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One more chance to cast a vote

Early voting underway for judicial runoff

By J. FRANK LYNCH
jflynch@theCItizenNews.com

Have you voted yet?

Advance voting is taking place this week for the one race still to be decided from Nov. 2’s General Election.

Neither Howard Mead or Debra Bernes managed to draw a majority of the votes two weeks ago for a seat on the state Court of Appeals, so the two top vote getters are facing each other in a runoff Tuesday.

The nonpartisan race is the only one on the ballot.

Even so, because the judgeship is a statewide office, the runoff must be treated as any other, with time allowed for advance voting, absentee voting and voting by mail.

But whereas the election that returned George W. Bush to the White House earlier this month set records for voter turnout, officials say next week’s runoff may set a record of its own, in the opposite direction.

More than 7,000 people stood in line for advance voting at the Fayette County Elections Office in Fayetteville during the last week of October, some waiting up to an hour.

That ballot, of course, had several high-profile initiatives in addition to the election of public officials, including a SPLOST for road improvements, which voters narrowly passed.

Fayette County Elections Superintendent Carolyn Combs said she doesn’t expect interest in the Mead-Berne runoff to come close to that of the earlier election.

Contributing to the potentially low turnout is the fact the runoff comes two days before Thanksgiving, when schools are closed and many families are traveling away from home.

Even so, Combs and her staff have to set up the advance voting precinct, mail out and process any requested absentee ballots, and deal with military and overseas mail ballots.

And next Tuesday, they’ll have to set up and staff 36 polling places throughout the county to handle whoever shows up to vote.

Officials estimate the single runoff will cost more than $1 million statewide.