The early voting opportunity begins Tuesday, Oct. 14, for the Nov. 4 election that includes Bulloch County’s countywide FLOST and E-SPLOST referendums and also – for Statesboro city residents only – a mayoral race.

Additionally, one of Statesboro’s five council districts, District 1, has a City Council race. Municipal elections in Brooklet, Portal and Register were cancelled after just  one candidate signed up for each post up for election.

Three five-day weeks plus two Saturdays for in-person early voting are usually required by Georgia law for general elections, but this early voting period is shortened by one day because the state observes Monday as the Columbus Day holiday.

In Bulloch County, the only early voting location will be the Board of Elections and Registration office at the County Annex, 113 North Main St., Suite 201. It will be open for that purpose from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, Oct. 14-17, and then Monday through Friday, Oct. 20-24 and Oct. 27-31.

Saturday voting

The County Annex will also be the only place to vote on the two Saturdays, Oct. 18 and Oct 25, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. (Voting hours begin one hour later on Saturday mornings than week days.) In-person early voting is set to cease with the last person who is already in line at the annex at 5 p.m. on Friday, Oct. 31. There will be no early voting on Nov. 1.

But Bulloch County’s 16 precinct polling places will open for their assigned Election Day voters from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 4.

Meanwhile, Tuesday, Oct. 14, is also the first day for the local elections office staff to mail out paper, absentee ballots to people who file requests, but the office has already been receiving applications and had 41 as of Tuesday, said county Elections Supervisor Shontay Jones. The deadline to file an absentee ballot request is Oct. 24, and absentee ballots completed and returned  to the election office by the 7 p.m. close of voting on Nov. 4 can  be counted.

Registration past

However, the voter registration deadline has now passed – it was Monday, Oct. 6. About 2,400 voters’ registrations previously listed in Bulloch County were “cancelled” this year after those individuals did not vote here in eight to 10 years, Jones said.

Although it would be too late to register for this election, voters can check their registration status at the county elections office, or online by visiting the statewide My Voter Page, https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/ .

That’s also a place to check your assigned Election Day polling place and possibly see a sample ballot. Jones is publishing a sample ballot, with added information, in this Thursday’s edition of the Statesboro Herald.

E-SPLOST for schools

One of the two local referendums on the ballot is for a five-year extension of ESPLOST, the Educational Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, as proposed by the Bulloch County Board of Education. It’s one of the county’s four existing local 1% sales taxes, which with the state’s 4% sales tax make the total here 8% on non-exempt items.

With the current ESPLOST tax – the  fifth five-year installment – slated to be collected through September 2028 unless it first reaches its $110 million revenue cap, which appears unlikely, this fall’s “ESPLOST-6” referendum is for the tax to continue to be collected from Oct. 1, 2028 until Sept. 30, 2033, if approved by a majority of voters. It carries a revenue  limit of $175 million – which isn’t forecast  to be reached – and would authorize bonds or  other debt  up to $120 million to fund  construction and be repaid from the tax.

The largest funded project would be the completion of the proposed new 2,000-student Southeast Bulloch High School. But the school board has listed 11 other authorized priorities, including purchases of school buses, instructional materials and software, school furnishings and equipment, as well as temporary portable buildings and renovation work.

FLOST referendum

Also on the ballot, FLOST, the “Floating Local  Option  Sales Tax,” would add a ninth penny of tax in Bulloch County, with the revenue to be used for an eventual reduction in property taxes of the county and all four of the cities and towns. But that property tax relief won’t arrive immediately.

If approved by a majority of voters, the additional 1% sales tax will take effect Jan. 1, 2026 and last for five years unless renewed. The county government and the four cities will  receive shares each year based on their percentages of total local tax millage rates, and will be required to use the money to roll back property tax by a proportional amount, not for additional projects.

However, the revenue legally couldn’t be distributed to the cities or used by the county for a rollback until July 1, 2027. Until that time the money will be held in a special fund.

So, the actual effect in terms of property tax reductions wouldn’t arrive until fall 2027, local officials have said.

Mayoral contest

Also set to conclude Nov. 4, Statesboro has a contested election for the office of mayor. Raymond L. Harris Sr., a U.S. Army veteran with civilian experience in information technology, is challenging incumbent Mayor Jonathan McCollar, who is now in the fourth year of his second term.

Like all of the city’s elections, the contest and the office are officially nonpartisan.

Statesboro’s other contest for a city office will be decided only by voters in Council District 1, where it is a partial rematch of a race that occurred just last year. After 12-year District 1 Councilmember Phil Boyum resigned in July 2024, a special election was called and three candidates ran then: John Grotheer, Ken Jackson and Tangie Reese Johnson.

When that election was held last November, Johnson received 50.85% of the votes cast, and thus won the remainder of Boyum’s unexpired term, through 2025, without a runoff. Jackson came in second, and Grotheer, third.

But now Johnson is seeking a full term, for 2026-2029, and Grotheer is challenging her for the seat.

Statesboro voters citywide for the mayor’s race, and District 1 resident voters for their council seat, will see those city items appear on their ballots when they vote early or at their assigned county precinct on Election Day, Jones said. In other words, there will be no need for a separate city ballot or city voting place.

“To make it easier for everybody, if a person is eligible to vote in the city of Statesboro, when they go into their precincts – since all 16 will be open – their city information will be programmed onto  the county ballot,” she  explained. “So they’ll  just get everything at a one-stop  shop.”

District 4 Councilmember John Riggs will be named on that district’s voters’ ballots, but he is unopposed for re-election.

State PSC races

Finally, there will be two statewide races on the ballots of all Georgia voters. In fact, the contests, now down to the general election, for two seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission are the top items on the Bulloch County ballot.

The District 2 PSC race is between Republican incumbent Tim Echols and Democratic challenger Alicia M. Johnson. The District 3 PSC contest pits Democratic challenger Peter Hubbard against Republican incumbent Fitz Johnson. Although PSC members are required to live in the districts they represent, voters statewide elect all of the members to the board that regulates electric power bills and certain aspects of telecommunication.