The race for party nominations in six local hotly-contested political contests is coming down to the wire. Republican candidates for Habersham County Commissioner Districts 1 and 4, District 10 State Representative, and District 50 State Senate are in the runoff along with Republican and Democratic candidates for 9th District Congress. They’re entering the final weekend of one of the longest campaigns in recent memory.
The candidates have spent the better part of the past five months on the campaign trail in pursuit of their party’s nomination. They had an extra three weeks of campaigning because the pandemic pushed May’s scheduled primary to June 9.
The top two vote-getters in races where no one took more than 50% of the vote were thrown into the August 11 runoff.
Early voting ends
Early voting in the runoff ended Friday. During the three weeks that early/advance voting was held, 16.5% of Habersham County’s active registered voters cast ballots. Of those, 2,566 voters went to the polls and 2,055 mailed in absentee ballots, according to figures released by county election supervisor Laurel Ellison.
The Habersham County Elections Office mailed out a total of 3,404 absentee ballots. So far, 1,349 of them have not been returned.
Polls will reopen from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on election day, Tuesday, August 11. Absentee voters have until the polls close Tuesday to get their ballots in to be counted.
Sample ballots
If you voted in the June 9 primary or were registered to vote by July 13 you may vote in the runoff. Voters who selected a party ballot in June cannot switch parties, but if you voted nonpartisan or did not vote in the primary, you may choose which party ballot you want in the runoff (see sample ballots below).
REPUBLICAN 08-11-2020 RUNOFF 10TH HOUSE DISTRICT
REPUBLICAN 08-11-2020 RUNOFF 28TH HOUSE DISTRICT
If you plan to vote Tuesday, you must vote at your assigned precinct. To find out where it’s located or to check your eligibility to vote, visit the Secretary of State’s My Voter Page or call your local elections office. In Habersham, that number is 706-839-0170.
