Skip the hassle by voting early through Friday at 1 of 3 locations; as of last Thursday, only 2% had
The final day to vote in the November election is just around the corner, and turnout so far is in single digits.
The Fayette County Elections Office reported Monday that only 1,682 ballots had been cast in the E-SPLOST countywide election as of last Thursday, Oct. 26. With a total active voting roll of 77,808 active voters, that puts turnout so far at just over 2 percent.
City elections turnout is even lower: Just 1,359 ballots cast as of last week for candidates in Peachtree City, Fayetteville and Tyrone combined.
Given that municipal elections and the E-SPLOST (education-special purpose local options sales tax) initiative are on the ballot, nearly one-third of the county’s voters will travel to more than one precinct to vote.
Fayette County has 36 voting precincts, of which 11 are split precincts. A split precinct means that the voter would have to vote for city matters at one physical location and then travel to a separate physical location to vote on the county matter. Furthermore, the Whitewater and Dogwood precincts are split in three separate ways, said Elections Supervisor Floyd Jones.
For those wanting to avoid having to vote in two locations, early voting will continue through Friday, Nov. 3 from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. in three locations in Fayette. Those include Fayetteville in the commission chambers of the county complex on Stonewall Avenue, at the Peachtree City Library and at Tyrone Town Hall.
Though split voting has been the practice for years, Jones noted that the Board of Elections is interested in consolidating precincts and is actively seeking the best and fastest path to consolidation. Doing so would eliminate most of the split vote issue.
The split precincts across Fayette County include:
• Precinct No.1, Blackrock — There are 2,398 voters assigned to Blackrock. Of these voters 858 are county voters and 1,540 are city voters. All 2,398 have to vote at Fayetteville Christian Church for county matters and only 1,540 will vote at Lafayette Educational Center for municipal matters only.
• Precinct No. 4, Fayetteville East — There are 1,754 voters assigned to Fayetteville East. All voters must vote at Fayetteville United Methodist Church for county matters and 1,542 voters can vote at the Lafayette Educational Center for municipal matters only.
• Precinct No. 8, Morning Creek — There are 3,003 voters assigned to Morning Creek. All voters must vote at New Hope Baptist Church- North Campus for county matters and 287 can vote at Lafayette Educational Center for municipal matters only.
• Precinct No. 10, Sandy Creek — There are 3,774 voters assigned to Sandy Creek. All voters most vote at Hopewell United Methodist Church for county matters and 1,832 can vote at the Tyrone Public Library for municipal matters only.
• Precinct No. 14, Whitewater — There are 3,227 voters assigned to Whitewater. All voters must vote at Rolling Hills Baptist Church for their county question. There are 17 Peachtree City residents who will have to vote at Braelinn Elementary School for the municipal questions. There are also 275 city of Fayetteville voters who will have to vote at the Fayette County Library for municipal questions.
• Precinct No. 24, Banks — There are 1,470 voters assigned to Banks. All voters must vote at Berachah Bible Church for county matters. Currently there are no city voters assigned to Banks, however, there is an outside chance, if a voter registers for the city, that voter would vote at the Lafayette Educational Center for city questions.
• Precinct No. 26, Willow Pond — There are 2,456 voters assigned to Willow Pond. All voters must vote at The Pinecrest Church (formerly National Heights Baptist Church) for county matters and 1,464 must vote at the Fayette County Library for municipal matters.
• Precinct No. 27, Dogwood — There are 2,474 voters assigned to Dogwood. All voters must vote at Grace Evangelical Church for county questions. There are 651 town of Tyrone voters who must vote at the Tyrone Public Library for the municipal question. There are 5 city of Fayetteville residents vote at the Lafayette Educational Center for municipal matters.
• Precinct No. 29, Jeff Davis — There are 2,446 voters assigned to Jeff Davis. All voters must vote at Fayetteville First Baptist Church for county matters and 2,320 must vote at the Fayette County Library for municipal matters.
• Precinct No. 30, Murphy — There are 2,802 voters assigned to Murphy. All voters must vote at Outreach International Center for county matters and 680 must vote at the Fayette County Library for municipal matters.
• Precinct No. 34, Rising Starr — There are 3,249 voters assigned to Rising Starr. All voters must vote at the Rising Starr School Auditorium for county matters and 1,827 voters must vote at Braelinn Elementary School for municipal matters.
As of August, there were 77,808 active voters in Fayette County, Jones said.
