In elections Tuesday, Nov.  7, 2023, voters in Brooklet are deciding whether liquor stores may be licensed there and also choosing one council member. Meanwhile, in Statesboro, voters in City Council District 2 alone will choose their council member. In Register, voters will choose one member of their Town Council.

Where applicable, polling places are open 7 a.m.-7 p.m.

Statesboro District 2 voters who haven’t already voted can do so in the Jones-Love Building at Luetta Moore Park, 585 Martin Luther King Jr. Drive. The precinct that previously voted at the William James Educational Complex has been permanently relocated to Luetta Moore Park, and no other Statesboro precinct votes in this election.

Brooklet’s Election Day voters will cast ballots in the traditional place, the Recreation Department’s community building at 416 N. Cromley Rd., Brooklet.

Register voters will vote at Register’s own in-town polling place, 33 Foster Road, Register.

Low early turnout

For turnout to reach 10%, even in Statesboro District 2 – where the race between challenger Lawton Sack and incumbent City Council member Paulette Chavers has attracted enough attention to include a candidate forum – more voters will have to vote Tuesday than did in 17 previous days of early voting opportunity.

In the early voting period, which began Oct. 16 and ended Nov. 3 and included two Saturdays, 187 Statesboro District 2 voters cast in-person electronic ballots. Meanwhile, five voters requested and returned paper absentee ballots, reported county Election Supervisor Shontay Jones.

So a total of 192 District 2 residents participated in the early voting, out of the district’s 4,593 registered voters. That’s just 4.2% turnout before the final Election Day.

Back in November 2019 when Chavers unseated previous District 2 council member Sam Jones, total voter turnout in the district, including early voting and the final Tuesday, was 12.3%.

Brooklet update

During this fall’s early voting, Brooklet had 41 in-person early voters, and no absentee ballot requests, Brooklet City Hall staff members reported Monday. They had no information handy on the number of registered voters.

Brooklet voters are answering “yes” or “no” to the referendum question, “Shall the issuance of licenses for the package sale of distilled spirits be approved?”

Brooklet also has a town-wide race for City Council Post 1 among candidates Seth Cannon, Melanie Garcia and Hubert Keith Roughton. That is for the seat being vacated by Nicky Gwinnett, now unopposed to be Brooklet’s next mayor. Incumbent Council Member Bradley Anderson is unopposed for re-election to Post 2.

Register’s race

Register’s one contest, between Richard Cannady and Melanie Lynn Nessmith for currently vacant Council Seat 5, will be decided entirely by voters Tuesday at the Register precinct house. Register council seats are elected town-wide, and Seat 3 incumbent Tonya Boyd and Seat 4 incumbent Alfred L. Jones appear on the ballot unopposed.

In-person early voting for Register residents was available for the state-required 17 days, but at the County Annex in Statesboro, and none of Register’s voters showed up there. None requested absentee ballots, either, according to Jones.

Portal’s election was cancelled entirely because all candidates qualified without opposition.

Statesboro’s District 3 and District 5 also had elections cancelled because they had only one candidate.

Check your district

“Most importantly, the precincts that are open are only for voters that are eligible to vote in those districts,” Jones said when asked if she had any reminders for Tuesday’s voters.

During the early voting, the elections office staff probably turned away more county residents who were not city residents, or who were residents of other Statesboro districts not having elections, than actually voted early from Statesboro District 2, Jones said.

So she suggests that voters who are uncertain about their City Council district check via the statewide My Voter Page, https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/ or go to the county elections office’s webpage, https://bullochcounty.net/elections/ and scroll down to find the link, “NEW!! Who are my representatives?”

Clicking on this link takes visitors to a page with a map and search box, where searching for a street address or zooming in on the map and clicking a location will reveal not just its state and federal representatives but local districts, such as City Council districts, and their current elected officials.

Remember your ID

Photo ID is required to vote. Accepted types include a Georgia driver’s license or valid ID card with photo issued by a branch, department, agency or entity of the state of Georgia, another state; or a valid U.S. passport; or photo employee identification card issued by the U.S. government, this state, or any county, municipality board or authority, or valid U.S. military identification card or tribal identification card with photograph.