City elections affected by new state laws
♦ Early voting starts Tuesday in Rome and Cave Spring.
Voters in Cave Spring and the city of Rome start casting their ballots Tuesday for the Nov. 2 elections that will decide local government and school board representatives.
Early in-person voting runs through Oct. 29. A new state law narrows the time to request an absentee-by-mail ballot. Oct. 22 is the last day the elections office can send them.
All seven Rome City Board of Education seats will be filled from a field of nine candidates.
Political newcomers Tracy Mcdew, Pascha Burge and Ron Roach are in the mix along with incumbents Faith Collins, Jill Fisher, Melissa Davis, Will Byington, Alvin Jackson and John Uldrick. Each Rome voter can select up to seven.
Three of the nine Rome City Commission seats are on the ballot and six candidates are vying for a spot.
Two incumbents, Jamie Doss and Randy Quick, are running for reelection. Elaina Beeman Victor Hixon, Tyrone Holland and Lugina Brown also are seeking a seat. Voters can mark up to three of them on the ballot.
In Cave Spring, three of the five City Council seats are on the ballot as separate races and each incumbent has a challenger.
Post 3 pits Jason West against incumbent Nellie Mccain. Post 4 is Stacey Royston versus incumbent Charles Jackson. Post 5 is Steven Pierce or incumbent Nancy Fricks. All eligible Cave Spring voters can pick one in each contest.
Georgia voters can check their eligibility, representatives and other information on the secretary of state’s Georgia My Voter Page website.
Cave Spring City Clerk Judy Dickinson is elections supervisor for her city. Early voting is open during the week from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. at City Hall, 10 Georgia Ave. Saturday voting will be available from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Oct. 16 and 23.
Rome elections are conducted through a contract with the Floyd County Elections Department, 12 E. Fourth Ave. It will be open for early voting from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. during the week; from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 16 and 23; and from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sunday, Oct. 24.
A second early voting location, at the Rome Civic Center on Jackson Hill, opens Oct. 18. It will be open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. — including the weekend — through Oct. 29.
Rome voters by mail must ensure their ballots are returned by 7 p.m. on Election Day. Those who prefer to hand-carry them can put them in the drop box in the county elections office during business hours. A new state law allows just one drop box per county, inside a monitored location.