local election office for accurate information. At the center of it all: elections are about people, and the officials running them are dedicated to getting it right.

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Welcome back to Keepers of our Republic, a new weekly podcast from Keep Our Republic that takes listeners inside the institutions at the heart of American democracy. Every week, Keepers of Our Republic features thoughtful conversations with election administrators and retired federal judges. We explore how elections are really run, discuss why an independent judiciary is essential to a strong republic, and separate fact from fiction in a fast-changing world. 

Learn more about Keep Our Republic, a nonpartisan nonprofit, at our website, https://keepourrepublic.org 

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:10

Welcome back to Keepers of Our Republic, a weekly nonpartisan podcast talking to election officials and judges about defending the rule of law and free and fair elections, also known as How We Keep Our Republic. I'm your host, Tate Fall. This is your first time joining us. Don't forget to hit that like and subscribe button and join us here every week on Thursdays for these conversations. Today I'm joined by the grand dame of Georgia Elections, Deidre Holden. Deidra has been the director of elections in Paulding County for over 28 years, and she is a linchpin and the relationship between Georgia election officials and our legislators here. And she continuously advocates for the needs of election officials. She is a wealth of knowledge, and I'm so excited for our conversation today. Thank you, Deidra, for joining me. Thank you for having me. I'm excited about this. Awesome. Well, we're going to jump in. Tell our listeners about yourself and how you got into elections. And I'd also love for you to share with them the why you stay. I think we talk about how we get started. But I'd love to hear too stay? Why do you keep working in elections after all these years?

SPEAKER_01 1:21

So I think I got bit by the election bag when I was very young. Um, one of my dear friends, we went all the way to uh through school together, his mom was running for an office. And I think I was probably 14, 15 years old, and she asked me to hold a sign. And then I saw all the excitement around elections. So I worked for the county for 30 years. And um when I was probably five or six years into my career with the county, I um got asked to step in and run elections for the director because she had um been diagnosed with cancer. So I said absolutely. And once I got into it, it at that time it was um a board of registrars and a um uh uh an election superintendent. And the election superintendent was ready to get out of the election business, and she asked me if I would be willing to step up and take it. So I was uh appointed the first election supervisor in Paulding County, and my title has since changed. But I love it. I love it. I love serving the voters. Um I have a servant's heart, and you know, you ask why there's more good in this than there is bad. And uh one thing that always has stuck out to me is that when I was very new into this business, um, it was the last day of early voting, and it was the it was like the first or second year we had done early voting, and everybody was after the coveted I'm a Georgia voter sticker, and that was the year we ran out. And we were we were in a very tiny office then, and there was this soldier that was there, and he was the last voter for that day. And there was this uh young lady, and she was um very disappointed that we didn't have any stickers to give out. And that soldier without hesitation, he ripped his American flag off the side of his uniform and gave it to her. Wow. And that just showed me right there that America is still the best uh country in this world. And there's just voting is important. And you know, that soldier was there on leave. He you know, he's fighting to keep these freedoms and had no problem with saying, here, young lady, here's my here's here's a sticker you can have. And I'm sure wherever she is, she still has that.

SPEAKER_02 3:45

Wow. Kive chills, what a beautiful story. I love that. Thank you for sharing that. Um, so tell us a little bit about Paulding County. How many voters do you have, number of precincts, staff members, and anything unique about Paulding?

SPEAKER_01 4:00

So we have 140,000 voters. Um, I have a full-time staff of five that includes myself. We have 20 election day polling locations, and we have six early voting locations. So uh we opened the additional five locations at the last week of early voting, but the main hub is here at our office at the Watson Government Complex.

SPEAKER_02 4:21

Awesome. Um, you know, I've known you since I first came to Georgia, and one of the things I've heard you preach about since I first met you is the importance of the voters keeping their registrations up to date, checking their information before they head out to vote. Can you share with our listeners why this is so important?

SPEAKER_01 4:41

Well, first of all, it's important because when you go to vote, we want to make sure that your experience is a good one, that your information is up to date. Uh, it never fails every election. We have people that think they've moved their registration and they're still registered in a neighboring county or they're still registered in the state that they moved here from. So it's so important that voters, I would say at the first of the year, check and make sure your registration's up to date. Um, because we don't want you to have issues. We don't want you to have to, you know, go back to the previous county you came from. We want you to be able to cast your vote here, do it successfully, and have no issues. So in holding, we we kind of go above and beyond because we get lots of return mail because people are constantly moving. So if we get a good address on the yellow sticker from the Postal Service, we will uh we have a postcard I created. It's called Have You Moved, and we send those throughout this nation. And it is, it was, it's unbelievable the response we get. People saying, Oh yeah, I've moved to Florida, I've moved to New York. So that way we can keep our voter rolls clean, and only people that's on those rolls are the ones that's eligible to vote.

SPEAKER_02 5:55

I love it. And I think it's so important too because every state is so different, and that's something I've talked to our other guests about because our listeners are all over the country. And so if you move from a state like Virginia, like I did, we had same-day voter registration. So you could go on election day and register and vote for the first time, but in in most states, that's not the case. So it's so important when you move, whether within the state or to a new state, that you update your registration right away because not every state has those types of opportunities. So I think that's great for our listeners to know. Another thing, um, you recently put out an amazing PSA. I think I watched it four or five times as soon as I saw it online. I was just like, again, I have to watch it again. And it was really focused on voter turnout, but in local elections, vote local. So can you share with our listeners kind of about that PSA? How did it come about? And what was your goal in putting that out?

SPEAKER_01 6:49

So we have massive turnouts for a presidential election. And when it comes to our local primaries, you don't have a great turnout. So we had like a 74% turnout in the 2024 presidential election. And then in the May primary, 17.5%. So basically, if you if you break that down, eight out of 10 are voting for president, but only two out of 10 are voting for your local elections. And what people need to understand, presidential and congressional um elections are so important, but it's your local elections. That's the people who are adjusting your property taxes, who are educating our children, our grandchildren, who are making those decisions in our everyday life. And it is so important that our voters participate in that. And that's what I wanted to drive home to them is that all elections are important. But these locals are just as important as those uh federal and state elections.

SPEAKER_02 7:50

I love that. I could not agree with you more. I think, you know, when I done in my previous roles a lot of education with high schoolers, and I would tell them, you know, your parents are the ones who vote for your school board members. So if you don't like X, Y, and Z about your school, they're the ones that change it. And guess what? When you turn 18 or when you reach a certain age, you can run for that school board position. And I think it's like you said, they're the ones that are touching our everyday lives in a way that I think we just overlook. And that's why I think I it's not just a Paulding or a Georgia issue. Our whole country is that way, where our local elections are small and we want to see that turn out. So I'm excited about your PSA. I hope to see that as it helps you guys and Paulding and everyone because it's it's a great model.

SPEAKER_01 8:37

Batty too. Thank you. Thank you so much. We're very proud of that.

SPEAKER_02 8:40

Yeah, beautiful. Um, and that leads me to think about how election officials, especially here in Georgia, um, are constantly batting, battling mis and disinformation. So tell me, what's your advice to voters as they're constantly consuming information related to elections and voting?

SPEAKER_01 9:01

So that's a big um issue with me is that the misinformation, the disinformation, it is so important. If you want the correct information, reach out to your local election office. We are the ones, we are the keepers of all of this information, and we try to get that out. But somebody can just start the smallest rumor on social media and everybody believes it. So it is a it's an everyday job trying to keep those fire spit out. But my biggest advice to anyone is call your local election office, get the facts, and then go back out to your friends and family who's spreading this disinformation and give them the right information.

SPEAKER_02 9:42

That's right. I love it. And I think, you know, obviously at the at the local level, you know, you're busy people, but like you said earlier, you show up for your voters. And so you want to pick up that phone and answer those questions for them. It's not a burden, you know, it's not too much work. That's that's that's our job. And so I think it's so important that our voters familiarize themselves with who their local election officials are and know that they can reach out to them because that, like you said, they're the ones that are keeping all that information, and that's crucial. Absolutely, yes. Um, and as I mentioned earlier, you're such an important key player in the relationship here in Georgia between election officials and the legislature. And I know every state is different and every state has their own deedra, but tell our listeners about how you built those relationships with our legislators and why continuing those relationships and continuing that advocacy is crucial for voter success.

SPEAKER_01 10:42

So I started early on. Um, I've always been very um involved under the Gold Dome. Um I have legislators, not just from Georgia, uh not from Paulden County that call on me, but I have some from other counties, which that that means a lot to me. But, you know, they have to see your face to know that you're serious about this. You care about what happens to our voters and the decisions that are being made. And, you know, I I I try to to explain to them when they call on me, look, I do this every day. You're not doing this every day. You need to listen. If you don't listen to me, listen to another election director because we're all pretty passionate about the same things. And I think it's so important from the governor's office, um, Secretary of State's office, all of the General Assembly members, that they see us, that they know we are there to help you. We know what we are doing. Please listen to us. Um, I've I've recently made the statement that, you know, the people that are writing the laws and making the rules, you know, if you were to sit down and interview them and say, what's your experience in election? Uh, they're probably not going to have any. And they're going to say, Well, I was a candidate on a ballot, or I was an elected official. That does not make you an election expert. So I think it's important that they see us, that they see people from our association there under the Gold Dome, and that they listen to us because we know what our voters need. We know what will work and what will not work.

SPEAKER_02 12:15

Absolutely. I think it's so important. And I've seen just over the past few years in Georgia, those relationships and the building of those relationships that it really has paid off. And now, because the Georgia Association of Voter Election Registration officials, that Gavrio, the Georgia Association, because they put in so much time, now legislators are recognizing Gavrio. You know, they're invited to hearings, they're invited to provide expert testimony, but it took a long time to get there. And, you know, just because he testified doesn't mean they always listen, but it's on the record. You're there, your voters know that you guys are showing up. And that is so crucial in the everyday changing world of the legislature, I think. Absolutely. Absolutely. All right. So, final question. Um, you've seen a lot of changes in our country and especially in Georgia in your time in elections. So, as we think forward to this year, our country turning to 150. What are your thoughts on our democracy as it stands today? And what do you want voters to know?

SPEAKER_01 13:30

Well, I want the voters to know that we do live in the greatest nation in this world, that we do have freedoms that others don't have, and we should never ever take that for granted. Um, lives have been lost for us to be able to go into that voting booth and cast our vote. 250 years. I'm gonna date myself. I remember when we celebrated in in 1976, so that that tells you how old I am. But you know, it's um voting should bring people together. Yes, we can agree to disagree. We don't all have to support the same candidate. But we should come together as a community, we should come together as a state, as a nation, and really think about the importance of casting that vote. That's what our nation is founded on. Um you know, I I just think that so many times in the election world that politics gets involved. And, you know, it should it shouldn't be that way. Leave the politics for the campaigning, leave them out of the election process. But I think it's important for our voters to know that every opportunity you get, you need to be going to the polls, you need to be engaging with your election office, you need to become a poll worker, you need to say, Hey, I'd like to serve on the election board, because no one knows what it's like on this side of it until they've walked it. And just to to know that for 250 years we've had this wonderful democracy, and it's still wonderful that you can be a part of that. You can be, you know, when when I think about an individual voting, they are putting their vote in my hands. They are trusting me with that. And it's my job to see it through the the entire way, to make sure that their vote counts, that it's taken care of because it's very serious. But I'm excited about 250 years. Um, our nation has a lot to be proud of. And I just, you know, for if nothing else, let that 250 years encourage you to get out and vote.

SPEAKER_02 15:27

I love it. I couldn't agree with you more. I think one of the things I always tell people, you know, when they ask what I do, and I'd say I work in election, they'd say, oh, here in politics. I'd say, oh, no, no, I'm not in politics. I'm in administration. I administer tests and I grade them and that's it. And then I post the results. That's all I do. So I totally agree with you more. And I hope that that's something that our listeners will be able to understand that we're, you know, we're not in it for, you know, red or blue or purple or green or whatever color you are, that it it is because we show up for the voters. And and I love that. And it's clear that that's that's why you care so much, and I love that. Yes. Well, thank you for joining me today and for sharing your insights with our listeners. And thank you, listeners, for tuning in. We'll be back next week with another episode talking with more of Keepers of Our Republic.

SPEAKER_00 16:17

If you like this episode, please share it on social media and tell your friends. It's the best way for folks to find out about us. I hope you'll agree that our guest is indeed a keeper of the republic. If you want to learn more about how you can help keep our republic, stop on over to our website, keep ourrepublic.org. Thanks so much for joining us to learn more about the safeguards in running our nation's elections.