Good turnout in Hall expected Tuesday

GAINESVILLE - What if they gave an election and no one showed up? That's happened in Hall County - at selected precincts during past runoffs, but don't expect a recurrance Tuesday.

Elections Director Anne Phillips Lea says Hall County will probably beat the state turnout, percentage-wise Tuesday. The big draw, of course, in the hotly contested runoff for a state Senate seat.

Lea says that as of noon Thursday nearly 1,000 ballots had already been cast in advance voting which began four days earlier. The big draw, of course, is the hotly-contested runoff for the state Senate District 49 between Lee Hawkins and Mark Musselwhite.

Lea recalls past runoffs, which only a down-the-ballot race, such as for Georgia Court of the Appeals or state Supreme Court, was on the ballot and voter turnout was 3-5 percent. That's when, at some polling places, the poll workers were the only ones who showed up on election day.

Lea says all 39 polling places will be open again Tuesday - in the same locations that were used July 18. Once again, a form of identification, photo or non-photo, will be required, with a driver's license the most commonly used.

You can vote in either primary if you did not vote July 18, but if you did vote that day, you must choose a Democratic ballot Tuesday if you voted Democratic and a Republican ballot if you voted Republican.

Hall is one of five counties in the immediate Gainesville area with local runoffs Tuesday. The others are Barrow, Forsyth, and Jackson.

In Banks, there's a runoff for a seat on the county commission between Harold M. Ivey and James "Pat" Westmoreland; Barrow County votes will be asked to pick an at-large school board member from between Dan Cromier and Ann Osier; the Forsyth County ballot will contain two races - the runoffs for county commission between Pete Amos and Charlles Laughinghouse, for the seat now held by Laughinghouse, and Jack Conway and Jim Harrell for the post Conway now occupies; and, in Jackson County, the only local race on the ballot is the state Senate runoff between Mussellwhite and Hawkins. Part of the 49th district is in Jackson County.

Statewide, there are two races each on the Democratic and Repubican ballots.

Democrats will chose a Lt. Governor nominee from between Greg Hecht and Jim Martin and a candidate for Secretary of State from beween Gail Buckner and Darryl Hicks. Republicans, statewide, will chose from beween Karen Handel and Bill Stephens for Secretary of State and Gary Black and Brian Kemp for state Agriculture Commissioner.