Can you vote in the runoff today?

It could be one of the most confusing runoff elections Columbus has had.

Today, some Muscogee County voters will vote for the District 1 school board representative, and some will vote for the District 7 school board representative, and some will vote for Georgia’s 3rd Congressional District representative.

But most won’t vote at all, either because they don’t live in those districts, or because they’re 3rd Congressional District residents who chose a Democratic Party ballot during the May 24 primary, in which case they’re not allowed to vote in the Republican runoff.

If, however, they are 3rd Congressional District residents who were registered to vote May 24 but did not, then they may vote in the Republican runoff, because they’re committed to no party.

Some confusion may result from voting precinct consolidation, the effect of which is that people from different districts vote at the same place.

Years ago this was not the case. Before computer technology enabled poll workers to pick out each individual’s ballot and program it onto a card to insert in a touch-screen voting machine, few precincts were split between districts. So, most of the time, all the voters using a particular precinct lived in the same district.

Not anymore. Computer-programmed ballots facilitated poll consolidation, enabling the county to save money by staffing fewer voting precincts.

As a result, not everyone who votes at, say, Wynnton Methodist Church, 2412 Wynnton Road, lives in school board District 7, but some do; and not everyone who votes at Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church, 4400 Old Cusseta Road, lives in school board District 1, but some do. And some 3rd Congressional District residents vote at St. Paul Methodist Church, 2101 Wildwood Ave., but not everyone who votes there lives in that district.

Five Muscogee voting precincts have no voters living in districts holding a runoff, so they will be closed today They are:

▪  The National Infantry Museum, 1775 Legacy Way.

▪  Faith Tabernacle Church, 1603 Floyd Road.

▪  St. Andrews Presbyterian Church, 4980 Hancock Road.

▪  Salvation Army Church, 5201 Warm Springs Road. (This is the old Blackmon Middle School precinct.)

▪  Psalmond Road Recreation Center, 6500 Psalmond Road.

Despite poll consolidation, the county still has some precincts where all voters live in the same school board or congressional district.

Everyone who votes at these two precincts lives in school board District 7, where former at-large school board representative Cathy Williams faces political newcomer Shelia Williams:

▪  Eddy Middle School, 2100 S. Lumpkin Road.

▪  First African Baptist Church, 901 Fifth Ave.

Everyone who votes at Edgewood Baptist Church, 3564 Forrest Road, lives in school board District 1, where three-term incumbent Pat Hugley Green faces retired educator JoAnn Thomas-Brown.

All voters in these six precincts live in the 3rd Congressional District, where former West Point Mayor Drew Ferguson faces state Sen. Mike Crane:

▪  Britt David Baptist Church, 2801 Britt David Road.

▪  St. Peter Methodist Church, 6507 Moon Road.

▪  Cornerstone Church of God, 7701 Lloyd Road.

▪  St. Mark United Methodist Church, 6795 Whitesville Road.

▪  Wynnbrook Baptist Church, 500 River Knoll Way.

▪  North Highland Assembly of God, 7300 Whittlesey Blvd. (This also is known as the Moon precinct.)

That leaves 12 precincts where some voters, but not all, are eligible to cast runoff ballots. Residents with online access can check eligibility at the Georgia Secretary of State’s “My Voter Page,” www.mvp.sos.ga.gov, if they’re unsure which school board or congressional district they’re in:

▪  Wynnton Methodist Church, 2412 Wynnton Road, has some school board District 7 voters.

▪  The Columbus Public Library, 3000 Macon Road, also known as the Carver precinct, has some voters living in school board District 1.

▪  St. John AME Church, 3980 Steam Mill Road, has voters living in school board District 1.

▪  Columbus Tech, 928 Manchester Expressway, has voters in school board District 7.

▪  Cusseta Road Road Church of Christ, 3013 Cusseta Road, has some voters in school board District 1 and some in District 7.

▪  Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church, 4400 Old Cusseta Road, has voters in school board District 1.

▪  Fort Middle School, 2900 Woodruff Farm Road, has voters in school board District 1.

▪  Rothschild Middle School, 1136 Hunt Ave., has voters in school board District 1.

▪  The Church of Jesus Christ LDS, 4400 Reese Road, also know as the Gentian precinct, has voters in school board District 1.

▪  St. Paul Methodist Church, 2101 Wildwood Ave., has voters in the 3rd Congressional District.

▪  District 3 and did not vote Democrat in the primary will be able to vote.

▪  Epworth United Methodist Church, 2400 Devonshire Court, has some voters in the 3rd Congressional District, some in school board District 7, and some in both. Any who live in both and did not vote in the Democratic Primary may choose a Republican or nonpartisan ballot. The school board runoff will be on both ballots.

▪  The Marianna Gallops Center, 1212 15th St., has voters in school board District 7.

Early voting for the runoff will begin July 5 in the Community Room of the City Services Center, 3111 Citizens Way, off Macon Road by the Columbus Public Library. Eligible voters can cast ballots there 7 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, through July 22.

This story was originally published June 15, 2016 at 6:01 PM with the headline "Can you vote in the runoff today?."