By Jessica Pope
VALDOSTA — The week-long period of early voting concludes today from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. in the General Election Runoff at the Lowndes County Board of Elections, 2808 N. Oak Street.
Already, some 2,094 registered voters have cast ballots — 443 on Monday, 576 on Tuesday, 519 on Wednesday, and 556 on Thursday.
Lowndes County Supervisor of Elections Deb Cox said previously that the Lowndes County Board of Elections typically sees an average voter turnout of roughly 3 percent during a runoff election. At the close of polls Thursday, voter turnout stood at nearly 4.2 percent.
There are 50,387 registered voters in Lowndes County, according to the Lowndes County Board of Elections.
The week-long, early-voting period is scheduled to be followed, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Election Division Web site, by three days of advance voting from 7 a.m.-7 p.m., Nov. 24-26, at the Lowndes County Board of Elections.
General Election Runoff Tuesday is Dec. 2.
Any United States citizen who is at least 18 years of age and a legal resident of the state of Georgia not serving a sentence for a felony involving moral turpitude, who registered to vote on or before Oct. 6, and who has not been judged to be mentally incompetent by the court is eligible to cast a ballot in the 2008 General Election Runoff.
Appearing on General Election Runoff ballots are, noted Cox, Republican Saxby Chambliss, incumbent, and Democrat Jim Martin, candidates for United States Senate; Republican Lauren W. McDonald Jr. and Democrat Jim Powell, candidates for Public Service Commission District 4; and Sara Doyle and Mike Sheffield, candidates for Judge of Court of Appeals of Georgia.
During the 2008 General Election — which kicked off on Sept. 22 with six weeks of early and advance voting and ended on Nov. 4, Election Day Tuesday — Lowndes County had 40,218 ballots cast. That figure represented a 79.82 percent voter turnout, a new record in Lowndes County.
Prior to the 2008 General Election, Cox said the highest percentage of voter turnout in Lowndes County was 60 percent, set in 2004.
