2016 will be a busy, possibly odd election year in Columbus

Much more will be on area ballots this year than Donald Trump, Ted Cruz, Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders.

They'll be up for a vote in the March 1 presidential preference primary in Georgia and Alabama, but after that voters won't see such big names until the winning party nominees fight for the top job in the Nov. 8 General Election.

Meanwhile, residents will have other choices to make. Columbus will hold local elections during state party primaries on May 24, when a lot of local offices will be up for grabs.

Among them will be the nonpartisan, odd-numbered school board posts (except for the citywide Post 9 seat held by Kia Chambers) and the even-numbered Columbus Council districts.

The county school board representatives who could be challenged this year are Chairman Rob Varner of District 5; vice-chairwoman Pat Hugley Green of District 1; Athavia "A.J." Senior of District 3; and Shannon Smallman in District 7.

The city councilors who could face contenders are citywide representative Skip Henderson in Post 10; District 2 Councilor Glenn Davis; District 4's Evelyn Turner-Pugh; and District 6's Gary Allen. Also on the ballot is the District 8 seat, where former Georgia House Rep. Tom Buck is filling the term of the late Councilor C.E. "Red" McDaniel. Buck does not plan to run.

Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson also hopes to have a "Thaw the Freeze" referendum on the November ballot, to alter the city's freeze on tax assessments for owner-occupied homes.

Others coming up for a vote are all Superior Court judges except Frank Jordan Jr., all state legislative delegates, State Court Judge Ben Richardson, Municipal Court Judge Steven Smith, Probate Judge Marc D'Antonio, District Attorney Julia Slater, Superior Court Clerk Linda Pierce, Municipal Court Clerk Vivian Creighton Bishop, Muscogee County Marshal Greg Countryman, Coroner Buddy Bryan and Tax Commissioner Lula Huff.

If a runoff is necessary, it will be July 26.

Each election has a registration deadline and date that early, in-person voting begins. To vote in the March 1 presidential primary, you must register by Feb. 1. The first day of early voting will be Feb. 8.

To vote May 24, residents must register by April 26. They may start voting early on May 2.

For the Nov. 8 General Election, the registration deadline is Oct. 11, and registered voters can start casting ballots Oct. 17.

Muscogee County elections director Nancy Boren is encouraging those who want to use a mail-in absentee ballot to go on and apply for it, as her staff can start mailing those out as early as Jan. 12 for the presidential primary.

But those who are disabled or age 65 or older will have to fill out another application to get a ballot mailed to them again, because the presidential primary is considered a different sort of event, and the absentee ballot request doesn't carry over from it.

So those who want to get ballots automatically for the rest of this election year must apply again after the March 1 primary to keep the absentee ballots coming. They can get an application mailed to them by calling 706-653-4392.

Qualifying for most of these offices will be from 9 a.m. March 7 until noon March 11.

Russell runoff twist

If you think Columbus will be busy with at least three elections this year, get a load of the schedule for Russell County and Phenix City, and the strange twist to a possible runoff in the special Alabama House District 80 election to replace the late Lesley Vance.

So far three Republicans are vying in the Jan. 19 primary. A Democrat who tried to run was found to live in another district.

The three candidates are Chris Blackshear, James McGill and Tommy Pugh. If none wins a majority of the vote, the two top vote-getters go to a runoff.

The runoff would be March 1, when Alabama holds its presidential preference primary, along with state and local primary races.

Any registered voter in District 80 may vote in the primary runoff, whether they voted Jan. 19 or not, said Russell County Probate Judge Alford Harden Jr.

The twist is the runoff and the state primary would be two totally separate elections held on the same day, and anyone voting March 1 in the District 80 Republican runoff would not be prohibited from turning right around and picking a Democratic ballot for the other races being held that day, Harden said.

He anticipates election workers would find explaining this a challenge.

And then, if any of the other March 1 races go to runoffs, that election will be April 12, Harden said.

Folks who've noticed the campaign signs know Russell County is holding judicial elections March 1, along with other local offices.

In the Democratic Primary, Zack Collins is challenging Judge Buster Landreau; April Logan Russell is challenging Judge Walter Gray; and former prosecutor Jamie Graham is challenging his old boss, District Attorney Ken Davis.

In a Republican Primary race for the U.S. House, former Phenix City School Superintendent Larry DiChara is challenging Rep. Mike Rogers.

The Russell County Commission has three races in the March 1 primary: Republicans Peggy Martin and Micah Holland in District 3; Democrats Cattie Epps, Charles E. Hollowell and Jeff Faircloth in District 6; and Democrats Larry Screws and J.D. Upshaw in District 7, where the winner's to face Republican Wanda King Lamb in the Nov. 8 General Election.

Also on the ballot Nov. 8 will be Democrat LaToya Payne and Republican Gentry Lee in commission District 1; Democrat Tillman Pugh and Republican Carl Currington in District 2; and Democrat Bernard McKissic and Republican Chance Corbett in District 6.

Three county school board seats are up for grabs, but so far Democrats Keith Mitchell in Place 2, Kenneth Barnes in Place 4 and Eugenia Upshaw in Place 5 have no opposition.

Unlike Georgia, where would-be voters must register a month in advance, Alabama allows voter registration right up to the Thursday before the Tuesday election, Harden said.

He stressed that Russell County voters may see an Election Day schedule that says polls are open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., as they are in Columbus. But in Alabama that's central time, and like Columbus, Russell County operates on eastern time.

So that means Russell County polls are open 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Eastern, Harden said.

In Phenix City, the mayor and entire council are up for election on Aug. 23, said City Clerk Charlotte Sierra. A runoff, if necessary, would be Oct. 4, she said.

This story was originally published January 2, 2016 at 10:24 PM with the headline "2016 will be a busy, possibly odd election year in Columbus ."