Early Voting Underway for November Election

Early and absentee voting is underway for the November General and Special Elections.

Early voting began Monday and runs through Friday, October 30th. The General Election is Tuesday, November 3. There will be no early voting on Monday, November 2.

To cast an early ballot, voters will go to their local Elections and Registrations office in their county.

In Hart County, voters will go to the Elections and Registrations office on Cade St. in Hartwell.  For Franklin County, voters will go to the Elections and Registrations office in downtown Carnesville.  Additionally, voters can order absentee ballots and vote absentee.

Franklin County Elections Supervisor Gina Chappalear said you don’t need a reason to request an absentee ballot, just call her office or your local Registrar’s office, request one, and it will be mailed to you. Sample ballots are also available by mail.

For Franklin County voters, this election will be a little different and may cause some confusion on Election Day. 

First, this is the first election with fewer voter precincts.  Earlier this year, the Franklin County Board of Elections voted to pare down the number of precincts from 13 to seven.

However, with the combination of county and municipal elections going on, voters who live in one Franklin County municipality will have to vote in two places on November 3rd, according to Chappalear.

“City of Lavonia residents, if they live in the City, will have to go to City Hall to vote in the City elections and then travel over to the Community Center to vote for the county portion of that ballot,” she said.

Chappalear said Carnesville voters will still go to the Carnesville Fire Department, Canon voters will go to Canon City Hall, and Royston and Franklin Springs voters will go to Royston City Hall.

However, voters living in the County will go to their new precincts on Election Day.

“Gumlog and Wellborn were combined into one. It will be called Northeast Franklin and they will vote at Gumlog BBQ,” Chappalear said. “Flintsville, Strange and the northern part of Ashland on one side of I-85 were combined. It will be called West Franklin. They will vote at Double Churches Fire Department. Then the last group that was combined will be called, Southwest Franklin. It combines Dooley, Middle River, Gunnels and the other half of Ashland. They will continue to vote at the Sandy Cross Fire Department.” 

New voter precinct cards have already been mailed out, according to Chappalear, which lists the new poling place.   Anyone with questions about early or absentee voting or where to vote in November, can contact Chappalear at 706-384-4390.