Choose your ballot wisely on Tuesday
Maybe it will all be over Tuesday, but most likely it will not.
With several party primaries and local nonpartisan races having more than two candidates — Georgia’s Republican race for the 3rd Congressional District has seven — it seems almost certain Tuesday’s election will go to a July 24 runoff before party nominees move on to the November general election.
That’s something for voters to consider when they’re choosing a ballot. Once they vote in one party’s primary, they cannot cross over and vote in the other party’s runoff.
That could be a tough choice for some voters. Those on the north side might want a chance to vote in a 3rd Congressional District runoff, should that be needed to determine which Republican nominee goes on to face the Democrat in November.
But by choosing a Republican ballot, a Muscogee voter forgoes voting in four local races that will be decided in the Democratic Primary, as no Republican qualified to run. Those are Superior Court clerk, Municipal Court judge, Municipal Court clerk and marshal.
Anyone choosing a nonpartisan ballot — and hardly anyone does — relinquishes the opportunity to vote in either party’s primary, further limiting the voter’s influence. The nonpartisan races also are on party ballots.
Registered voters with online access are reminded they can view sample ballots at the Georgia Secretary of State’s “My Voter Page,” www.mvp.sos.ga.gov, where they’ll also be directed to their local voting precinct.
Sample ballots also will be available for viewing at voting precincts.
Because presidential election years tend to draw voters who don’t show up for every election, those who’ve not voted in a while should make note of the most recent poll changes:
▪ The precinct that used to be in the old Muscogee Elementary School, 3900 Baker Plaza Drive, has moved to the National Infantry Museum and Soldier Center off South Lumpkin Road.
▪ Polls at Northside Baptist Church, 959 54th St., and Fox Recreation Center, 3720 Fifth Ave., have been consolidated at Columbus Technical College, 928 Manchester Expressway.
▪ The poll that used to be at Blackmon Road Middle School, 7251 Blackmon Road, has moved to the Salvation Army, 5201 Warm Springs Road.
All voters should remember to bring a government-issued photo ID to show poll workers.
Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. Anyone in line to vote at 7 p.m. still gets to cast a ballot, but election workers will cut the line off so that no latecomers may join it.
Tim Chitwood: 706-571-8508, @timchitwoodle
Sample ballots
To save space, these lists of races on each ballot do not include offices in which the incumbent faces no opposition.
Democratic races
U.S. Senate
▪ Jim Barksdale
▪ Cheryl Copeland
▪ John F. Coyne III
▪ James Knox
U.S. Representative, 3rd Congressional District
▪ Tamarkus Cook
▪ Angela Pendley
Clerk of Superior Court
▪ Ann L. Hardman
▪ Linda Pierce, incumbent
Sheriff
▪ Pamela L. Brown (disqualified)
▪ Robert Keith Smith (disqualified)
▪ Donna Tompkins
Judge of Municipal Court
▪ Cynthia Maisano
▪ Steven D. Smith, incumbent
Clerk of Municipal Court
▪ Vivian Creighton Bishop, incumbent
▪ Sylvia Hudson
Marshal
▪ Gregory D. Countryman
▪ Bernard Spicer
Democratic Party questions
Should Georgia invest less than 1% of annual budget to provide healthcare to 500,000 low-income citizens and military veterans by expanding Medicaid?
▪ Yes
▪ No
Should Georgia guarantee paid family leave to include pregnancy, serious illness, care of a family member with a serious health condition, or care for a newborn, newly adopted child or newly placed foster child?
▪ Yes
▪ No
Should private property on rivers or streams be protected by natural vegetative buffers to ensure that Georgia’s waters are swimmable, drinkable, and fishable?
▪ Yes
▪ No
Should Georgia automatically register to vote all legal and permanent residents upon issuance of a driver’s license or state-issued ID which includes an opt-out provision?
▪ Yes
▪ No
Republican races
U.S. Senate
▪ Mary Kay Bacallao
▪ Derrick Grayson
▪ Johnny Isakson, incumbent
Public Service Commissioner
▪ Kellie Pollard Austin
▪ Tim Echols, incumbent
▪ Michelle Miller
U.S. representative, 2nd Congressional District
▪ Greg Duke
▪ Bobby Scott (deceased)
▪ Diane Vann
U.S. representative, 3rd Congressional District
▪ Samuel Anders
▪ Mike Crane
▪ Drew Ferguson
▪ Chip Flanegan
▪ Richard Mix
▪ Jim Pace
▪ Arnall “Rod” Thomas
Republican Party question
Should Georgia empower parents with the right to use tax dollars allocated for the education of their children, allowing them the freedom to choose among public, private, virtual, or home schools?
▪ Yes
▪ No
Local nonpartisan races
Citywide races will be on all ballots, Democratic, Republican and nonpartisan. District races depend on the voter’s address:
Judge, Superior Court, Chattahoochee Judicial Circuit
▪ Ron Mullins, incumbent
▪ Alonza Whitaker
Columbus Council
District 4
▪ Marquese “Skinny” Averett
▪ Evelyn Turner-Pugh, incumbent
District 8
▪ Jonathan Paul Davis
▪ Walker Garrett
Council At-Large
▪ Skip Henderson, incumbent
▪ Teddy Reese
Muscogee County School Board
District 1
▪ Pat Hugley Green, incumbent
▪ Al Stewart
▪ JoAnn Thomas-Brown
District 3
▪ Vanessa Jackson
▪ A.J. Senior, incumbent
District 5
▪ Laurie Cochran McRae
▪ Todd Robinson
▪ Pete Taylor
▪ Robert Wadkins Jr.
District 7
▪ Norene Marvets
▪ Cathy Williams
▪ Shelia D. Williams
This story was originally published May 21, 2016 at 9:44 PM with the headline "Choose your ballot wisely on Tuesday."