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Local speaker urges Cordele City residents to register and turn out for spring elections
Summary
At an MLK Day commemoration in Cordele City, community organizer Davian McIll urged residents to register, warned that some names were removed from voter rolls, and outlined March 2–6 qualifying dates for upcoming local elections, including a special at‑large school board contest.
Davian McIll urged attendees at a Martin Luther King Jr. Day program at Allen Temple A Church in Cordele City to register and vote in upcoming municipal and school-board elections, saying turnout is the community’s best path to influence local decision‑making.
"Voting is the only thing they recognize and that they respect," McIll said, exhorting listeners to stop blaming one another and to take part in the electoral process. He distributed a summary of election dates and said candidate qualifying is scheduled for March 2–6.
McIll described several seats that will be on ballots in 2026: two county commission seats and three school‑board seats, including an at‑large school‑board seat to be filled through a special election that, he said, goes directly to November without a primary. He warned that fees for qualifying had not yet been set. He also noted that many names were recently removed from the rolls during an expungement process and urged attendees to check their registration before election day; voter‑registration forms were made available in the church foyer.
McIll described recent turnout levels in mixed terms: he said the community previously saw between "4,000–6,000" eligible voters in some contests and that countywide registration is now "almost 12,580 something" — figures he presented as approximate. He framed the gap between eligible voters and those who actually cast ballots as a key local problem and called for organized efforts to recruit and prepare candidates and to get people to the polls.
The remarks combined practical guidance (where to obtain registration forms and how to qualify as a candidate) with appeals to civic responsibility. McIll also encouraged families to register 17½‑year‑olds so they remain eligible to vote locally while at college.
The program organizers and local NAACP representatives said they will provide additional help to prospective candidates and voters who need assistance with registration and qualification materials. McIll closed by urging action rather than complaint: "If you don't vote, shut up and move out of the way," he said.
Next steps: attendees were asked to check registration status, take QR‑linked or printed forms from the foyer, and contact the local NAACP chapter for help qualifying candidates or resolving registration issues.
