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By the time the Nov. 3 General Election arrives, more than half of Decatur County’s active voters would have cast their ballots.

After 12 days of advanced voting and weeks of mail-in ballots being processed, the turnout among active voters as of Oct. 26 was trending with a 48 percent countywide turnout. Voters from the Coliseum and West Bainbridge precincts have led with a turnout averaging more than the county’s overall percentage of 48 percent. The Coliseum’s 5,318 active voters have already marked a 52 percent turnout with four days left to vote in advance. Forty-nine percent of West Bainbridge’s 2,005 active voters already voted.

Decatur County’s trend is just a reflection of how the rest of the State of Georgia is trending also.

On Election Day – Tuesday, Nov. 3 – all nine of Decatur County’s precincts will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m.

Remember, the West Bainbridge polling location is at the School Support Center at 507 Martin St., which was moved last year from the Dothan Road location. Also, the Coliseum remains at 600 Wheat Ave. All the other polling locations remain the same.

The Courthouse Annex is NOT an Election Day polling location. It is only used as a polling location during advanced voting.

Voters may vote in advance at the Annex, located at 122 W. Water St., or the Fairgrounds polling location at 1211 Vada Road. The hours are 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. The last day to vote early or have a mail-in ballot sent is Friday, Oct. 30.

Elections Office needs to account for the mail-in ballot. If you requested a mail-in ballot, but would like to vote in-person, please bring the ballot with you in order for us to cancel it.

On Election Day, we will need to account for the mail-in ballot as well. If you received a mail-in ballot and would like to vote in-person, please bring the ballot with you to be cancelled. If you nor the Elections Office can account for your mail-in ballot, we may ask you to vote a provisional ballot. This will give the Elections Office enough time to research that ballot to ensure it hasn’t already been cast.

If you plan to complete your mail-in ballot, remember all the contests are single-vote contests, which means voters may only vote for one. Even though the U.S. Senate Special Election has 20 candidates on the ballot, voting for more than one candidate in any of the contests may void your vote for that particular contest if there is an “overvote.”

Please visit My Voter Page, at www.mvp.sos.ga.gov, to check your voting status, review your sample ballot and find your Election Day and advanced voting locations.

If you requested a mail-in ballot, you may also check on the status at that website as well.

Remember some of the state laws governing the polls:
Voters must have an acceptable form of photo ID. (§ 21-2-417)No campaigning within 150 feet of a polling site, which includes a wearing any campaign material with a slogan tied to a particular candidate; talking among voters in the enclosed space, or having a vehicle with campaign flags or bumper stickers on it. (§21-2-413)
Firearms are not allowed within a polling location except for a peace officer regularly employed by the federal, state, county or municipal government or certified security guards. (§21-2-413)
No persons are allowed to use photographic or other electronic monitoring or recording devices, cameras, or cellular telephones while in a polling place while voting is taking place. (§21-2-413)

Our poll workers may assist voters with any questions, especially since this may be the first time many voters will experience the state’s new voting equipment.