Chatham County Board of Elections member Debbie Rauers has resigned from her position after allegations that she hit a woman with her car at a polling location on Tuesday.
Savannah Now reports that Rauers confirmed her resignation and sent an email announcing it to the members of the board including Board of Elections Chairman Tom Mahoney.
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“I am deeply concerned about allegations that have been leveled against Debbie, and certainly, we accept her resignation,” Mahoney said. He mentioned that Rauers said she was considering resigning in December 2020 due to a “dramatic change in the culture of the board,” but decided to wait until after the Jan. 5 runoff elections.
Rauers claimed to be her Black colleague, Malinda Hodges, after striking the young Latina woman named Christina Magaña with her vehicle. Rauers eventually left the scene.
Magaña was organizing a Latinos for Black Votes event with Black Lives Matter in Savannah, Georgia ahead of the Senate runoff elections. According to Magaña, she said Rauers questioned if she had permits after pulling into a parking spot that was intended for a food truck.
“She said ‘I’m Linda with the Board of Elections.’ I think that’s what she said. I take two steps back, and she yells, ‘Get your butt out of the way. Do you want me to run you over?’ And she then hit me with her car,” Magaña recalled.
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Savannah Business Journal reported that in an interview, Rauers said “I’m not down at the Board of Elections. I decided not to go down. I’m just so sick of young Black kids shoving their phones in my face. I’m just so sick of these young Black kids.”
Rauers, one of two Republicans on the board, has been no stranger to controversy. Election board members voted to censure Rauers twice since 2016 due to “a pattern of interference with elections workers in the course of elections work.”
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