Early voting for Georgia's July 24 runoffs starts today

The end is near.

All the signs are here. All you have to do is look for them … along the curb … while you’re driving down the road:

Some say vote for Amy Bryan. Some say vote for John House. Others say vote for Mike Edmondson or Bart Steed. Vote July 24, some signs say.

Or vote early in those runoffs Monday, Tuesday, Thursday or Friday, this week, but not Wednesday, when the poll will be closed for Independence Day.

This early voting kickoff signals that the end of one election is near. And once that’s over, we get a break until November.

Columbus’ early voting poll will be in the Community Room of the City Services Center at 3111 Citizens Way, off Macon Road by the Columbus Public Library. Except for July 4, it will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday through July 20.

The center’s front doors used to be locked as a security measure, but they’re not anymore, so people don’t have to enter the building from the rear parking garage off Rigdon Road, like they used to. Sometimes the parking garage entrance is busy with parents picking up kids at the aquatic center next door.

Besides the runoff between Bryan and House for citywide Columbus Council Post 10, Edmondson and Steed will square off for District 2 on the Muscogee County school board, the seat John Thomas is leaving.

Because that’s a district race, it won’t be on all ballots like the at-large council election.

Otherwise Columbus has only state races such as the runoff between Casey Cagle and Brian Kemp for the Republican nomination for governor.

Also on the Republican ballot are runoffs for lieutenant governor, between Geoff Duncan and David Shafer, and for secretary of state, pitting David Belle Isle against Brad Raffensperger.

Democrats have a runoff for state school superintendent, between Sid Chapman and Otha E. Thornton II.

The local races are nonpartisan, so just like in the May 22 primary, voters will be asked whether they want a Democratic, Republican, or nonpartisan ballot.

People who chose a Democratic ballot in the primary can’t vote in the Republican runoff, and voters who chose a Republican ballot can’t vote in the Democratic runoff.

Anyone who got only a nonpartisan ballot can vote in either party’s runoff, and so can anyone who was eligible to vote May 22 but did not.

Because Council Post 10 is a citywide position – the one Mayor-elect Skip Henderson held – all city voting precincts will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day, July 24.

So, you can wait until then, if you want to. But why not get it over with? Why not go vote early, and end it all right there?

One advantage to that is if you have the time, you can pick the weather, and go while the skies are clear.

If you wait too long, you could get caught in one of this summer’s near-daily thunderstorms, and get crushed by a tree or struck by lightning or swept away in a flood or hydroplaned into a tanker truck.

Get it done, and you can take the rest of the summer off, on the election schedule.

The next deadline is for registering to vote in the Nov. 6 general election: It’s Oct. 9. Advance voting for that will be Oct. 15 through Nov. 2.

Georgians should remember that if they’ve not voted in a while, or they moved to a new address or changed their name or have done anything that might cause an issue with their voting status, they should check it through the Georgia Secretary of State’s My Voter Page at www.mvp.sos.ga.gov, where they also can view sample ballots.

Election offices periodically run checks on mismatches between postal records and registration addresses, and mail notices asking voters to correct discrepancies. If no one responds, those registrations may be canceled, requiring residents to reregister.

So don’t delay, check in today, before it’s too late.

This story was originally published June 29, 2018 at 2:11 PM.