Fulton elections director Samuel Westmoreland resigns after arrest

The elections director for Fulton County has resigned after being jailed for violating probation on a 2009 drunken driving conviction.

Police arrested Samuel Westmoreland last week for a probation violation linked to a prior DUI arrest.

The Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections announced on Monday that Westmoreland submitted his resignation while serving a 10-day jail sentence.

"Quite frankly, no one knew that he was in jail until we saw the mug shot," said elections board chairman Rod Edmond.

Edmond said that Westmoreland had explained his absence by saying he had to go see his mother.

Edmond said that the board had been aware of Westmoreland's 2009 DUI conviction. He said that Westmoreland had been selected for the job because he appeared to be most qualified of the applicants.  

Westmoreland had been criticized for several issues in Fulton County's July primary.

Sharon Mitchell has been named interim elections director. She said the county was prepared for the upcoming November 6 presidential election.

"We feel that we stand ready to do a good election," said Mitchell. "We have about 7,000 absentee ballots that are hitting the streets between today and tomorrow. We have about 2,100 poll workers trained and ready for the upcoming elections, so we believe that we stand ready.

Edmond said it would "be a clean, efficient election."