Election Day in Ga. Today

It is decision day at the polls across the state of Georgia.

Today is Election Day.

Stephens County Registrar Theresa Kelley said polls are open for voters to cast their ballots.

“(Voters) all need to go to the Senior Center off of Rose Lane,” said Kelley. “That is the only precinct we have in Stephens County now. The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. They will need a photo ID. Absentee ballots need to be back in by 7 p.m. today in order to count for the election.”

There is no voting at the Government Building today. All voting takes place at the Senior Center.

Early voting wrapped up on Friday for this election.

Kelley said that it ran smoothly and stayed fairly busy.

“It went pretty well,” said Kelley. “We did over 22 percent for early voting and that is not bad.”

Kelley said total turnout could end up somewhere around 36 percent after the polls close tonight in Stephens County.

Voters in Stephens County are casting ballots in a number of state-level races.

Among those is the race for Georgia Agriculture Commissioner, where Toccoa’s Chris Irvin is running against incumbent Gary Black. Irvin’s grandfather, Tommy Irvin, was the long-time Agriculture Commissioner in Georgia.

Also, there is the gubernatorial race between incumbent Nathan Deal and challengers Jason Carter and Andrew Hunt, the U.S. Senate race between David Perdue, Michelle Nunn, and Amanda Swafford, and the 9th District U.S. House race in northeast Georgia between incumbent Doug Collins and challenger David Vogel.

Other state-level races on the ballot include races like Labor Commissioner, State School Superintendent, and Lieutenant Governor, among others.

Winning candidates will have to get 50 percent plus one of the vote to avoid a run-off.

All of the county-level races in Stephens County are unopposed races on this ballot.

For more information on voting in Stephens County, contact the Stephens County Registrar’s Office at 706-886-8954.

AM 630 WNEG will have election updates throughout this evening during coverage of Toccoa Falls College men’s basketball.

Results will also be updated online at our website, wnegradio.com.

While most of the focus is on state and regional races on the ballot today, voters in Habersham County are making a decision on a SPLOST vote.

If approved by the voters, the new SPLOST in Habersham County would run from March 31, 2015 to March 31, 2021 and collect up to an estimated $37-plus million dollars.

The SPLOST dollars would fund numerous road, building, recreation, public safety, and water and sewer projects both in Habersham County and in the county’s various municipalities.

Money is also set aside in the proposed Habersham County SPLOST to help re-pay Habersham County Hospital bonds.

A SPLOST vote in Habersham County failed last year.

Elsewhere, voters in Hart County are voting on a proposed Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, or E-SPLOST.

Hart County voters rejected the E-SPLOST last year.