More than 700 vote early on first day in Muscogee sheriff’s runoff

On the first day of early voting Monday for the Dec. 6 Muscogee County Sheriff’s runoff, 712 people cast ballots, averaging almost 80 voters an hour.

For a single election held over the holidays, that’s a “pretty decent” kickoff to a week of early voting, said elections director Nancy Boren.

Early voting continues 7:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through Friday in the community room on the ground floor of the City Services Center, 3111 Citizens Way, off Macon Road by the Columbus Public Library. Voters must enter through the building’s rear because the front entrance is locked for security reasons.

Voters need a government-issued photo ID to cast ballots.

Anyone registered by the Oct. 11 deadline for the General Election is eligible to vote in the runoff, so no one has to have voted Nov. 8 to vote again.

Residents unsure of their eligibility may check it through the Georgia Secretary of State’s “My Voter Page” at www.mvp.sos.ga.gov or call the elections office at 706-653-4392.

All county polls will be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Dec. 6.

Unofficial results Nov. 8 left Democrat Donna Tompkins with 21,429 votes to incumbent John Darr’s 14,464, or 46 to 31 percent. With Republican Mark LaJoye taking 20 percent and write-in candidate Pam Brown drawing 4 percent, neither of the top two contenders had the majority needed to win outright.

This story was originally published November 29, 2016 at 1:38 PM with the headline "More than 700 vote early on first day in Muscogee sheriff’s runoff."