Albany Ward II residents have Oct. 10 deadline to register to vote
Lone contested Albany City Commission race to be decided Nov. 7
File Photo
By Jim Hendricks
ALBANY — As expected, there will be only one City Commission race on Albany ballots for the Nov. 7 municipal election.
Dougherty County Elections office officials said last week that since only one candidate qualified for each of two seats that were up for election, there would be no election conducted to fill those seats. Commissioners B.J. Fletcher and Bob Langstaff, respectively, will return to represent Ward III and V.
Ward II, meanwhile, has five candidates vying to represent it. Incumbent Commissioner Bobby Coleman, seeking his second four-year term, is being challenged the by the man he unseated, former Commissioner Ivey Hines, and three others: Haryl Dabney, Camia Hopson and Matt Fuller.
Elections officials said that residents of Ward II who are not not already registered have until Oct. 10 to do so if they want to cast a ballot in the commission race. Registration forms are available in room 220 of the Government Center on Pine Avenue, any Dougherty County public library and any agency that provides public assistance, elections officials said.
Polls will be open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Nov. 7. If no candidate in the Ward II contest garners a simple majority of the votes cast, a runoff will be conducted Dec. 5.
Elections officials say they will conduct logic and accuracy testing of the touchscreen voting machines at the elections office in the Government Center and the elections warehouse in room G-2 of the Judicial Building beginning at 8:30 a.m. Oct. 11.
Voters in Ward II will have at least one chance to see the candidates and hear from them before they cast their ballots in the municipal election. The Albany Civil Rights Institute, 326 Whitney Ave., will host a political forum at 6:30 p.m. Oct. 12.
ACRI Executive Director W. Frank Wilson said, “It is very important that our citizens be informed about the vision of those who seek our votes.”
Wilson said the forum will not be a debate format. Each candidate will be allowed to speak directly to the audience.
Elections officials said that any Albany resident who is uncertain of where he or she votes can contact the office at (229) 431-3247.
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