Attorney General Baker rules that law requiring that a vote must be taken in public means that a vote must be taken in public

The 8-25-04 Macon Telegraph reports that it has obtained an opinion from Attorney General Thurbert Baker saying that secret ballots violate open meetings laws.

The Houston County Board of Education acknowledged that votes taken on issues and policies should be open, but argued that leadership votes (chairperson and vice chairperson) should not because it was tradition to vote in secret.