In the first five days of early voting, 839 Bulloch County citizens voted in-person, while another 54 had marked and returned absentee paper ballots, and one miliary or overseas voter assigned to the county voted by electronic ballot delivery.

So, 894 Bulloch voters, or 1.6% of the county’s 54,817 registered voters, had so far cast early ballots for the May 19 party primaries and nonpartisan general election, featuring contests for offices from governor and U.S. senator down to a seat on the local school board. The total of early voters included those who voted in person Monday through Friday, April 27-May 1, as reported by county Elections Supervisor Shontay Jones after the daily close at 5 p.m. Friday.

But there are plenty more opportunities to vote, including 12 more early voting days before the traditional Election Day on Tuesday, May 19.

Saturdays & weekdays

This Saturday is the first of two Saturdays that in-person voting is available in Bulloch County, The Board of Elections and Registration Office, in the County Annex at 113 North Main St., Suite 201, Statesboro, is the only site in the county for early voting both Saturdays, 9 a.m.-5 p.m. on both May 2 and May 9.

That is also the site for all Bulloch County in-person early voting for the 10 remaining weekdays. The office will be open for that purpose 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday-Friday, May 4-8 and again May 11-15.

The first week’s early voting activity was “not overwhelming,” with basically no lines forming, the elections supervisor reported.

“Right now there’s no lines, so there hasn’t been a wait time for a voter,” Jones said Friday afternoon. “It’s been going pretty smooth. Of course, you know, sample ballots should be available on every voter’s My Voter Page.”

She means that registered Georgia voters can go online to the state My Voter Page, https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/ and enter their first initial, last name, county and date of birth to view a sample ballot individualized to their particular set of districts. The My Voter Page also provides ways to find your early voting location or Election Day poll location or apply for an absentee ballot before next Friday’s deadline.

Jones and the Elections and Registration Board published a generic sample ballot, accompanied by a poster with “Ways to Vote” and “Bring Your Photo I.D.” information sections, in the April 23 printed and e-editions of the Statesboro Herald. Sample ballots are also available at the elections office.

“We’re just ready for the voters to come out. …,” Jones said, suggesting that they can avoid lines by taking advantage of the early voting period. “We’ve been steady going … but our poll workers, you know, they like to be busy, not just sitting around waiting for one or two to come in.

“So we’re just hoping that as people hear more about it they’ll do their research and come on out and not have to wait in line on Election Day,” she said.

Statewide numbers

Meanwhile the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office election data hub reported statewide combined early in-person and absentee participation by 196,997 voters through Friday, out of 7,358,848 “active” registered voters, a 2.7% turnout.

However, the use of the “active” voter baseline – only recently registered or updated voters and those who participated in the recent election cycles – pushes the percentage higher than when all registered voters are included, as in the Bulloch County numbers.

Absentee request

deadline May 8

No-excuse absentee voting by a voter-requested, mailed-out paper ballot is available now, but the deadline to apply for an absentee ballot to be mailed to you is May 8.

“That cutoff date will be next Friday,” Jones cautioned. “That’s the last day for a voter to request an absentee ballot-by-mail, so we won’t process any of those applications (received) after next Friday.”

However, once voters receive an absentee ballot, they have until Election Day to mark and return it. Absentee ballots received in the elections office by the close of polls, 7 p.m. on May 19, can be counted.

For voters who do not vote early or absentee, all 16 traditional Bulloch County voting precincts will be open 7 a.m.-7 p.m. on Election Day, Tuesday, May 19, for their assigned voters.

Local races

The most active county-level contest in Bulloch is the three-candidate Republican primary race in Board of Commissioners District 2 for Seat 2-B. Incumbent Toby Conner is being challenged by both Frank Bedell and Ted Redman.

That race could go to a runoff, and some of the statewide races with multiple newcomer candidates in both parties are almost certain to do so. The primary runoffs would be held June 16.

The only in-county nonpartisan race in the May 19 election is in Board of Education District 5 between incumbent Glennera Martin and challenger Jessica L. Jones for that district’s school board seat. The Herald will be seeking interviews with Jones and Martin next week.

In Commissioners District 1, Spencer Johnson is running as a Republican to challenge Seat 1-B incumbent Anthony Simmons, a Democrat. But they appear on separate party ballots at this phase, so that race won’t be decided until November.

Because this is the general primary for partisan offices and also the nonpartisan general election, voters are asked to choose either a Democratic, Republican or nonpartisan ballot. The nonpartisan ballot, which features judgeships and school board seats only, is actually supplied along with the Democratic and Republican ballot to voters who choose either of those.