Early voting under way in Southwest Georgia races

ALBANY — With the first week of early voting over, officials are looking for the public to continue to turn out to cast a vote ahead of the May 20 election.

Ginger Nickerson, elections supervisor in Dougherty County, said Friday morning that 224 people had come into the elections office on the second floor of the Government Center at 222 Pine Ave. since early voting began on Monday. In addition, there were 221 absentee ballots mailed out, she said.

On Monday, Dougherty elections officials saw 93 people, after which the numbers dwindled later in the week — with the inclement weather likely being a contributing factor. There are about 50,000 registered voters in Dougherty County, Nickerson said. Twenty-eight precincts will be open on Election Day — during which there will be several school board, county commission and state House and Senate seats up for grabs.

“We prepare for them all (the voters) to come out,” Nickerson said. “We would love to see them in the office as well.

“We just want everyone to come out to the polls and exercise their right.”

Veronica Johnson, the elections supervisor in Lee County said that, at the end of business on Thursday, there had been 72 early ballots cast and 45 absentee ballots mailed out.

“Bad weather has hampered it, and we’ve also struggled with our phone lines, so people may not have been able to find out when we are open, but we are open and ready (for people) to cast their ballots here,” she said.

Given that there are some races, such a Georgia Senate seat, and a $11.75 million general bond referendum for the Lee County School System, on table, it’s particularly important to have a decent turnout, Johnson said.

There is still time for the voter activity to pick up, especially since the trend is for the traffic to start off slow and then get heavier.

“That is definitely the trend,” Johnson said. “If you looked at other county numbers, they would have the same thing,.Primaries are usually smaller than the general election. If we could have 40 percent, that would be great.”

With certain factors potentially hurting early voter turnout, Johnson said there is a clear advantage to avoid waiting until May 20.

“Very rarely do you have a line. You are in and out in just a few minutes,” she said of the early voting.

In Dougherty and Lee counties, the contested offices include the U.S. House of Representatives Second Congressional District, Georgia Senate District 13, Georgia House of Representatives districts 151, 152, 153, Dougherty County Commission Chair, Dougherty County Commission districts 4 and 6, Dougherty County School Board districts 4 and 6, Lee County Commission District 1 and Lee County School Board 1. In Lee County there is a vote to determine if the county will spend $11.75 million on school improvements, particularly to athletic facilities.

The early voting period ends on May 16, and will include Saturday voting on May 10 from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. — in the Candy Room at 125 Pine Ave. for Dougherty County voters and at 102 Starksville Ave. North in Lee County. In Dougherty, from Monday through Friday of next week, voters will be able to cast their ballots at the Candy Room and the Government Center. The following week, Dougherty voters will only be able to vote at the Government Center.

Throughout the early voting period, Lee County residents have one location at the elections office on Starksville Avenue to put in their vote.

The Dougherty County elections office is open from 8:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Monday through Friday, and the Lee County elections office is open from 8:15 a.m.-5 p.m. on Monday through Friday.