As early voting surges, campaigning continues in Athens-Clarke County, despite the break-in and vandalization of county Democratic headquarters over the weekend.
They want to do more canvassing shifts because they felt like this was like some kind of intimidation.Tim Denson, ACC Democrats Chair
ACC Commissioner Tim Denson is the chair of the county’s Democratic Party. He said that the break-in appears politically motivated.
"It doesn't seem like theft was really the intent of this," Denson told WUGA. "It seemed more like intimidation." Denson added that a similar opinion was expressed by Athens-Clarke County police officers at the scene.
Despite the concerns the incident has caused, Denson says local activists are motivated to work harder in the last seven days of the election.
"They want to do more canvassing shifts because they felt like this was like some kind of intimidation," Denson said. "And in the face of that, you know, they didn't want to cower, they instead wanted to fight back harder."
Still, Denson says, the party will be adding extra security measures.
"We're now going to be getting cameras put in just because of this situation in case it happens again," Denson said. He also noted that the Democratic Party of Georgia is providing assistance to the local party to hire security officers and that ACC Police would be checking on the office during time when it is unoccupied.
