Extra elections add $35,000 to budget

Early voting continues through Friday for the state House special election. ♦

The Floyd County Commission added another $35,000 Tuesday to this year’s budget for the Elections and Registration Department.

“That’s to cover the runoff and the special election for Christian Coomer’s seat, which is currently going on,” County Manager Jamie McCord said.

A statewide runoff Dec. 4 for the secretary of state and a Public Service Commission seat included a week of early voting.

Advance voting runs through Friday for the Dec. 18 state House District 14 race to replace Coomer. The bulk of the district is in Bartow County. Chief Elections Clerk Robert Brady said just five Floyd County voting precincts are affected: Barkers, Chulio, Etowah, Howell and part of North Rome.

“We’ve only had about two dozen voters so far,” Brady said.

Early voting is at the Floyd County Administration Building, 12 E. Fourth Ave., from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. All eligible precincts will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on election day.

Four Bartow County Republicans are running: Coomer’s father, Ken Coomer; Nickie Leighly, a small business owner; Mitchell Scoggins, a retired probate court judge; and Nathan Wilson, owner of Wilson Contracting Co.

Also on Tuesday, the County Commission appointed Dr. Tom Rees to chair the three-member Floyd County Elections Board for 2019.

Terms end Dec. 31 for current chair Steve Miller and Mardi Haynes Jackson. They are being replaced by Melanie Conrad and John Scott Husser, who assisted in the Nov. 6 general election to gain some experience before their four-year terms begin.