Two weeks of advance voting begins Monday, Oct. 16, for two different elections involving two different sets of Putnam voters casting ballots under two slightly different sets of rules and locations.
One is a Putnam County election; the other, is an Eatonton city election.
First, the county election, where four candidates are vying to fill the District 3 seat on the county board of commissioners, vacated by the resignation of Alan Foster early in August. Only registered voters from District 3 will cast ballots.
County voters in Districts 1, 2, and 4 (and outside Eatonton city limits) will not be voting anywhere or by any method prior to or on the Nov. 7 election day.
Advance voting for the District 3 race will be held in the Board of Elections office in the county administration building off U.S. 441 north of Eatonton. Advance voting will be held there from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, Monday, Oct. 16 through Friday, Nov. 3 – plus two Saturdays, Oct. 21 and 28 only, and not on Saturday, Nov. 4.
In-person voting in the county’s District 3 race on the Nov. 7 election day is another story. Polling shifts place to the two usual sites: for Lake Oconee voters at Lake Oconee Lutheran Church, off Greensboro Highway (1089 Greensboro Rd., Eatonton); and for Lake Sinclair’s District 3 voters, at the Crooked Creek Community Center (160 Crooked Creek Dr SE, Eatonton).
Second, the city election, where challengers have qualified for the city-wide posts of mayor and at-large council member, plus the Wards 2 and 3 combined seats (representing the south side of the city). All registered voters in the city are eligible to cast ballots in the mayoral and at-large races.
Advance voting in the city races will share the same dates and time as the county’s District 3 race: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays, Oct. 16 through Nov. 3.
Advance voting in the city election will be held in the gas department building behind city hall on Harris Street. In-person election day voting on Nov. 7 will shift to The Hut on West Marion Street from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Beyond in-person election-day voting and advance voting, absentee ballots are available by request.