Early Voting Begins in Floyd County

Three universal precincts are open in Floyd County for three weeks of early voting in the May 21 elections.

Just 15.1% of the county’s active registered voters turned out for the March 12 Presidential Preference Primary. In that case, the two parties’ nominees were essentially unchallenged. However, in the upcoming election there are a number of contests to be decided.

In-person advance voting will run Monday through Friday through May 17 from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. at:

♦ The Floyd County Election Center, 18 E. 12th St. in Rome;

♦ The Thornton Recreation Center, 102 North Floyd Park Road in Armuchee; and

♦ The Anthony Recreation Center, 2901 Garden Lakes Blvd. in Garden Lakes.

The election center also will be open for weekend voting on two Saturdays, May 4 and 11, from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and on Sunday, May 12, from 1 to 5 p.m.

Locally, two positions will essentially be filled in the Republican primary.

The incumbent sheriff, Dave Roberson, is being challenged by veteran law enforcement officer Robbie Whitfield and the incumbent clerk, Barbara Penson, is up against Mary Hardin Thornton of the Rome Finance Department. There are no Democrats running so the winners will appear alone on the November general election ballot.

A northwest sliver of Floyd County also will be voting in the GOP state Senate District 53 contest between incumbent Colton Moore and challenger Angela Pence. The winner will face Democrat Bart Alexander Bryant in November.

Local voters who ask for the Democratic ballot will decide who will face Republican incumbent Marjorie Taylor Greene for the 14th Congressional District seat. Four candidates are running for the nomination: Clarence Blalock, Shawn Harris, Deric Houston and Joseph Leigh.

Statewide, there are two contested nonpartisan judgeships that will appear on every ballot. Athens-Clarke attorney John Barrow is challenging incumbent Andrew Pinson for a Georgia Supreme Court seat. An open State Court of Appeals seat will go to either Fulton County attorney Jeff Davis or Tabitha Ponder, a Cobb County judge.

Since the Presidential Preference Primary, the number of eligible Floyd County voters has risen by 257. The Georgia secretary of state’s office had 59,891 active and 6,829 inactive voters listed as of Saturday.

In general, registered voters are declared inactive if they haven’t cast a ballot in five years. However, that doesn’t affect their ability to vote and, once they do, their classification is updated to “active.”