Early Voting Underway in Neighboring Counties

As Early In-Person voting for the Toccoa and Martin Municipal Elections continue at the Historic Courthouse in downtown Toccoa, surrounding counties are also holding early voting for municipal elections within their borders.

In Franklin County, where early voting is taking place at the temporary offices of the Franklin County Board of Elections on Hull Avenue in Carnesville, all five municipalities have contested races.

In Lavonia, incumbent City Councilman Eddie Floyd is being challenged by former councilman Harold Harbin.

Lavonia voters are also being asked to decide whether to allow the sale of beer, wine, and alcohol on Sundays from noon to 11 p.m.

In Royston, Incumbent City Councilman Jason Phillips is being challenged by Wesley Fricks, Councilman Lee Strickland is running against Fletcher Hodges, and incumbent Wayne Braswell is running against challenger Tony McCollum.

Royston voters will also be deciding whether to allow the sale of alcohol inside the city limits.

In Franklin Springs, Councilmen Bill Bell and Tommy Pritchett are running for re-election and Pamela Mayfield is running for a seat on the council.

In Canon, incumbents Bill Brown and Bobby Locke are running for re-election and Ricky Minish is running for City Council.

In Carnesville, Incumbent Patsy Watkins is running for re-election.

Vince Esposito, Sherry Cheek, and Gabbie McFarlin are also running for Carnesville City Council.

Carnesville voters are also being asked whether to allow the sale of beer, wine, and distilled spirits on Sundays from 12:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.

In Habersham County, where early voting is taking place at the Habersham County Elections & Voter Registration Office on the bottom floor of the Administrative Building, 130 Jacob’s Way, Suite 101  Clarkesville, municipal elections are being held for Alto, Baldwin, Clarkesville, Demorest and Mount Airy.

In Alto, Incumbent Mayor P.J. Smith faces John Smith and Patricia Gail Armour for the mayor’s seat, and incumbents James M Turner and Eddie Palmer are running unopposed for their Post 2 and Post 4 Council seats, respectively. 

In Baldwin, Tom Whitney and Stephanie Almagno are running for mayor, and Erik Keith, Joseph Satterfield and Kerri Dianne Davis are running unopposed for the Post 1, Post 2 and Post 3 council seats, respectively. 

In Clarkesville, incumbent Brad Coppedge is running unopposed for reelection to his Post 2 seat on the Council, while Don Nix and  Jessamie N. Vincent vie for the Post 3 seat.

In Demorest, incumbent Donnie Bennett and candidates Jimmy L. Davis and Jim Welborn are vying for a council seat. 

And in Mount Airy, incumbents Adam Tullis, Christopher Keith Green, and Mike McCoy, and candidate Lerlene Dodd are vying for a council seat. 

In Cornelia, incumbents John Borrow, Mark Reed and Tony Cook were all running unopposed for reelection to their mayor, Commission Ward 1 and Commision Ward 4 seats, respectively. With no contested seats, the Cornelia election was canceled on Sept. 8.

In Banks County, where early voting is taking place at the county election center at 441 Gordon Street in Jefferson, the City of Maysville will be holding Municipal elections, with incumbent Richard Presley facing candidate William S. McLeish Jr. for Mayor, Amanda Farley is running unopposed for the Ward 2 Council seat, and Brodriche D Jackson and Roy Dean are vying for the Ward 4 Council seat.

Early voting began October 16 and will continue, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Monday through Friday, through November 3, and from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, October 21 and Saturday, October 28.