Early voting totals above 6,000 in Polk to start week
As the last week of early voting before the Nov. 8 election draws comes to a close, Polk County voters continue to go to the polls in big numbers with more than 6,000 people casting ballots.
As of press time on Monday, Oct. 31, Polk County had 6,829 votes both in person and absentee mail-in ballots returned to the Board of Elections.
Paper ballots can still be requested as well, and must be re-turned no later than 7 p.m. on Nov. 8 to be counted in the 2016 general election. Call 770-7492103 for more on how to obtain an absentee ballot.
Early voting continues through
Nov. 4 at the Nathan Dean Center in Rockmart and the Board of Elections office within the Polk County Administraton offices starting at 9 a.m. to close at both locations.
Want to check voter registration status? Visit http:// www. mvp. sos. ga. gov/ MVP/ mvp. do to check. Voter regis-tration ended on Oct. 10 in the state.
This year's election locally features one countywide con- tested race for the Probate Court between incumbent Judge Linda Smith and challenger Shannon McGee. The District 3 school board seat held by incumbent Scottie Worthington is also up on the ballot this year in a race between her and in-dependent challenger James "J.P." Foster.
Aragon residents are also voting in local races following a turbulent year for the city council. The mayor's race to replace Brenda Gazaway, who died in office in June, features Melisa Hughes, Garry Baldwin and Steve "Skip" Elders. A council race between Debora Pittman and Kelsey Collum is also on the ballot for the seat held by former councilman and acting mayor Curtis Burrus, who also died in office in August.
A slate of uncontested races are also up locally, along with state house and senate candidates and the Congressional seat held by Tom Graves.
The U.S. Senate race features Johnny Isakson and Jim Barksdale is also up for vote, along with the hottest topic in the fall campaign the race for President between Donald Trump, Hillary Clinton and on the Georgia ballot, Gary John-son and their running mates for vice president.