You've got to roll with the punches to get to what's real: It's Monday Mail.

Jump

Today's opening is a line from Van Halen's "Jump."

Offline

A reader employing the ledger-enquirer.com "user submission" system sent this inquiry Tuesday:

I reside in the 8th District. New resident of Columbus, Ga., I went to my local polling station, Northside Baptist Church, and there were two voters leaving when I arrived at 7:53. The 10 minutes I was there no one else pulled in to vote. I know it is still early but is turnout usually this low here in Columbus?

I am also curious as to why the polls are in a church. There was no bother and I felt completely comfortable. This is the first area I have lived in that the polls were not in a government building or school. Is that something that has been existing here in Columbus ... for a while?

Richard.

Dear Richard:

The turnout Tuesday was 26.71 percent.

Our summer elections have had worse: For the 2010 summer primaries, it was 13.6 percent.

The fall turnout's better: It was 48 percent in November 2010. Columbus has about 100,000 voters. In November 2004, 63,700 cast ballots; in November 2008, 74,000 voted.

Polls here started moving to churches when the schools got too congested and unidentified visitors voting in schools got too dangerous. Churches typically have ample parking and adequate handicapped access, and they usually aren't busy on Tuesdays.

Out of town

Here's another Election Day message:

We're at St. Simons on T-SPLOST day, and of course yard signs are everywhere, just like in every other town in the state. One guy running for local office has the last name "Tuten," so of course his twin slogans are "Darn" and "Rootin'." Another gent's last name is Jump. You can just use your imagination.

Happy election night!

Dear Reader:

Did Jump make the Van Halen song his anthem?

Artsy-smartsy

Here's a posting to online election results from "Hummm," who refers to my joking that Assistant District Attorney and Superior Court judge candidate LaRae Dixon Moore should just go work at Aflac until the governor appoints her a judge:

Congratulations to Judge ART Smith, so deserving of the bench -- even though he worked for Aflac, Chitwood. Beats the heck out of working for the L-E.

Dear Hummm:

No kidding. Where I work, "duck" is a warning, not a mascot.

Tim Chitwood, tchitwood@ledger-enquirer.com, 706-571-8508.