Some city-dwelling Fayette voters will have to make two trips this Nov. 3 to enable them to vote in their municipal election and also on the Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST).

Some residents in Peachtree City, Fayetteville and Tyrone will have to go to two separate precincts to vote. The change only affects those voters who go to different precincts for county and city elections, county elections chief Tom Sawyer said.

Voters from the following county voting precincts will have to go to their county precinct to vote on the SPLOST and then their regular city precinct.

In Fayetteville:

• Precinct #1 Blackrock
• Precinct #4 Fayetteville East
• Precinct #8 Morning Creek
• Precinct #14 Whitewater
• Precinct #25 Jeff Davis
• Precinct #26 Willow Pond

In Peachtree City:

• Precinct #14 Whitewater
• Precinct #34 Rising Starr

In Tyrone:

• Precinct #10 Sandy Creek
• Precinct #27 Dogwood

Other city voters are fortunate because their precincts are the same for county and city elections. But even they will be inconvenienced a bit, as the SPLOST vote must take place on a separate voting machine than the municipal elections, Sawyer explained.

Sawyer said Thursday night that the county had hoped to make it easier on city voters by having the ballots on one machine and allow city voters to vote on the SPLOST at their city precincts. But the Georgia Secretary of State’s office has deemed that impossible, Sawyer explained.

Because the SPLOST is a county-wide referendum, all regular county precincts will be open for business Nov. 3 even though the only other elections this year are for municipal seats.

Sawyer proposed to the Fayette County Commission that the elections office mail postcards to the voters who will have to go to two different precincts. But Commissioner Eric Maxwell said the county needed to be careful with the language on that mailing because state law prohibits the county from “promoting” a SPLOST.

“I’m uncomfortable spending money to promote a SPLOST. ... That’s how it’s going to be couched,” Maxwell said.

Commissioner Lee Hearn said he also had a problem with spending money on the postcards. It would cost the county approximately $2,800.

The commission delayed a decision on the postcard mailing since it won’t need to happen until October.

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