Special election qualifying yields single candidate
Jessica Brewster Payton is set to run unopposed in the Nov. 2 race for Cedartown City Commission.
Only one candidate put their name in the hat after three days of qualifying last week for the Cedartown City Commission special election.
Jessica Brewster Payton, who is currently serving her first term on the board, was the only person to qualify for her seat after the race was reopened, meaning she is set to run unopposed in the November election.
Sparked by a returned check by Payton for the qualifying fee for the original qualifying period last month, the special election will be held in conjunction with November’s municipal general election and be on the Nov. 2 ballot.
County Elections Director Brande Coggins reported Payton submitted paperwork and payment on Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 15, to qualify for the special election.
Payton said she had planned to qualify in a previous statement that described the chain of events that led to the returned check and her disqualification from the municipal general election.
With only the three incumbents qualifying for the three city commission seats up for election this year, Payton’s disqualification led to less than the number needed to fill the seats with qualified candidates. That had county and city attorneys going over Georgia state law and determining to hold a special election for the seat currently held by Payton.
The other two Cedartown City Commissioners who qualified for November’s election — Sam Branch and Matt Foster — are unopposed and will
retain their seats for another term as well.
While there will be some extra cost for the city of Cedartown associated with the special election, Coggins said it will be much less than if they weren’t able to hold
it in conjunction with the Nov. 2 election. The majority of the increase in cost will come from administration and attorney fees, according to Coggins.
The call for the special election is pushing back the county’s election office’s logic and accuracy testing of all of it’s voting machines and equipment, which was originally set for
Monday, Sept. 20.
With the new race needing to be added to the ballot for Cedartown voters, the office will have to wait for the final ballot to be provided and uploaded to the voting machines. Coggins said she hopes to hold the testing, which is open to the public, before the end of the month.
Early voting for the Nov.
2 election in Polk County is scheduled to start Oct. 12 and run on weekdays through Oct. 29, with Saturday voting open on Oct. 16 and 23. Locations will be the Polk County Elections Office as well as the Nathan Dean Community Center in Rockmart. The Rockmart location will not be open on Oct. 23.
The Nov. 2 election will
include contested races for Rockmart City Council Ward 1 and Aragon City Council, while also featuring alcohol referendums for each of the three cities. A vote on an extension of the current Education Special Purpose, Local Option Sales Tax for the Polk School District will also be put to all Polk County voters.