Election day for the runoff between Ty Akins and Jason Hogan for the District 5 County Commission seat is underway. The District 5 seat serves the Clarkesville area, and at the Habersham North voting precinct, located in the Ruby Fulbright Aquatic Center, a steady flow of voters has kept poll workers busy.
“Today has been busier than we were expecting it to be,” Poll Manager Steve Lindley said. “[There are] not any major lines, but there’s been a steady flow of people, so that’s been encouraging for this type of an election.”
Election day has gone smoothly so far at the Clarkesville precinct, which receives the most voting traffic in the county and serves the majority of Clarkesville’s voters. Issues have mostly involved voters arriving at the wrong precinct, much like election day on Nov. 2.
Lindley and Poll Worker Pam Garrett did have a curveball thrown at them during voting when one voter’s ID didn’t match their voter registration. Lindley, Garrett and the elections office were able to solve the problem quickly once they discovered the issue— the voter’s name was spelled incorrectly on the voter registration.
The elections team was able to get the issue resolved so the citizen could vote in today’s runoff election.
Lindley says that even with the Clarkesville precinct’s poll worker team moving voting along efficiently, and a higher voter turnout than he expected, he’s still saddened by the fraction of the county’s voters participating in the election. He says that during the runoff, the turnout is an even smaller number than the number of people who voted in the municipal and special election earlier this month.
“The sad part is, that’s somewhat expected because a lot of people might not turn out with just two names on the ballot,” Lindley said. “But, the interest of the people that are here has been good.”
Polls close at 7 p.m. today, and voters should report to their city-assigned precinct to vote.
