VALDOSTA – Voters should be able to head to the polls Monday to vote early in the runoff election.

The runoff election will feature a mayoral race between Scott James Matheson and J.D. Rice and a race for the Valdosta City Council at-large seat between incumbent Councilman Ben Norton and Adrian Rivers.

Election officials are targeting Monday, Nov. 18, as the start of early voting for the two runoff races in Valdosta, said Deb Cox, Lowndes County supervisor of elections. Early voting will be held at the county board of elections.

The start date remains only a target as elections officials must make proper preparations for the runoff.

“We have to get the database in, the paper ballots in for provisional and mail-outs — we have to test the paper ballots and databases,” Cox said. “Then, we have to upload the database for the voting equipment so we can start early voting.”

The state does not mandate a specific start date for early voting in runoff elections, Cox said. The law states early voting can begin once official preparations are complete.

The five-person race for mayor of Valdosta narrowed to Rice and Matheson after Election Day on Nov. 5. Rice received the largest share of votes at 34.84%, while Matheson edged out David Sumner by three points to finish second with 24.65%. 

Since Rice did not garner 50% plus one vote, a runoff election was declared.

For the at-large seat, the opponent of Norton remained unknown until more than 100 provisional ballots were counted Friday evening. Rivers ended up defeating Edgar “Nicky” Tooley by merely 18 votes with 22.26% of the total ballots cast. 

Norton, the incumbent, received 45.95% of the vote and was also unable to avoid a runoff.

The official runoff election will be Dec. 3. All registered voters inside the city limits are eligible to vote in the runoff, even if they did not vote in the Nov. 5 election.