Polk voters turn out early for state runoffs

Despite only being able to have one polling location open, Polk County election officials were pleased that more than 2,700 people cast their ballots in the first week of early voting for Georgia’s Jan. 5 runoff elections.

Elections Coordinator Brande Coggins said numbers are tracking similarly with the amount of early voting for the Nov. 3 general election, which means they could be looking at a record turnout for a runoff election.

“We’re hoping by the end of all of advance voting to be close to 8,000 if everything stays the same, and that would be pretty close to where we were for the Nov. 3 election,” Coggins said. “We wish we could have had our Rockmart location open, but due to staffing issues it just wasn’t feasible at the start of early voting this time.”

Early voting in the runoffs for both of Georgia’s U.S. Senate seats and District 4 Public Service Commissioner began last Monday, with a total of 666 voters coming out to the Polk County Elections and Registration office in Cedartown.

Polk County voters are able to vote in person at the county elections office inside the Polk County annex building at 144 West Ave. in Cedartown from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Dec. 22-23, and Dec. 28-31.

Early voting will also be available at the Nathan Dean Community Center at 604 Goodyear St. in Rockmart from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. from Dec. 28-31 only.

While the elections office saw an average of a little over 500 voters a day during the first week of early voting, Coggins said wait times were at a minimum and all voting equipment worked smoothly.

Coggins said they are trying to work ahead of any technical difficulties they may have when the Rockmart location opens for early voting on Monday since it is a separate site from the elections office.

Officials have also received more than 1,300 completed absentee ballots for the Jan. 5 election, with more expected in the coming weeks. Voters have until 7 p. m. on Jan. 5 to return their absentee ballot to the elections office.

Coggins said they hope the healthy early voting numbers cut down on election day crowds when all seven of Polk County’s polling precincts will be open.

Georgia’s U.S. Senate races have been the subject of media and political attention as they will help dictate the final makeup of the Senate.

Republican incumbent Sen. David Perdue is facing Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff, while Sen. Kelly Loeffler is going up against Democrat Rev. Ralphael Warnock. The District 4 Public Service Commission seat is up between Republican incumbent Lauren “Bubba” McDonald and Democrat Daniel Blackman.