Board of elections chairman resigns

Wendell Stone, chairman of the Coffee County Board of Elections and Registration, has resigned from the board.

The Coalition for Good Governance, an election security organization that has been very vocal regarding the Coffee County election breaches that took place in January of 2021, insisted that Stone resign in a petition it released last week. The CGG alleged that Stone was ineligible to serve on the board because he also works part-time for South Georgia State College, which is a violation of the election board’s by-laws. The CGG also accused Stone of being unfit to serve because of actions he took — or didn’t take — in the wake of the 2021 breaches.

Tuesday afternoon, Stone stated that he had resigned because he was ineligible to serve due to his employment at SGSC. He had two choices once that was brought to light — resign from SGSC or step down from the election board. He chose the latter. 

Stone has served on the election board since 2017. However, he stated that he did not know anything about the breaches. “My resignation is a policy violation. It doesn’t have anything to do with the breaches. I don’t want to violate the law — either knowingly or unknowingly,” he said Tuesday afternoon.

Stone has always maintained that he had nothing to do with the breaches and he reiterated that Tuesday. “I had nothing to do with the breaches. I didn’t know about them. I didn't allow them. I didn’t encourage them,” he said.

The county has not released a statement about Stone’s resignation or a timeline regarding naming his replacement.