Ware County Board of Elections’ Supervisor of Elections Carlos Nelson updated board members on preparations for the General Election, November 8.
Nelson spoke during the monthly meeting stating preparations are going smoothly, the Logic and Accuracy (L&A) testing has been completed and the Board of Elections is ready for the election that is just a few weeks away.
Early voting begins Monday, October 17 and will run through Friday, November 4 for the 22,252 registered voters in Ware County.
There are two early voting locations — the Board of Elections office, 408 Tebeau Street, and the Ware County Administration Building, 305 Oak Street. Two Saturdays, October 22 and 29, also will be available for early voting.
Voting hours are 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturdays at both locations.
Absentee ballots can be requested until Friday, October 28 by contacting the board office.
Absentee ballots will be opened and scanned no sooner than 1 p.m. election day (November 8). There have been 567 absentee ballot applications requested so far. No tallies will be made before 7 p.m. on election night.
Ruth McCoy, head of poll workers and training, reported the recommended number of poll workers needed in Ware County is 139. She said there are currently 79 poll workers trained and ready to work making a shortage of 60. Poll worker applications are available at the election office.
Focus turned to the possibility of runoff elections. By state law, runoffs must occur within 30 days of the General Election, making Tuesday, December 6 the date for any runoff.
With certification, ballot preparation and proofreading, L&A testing, and machine preparation, there is little time to get prepared for the runoff. L&A testing will occur the week of November 21.
Early voting for the runoff will be from Monday, November 28 thru Friday, December 2 with no Saturday voting. The deadline to request absentee ballots for the runoff is Friday, November 25.
During the public comment period, Secretary of the Ware County Republican Party Debra Giddens said candidate signs are being removed within a few days of placement. She recognized the board had no authority over this and was asked to report it to the proper policing authority. It is a Class 3 misdemeanor to remove or destroy campaign signs before an election.
The next scheduled meeting will be at 5 p.m. Monday, November 14 at the board office for certification of the General Election results. All meetings are open to the public.
Members present for the recent meeting were Chairman Clarence Billups, Vice Chairman Danny Bartlett, Rodney Brown, Shawn Taylor and Ludeane Whitfield.
More voting information can be found at My Voter Page: www.mvp.sos.ga.gov.
