Civic Center polls open this weekend
Early voting continues through next week for commission race, ‘brunch bill;’ 2nd weekday location to open Monday
Early voting for Rome City Commission and the “brunch bill” continues this week and through the end of next week, including weekend voting at the Rome Civic Center on Oct. 26 and 27.
Polls are open at the Floyd County Health Department at 16 E. 12th St. from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and the same hours at the Floyd County Administration Building at 12 E. Fourth Ave. starting Monday. Weekend voting on Jackson Hill runs 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 1 to 5 p.m. Sunday.
On Election Day, Nov. 5, polls will be open in the various precincts from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Floyd County Chief Clerk of Elections Robert Brady had initially scheduled early voting to occur only during the week, arguing the city did not specifically request weekend voting before he made the schedule official within the required 60-day window before the election.
City commissioners and local civil rights activists from such organizations as the NAACP and 100 Black Men of Rome-northwest Georgia made a case to the Floyd County Board of Elections and Voter Registration for adding Saturday and Sunday voting during a called meeting Oct. 15. The city already had secured the Civic Center for Oct. 2627 prior to that meeting.
There are 19,179 registered voters in Rome. As of the close of business Monday, 219 people cast ballots within the first six days of early voting for three City Commission seats each in Wards 1 and 3 and whether they want to allow local establishments to serve alcohol on Sundays beginning at 11 a.m., instead of the current 12:30 p.m.
All Rome voters are able to vote for the nonpartisan candidates in both wards.
The five candidates running in Ward 1 include incumbents Sundai Stevenson, Milton Slack and Bill Irmscher, as well as challengers Mark Cochran and Jim Bojo. The four candidates running in Ward 3 include incumbents Bill Collins and Craig Mcdaniel and challengers Bonny Askew and J.J. Walker Seifert.