By SALLIE SATTERTHWAITE
Staff Writer

New voting regulations threw both voters and election workers some curves this year, resulting in tempers that matched the temperature during recent primaries.

Most frequently heard complaint: Precinct changes that voters swear they never knew out about until they showed up at their old polling place and were sent to another, sometimes miles away.

Camille Kelsey, poll manager at The Gathering Place in Peachtree City said one voter became "very irate" when told his precinct had changed.

"He swore up and down he had not received notice of the change," Kelsey said, "until his wife said, `Here it is, dear' and pulled out her card with their new precinct on it."

Kelsey said she sent 80 to 100 would-be voters to other precincts, most to Braelinn Elementary School or to the library building. A majority of those who had to shift were residents of nearby Fisher's Bank subdivision.

Many complained that they lived "just across the street," but had to go home and get in cars or golf carts to drive to the more distant library.

"It concerned me that we had to send so many people away," said Ann Cook, a clerk at Kelsey's precinct. "It was an inconvenience to people who vote regularly, but somebody's always going to be `across the street.' And there were a lot of elderly people in that precinct. Most of them were very accommodating."

By day's end, fewer than 400 citizens had voted at The Gathering Place, out of 1,500 eligible. Other precincts had similar stories.

Workers at Precinct #12, at the library, said they noted about 40 voters who were sent there from other precincts. And they sent a similar number elsewhere, most to First Baptist Church, one of the new polling sites.

Changes in Fayette precinct locations were necessitated by shifts in population, said Carolyn Combs, Fayette County elections manager. Precincts are designed to number fewer than 2,000 registered voters. On Jan. 1, six polling places were added to relieve crowding at some of the county's fastest-growing precincts. Four of them were in Peachtree City.

A small turn-out for the March local options sales tax referendum meant that there were many for whom the July primary was the first election since the change. Poll workers are braced for an even larger number of confused voters coming to the polls in November.

"New precinct cards were sent out," Combs said. "Voters were notified of the change. But every time we make a change, we go through this."

More than 17,000 of Fayette County's 47,663 registered voters had changes in their polling places this year. The changes are made in the elections office computer, which is linked to the master computer in the Secretary of State's office. The change cards are printed at the state level, but sent to Fayette County for mailing, Combs said.

Kelsey pointed out that the mailing includes a Fayette County return address. Combs said many were returned, coming back with new addresses, or stamped "forwarding time expired."

"We follow up with every one that we can," Combs said, "but we can only do so much where no forwarding addresses exist."

Other factors that led to confusion included:

Directions to other polling places. Voters who were sent to "the library" went to the upper level, not realizing that the polling site is at the back of the building on the lower level, next door to the police station. By the time they had walked down the steps or moved their cars once more, voters' sense of civic duty was in disarray.

Having to declare a party. Many states do primaries differently, and Cook said voters expressed resentment for a procedure that seems to force them to announce publicly for one party over the other. In Georgia, the two parties hold simultaneous primaries, and voters must vote in one or the other in order to have a say in most state and local races.

Identification. I.D. is required now, and may be any state-issued license, certain court documents, employee I.D., or a Social Security card but NOT a voter registration card. Not to worry: those without I.D. may sign a statement on the spot swearing that they are who they say they are.