Voters lining up at Bulloch County’s 16 precinct polling places Tuesday will finish deciding two referendums on local sales taxes and one on liquor stores, plus two contests for seats on the county Board of Commissioners.

Of course, local voters are also doing their part in contests for governor and several other statewide races, as well as a U.S. Senate race that is drawing national attention. More than 25% of Bulloch County’s 50,043 registered voters cast ballots early in-person during the previous three weeks or have returned absentee ballots.

For the rest, polls are open 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. in each voter’s assigned precinct.

Bulloch County Election Supervisor Shontay Jones isn’t making a prediction of how soon the votes will all be counted after the polls close.

“No, I hope it’s early so I can get out of here at a reasonable time for everybody involved,” she said.  “But at the end of the day, we just want to be able to have an election where everything that we’ve done is accurate.  So I don’t have a prediction.”

E-SPLOST

Last summer, the Board of Education and the county Board of Commissioners acted separately to put questions for five-year extensions of two 1% special purpose local option sales taxes, the Education SPLOST and Transportation SPLOST, on the ballot.

The E-SPLOST funds capital spending for the Bulloch County Schools, such as school and athletic facility construction and school bus, technology and security equipment purchases. In fact, this tax was first approved by voters in 2003, and extensions were approved by substantial majorities in 2005, 2009 and 2017. The previous four installments of the tax, including the current E-SPLOST 4, cumulatively have collected about $218 million, Hayley Greene, the Bulloch County Schools public relations director, reported in an October press release.

A renewal now would prevent a lapse and keep the tax continuous. Construction of a new Southeast Bulloch High School, to allow the current SEB High to be repurposed as a middle school and accommodate more students in the southeastern part of the county, is the major project proposed for the next E-SPLOST installment.

T-SPLOST

Meanwhile, the Transportation SPLOST, first approved by a majority of Bulloch County voters in May 2018, is up for its first proposed renewal, also for another five years. It also faced early expiration because of a $60 million revenue cap.

The county government and cities of Statesboro, Brooklet, Portal and Register all receive shares, now projected at up to $72 million for the next five years, if approved. This revenue funds street and road improvements and maintenance, projects at the airport through the county and Statesboro’s planned small-bus transit system, as well as equipment purchases for the same purposes.

Also on the ballot is the county government’s proposal to license liquor stores in unincorporated parts of the county. A majority of Statesboro voters authorized them within the city limits last year.

Commission races

All Bulloch voters have had an opportunity to choose one member of the Board of Commissioners in a two-candidate, two-party race this fall.

In District 2, which encompasses roughly two-thirds of the county’s population, the race is between Democratic candidate Jake Hallman and Republican candidate Toby Conner for Seat 2-B. This is the seat currently held by Commissioner Walter Gibson, a Republican, who did not seek re-election and will retire from the board in December.

Hallman was unopposed for his party’s nomination in the May 24 primary. Conner originally placed second in a closely divided three-candidate Republican primary but then won a June 21 runoff to be the party’s nominee.

Voters in District 1, the majority-minority district encompassing roughly one-third of the county’s population, are deciding between Democratic incumbent Anthony Simmons and Republican challenger Preston Tutt III for Seat 1-B.

Early turnout

During the 17 days of early voting in Bulloch County, 11,344 voters cast ballots in-person with the electronic system. Additionally, as of Monday afternoon, 1,215 no-excuse paper absentee ballots, plus 21 of the electronic or paper absentee ballots allowed for military service members and U.S. citizens overseas, had been returned to the elections office.

So 12,580 voters, or 25% of the 50,043 total registered, had already cast ballots. Georgia election officials generally base turnout reports on the count of registered voters on the active list, which in Bulloch County was 44,927 coming into this election. On that basis, the early turnout would be 28%.

Regular, paper absentee ballots already issued can be counted if returned to the election office by the close of polls at 7 p.m. Overseas and miliary ballots postmarked by Election Day are counted if received within three days after.

Voters can find specific information about their registration, polling place and sample ballot online at https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/.

Voters heading to the polls should remember that a Georgia driver’s license or voter or college student ID or other state or federal government-issued, valid identification card or acceptable photo ID is required.