With early voting ending Friday and the final day of voting Nov. 3, Gilmer County residents are participating in drives.
As of Tuesday, Oct. 27, 6,496 had voted in person, and 3,053 mail-in ballots had been returned out of 4,395 which were requested. Gilmer County has 23,545 registered voters.
“There is a steady flow, said Gilmer County Chief Registrar Tammy Watkins. “Everyone has been really nice to us.”
No incidents have been reported at the polls. Watkins said some people have been asked to remove campaign paraphernalia or clothing.
“People wear campaign things, and we ask them to remove it, take it back to the car,” Watkins said.
On Nov. 3, polls will open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger held a press conference Monday where he asked people to exercise patience.
He expects 5.5 million voters to cast ballots in the state.
“Expect lines,” he said “Expect long lines. We ask people to be patient.”
Watkins said the early voting in Gilmer County should alleviate some of the lines.
“I think we are going to move them fast,” she said.
People should bring a government issue ID to vote, and avoid wearing campaign paraphernalia and clothing, Watkins said.
Election Superintendent Scott Chastain said workers will begin processing mail-in ballots Tuesday, Oct. 27. The ballots will be opened and batched into groups of 25 so at 7 p.m. on Nov. 3 they can be scanned and counted.
Many of the mail-in ballots have been returned to the drop box installed at the courthouse.
“Our ballot box has seemed to be a tremendous success,” he said.
Chastain is considering another change for the evening of Nov. 3. He is thinking about delaying announcing vote tallies until the next day.
“I am considering not reporting Tuesday night, and waiting until Wednesday,” Chastain said.
The extra time would allow the staff to work through mechanical problems and tally the mail-in ballots.
His biggest concern is making sure he is providing accurate information. Waiting until Wednesday would allow him to make sure he has everything correct.
Results for the Nov. 3 election will appear in the Nov. 11 edition of the Times-Courier since there are no locally contested races.