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Saturday, Oct. 31, 2009

Early voting slow in Bibb, better in WR, Peach County

Hoping to spark voter turnout, the Committee to Invest in Bibb County’s Future asked school parents to go door-to-door asking residents to hit the polls Tuesday for a sales tax vote.

The ballot will ask voters whether to continue collecting an extra penny of sales tax on the dollar for school building and school improvement projects.

Historically, such referendum questions don’t draw a lot of voters to the polls, especially when it’s the only item on the ballot.

Election officials say early voting trends suggest that nothing’s changed on that front.

As of Friday morning, just 366 of Bibb County’s 81,900 registered voters had participated in early voting on the education local option sales tax question, said Elaine Carr, Macon-Bibb County Board of elections supervisor.

“It’s been a very bad turnout, less than 1 percent,” Carr said. “I don’t know if we’ll reach 10 percent (by Tuesday), but it’d be nice.”

By comparison, about 30 percent of Bibb County’s registered voters cast ballots early in last year’s presidential election.

With no other elections in the county this year, “Voters aren’t in election mode,” Carr said. “You just really don’t know how voters feel.”

Gene Dunwody Jr., co-chairman of the pro-sales-tax committee, said he, too, thought turnout would be very low Tuesday.

“But we’re (still) hoping to have an overwhelmingly positive vote,” he said.

Other Middle Georgia city and county election officials with races Tuesday reported both busy and low early voting turnouts.

The Warner Robins mayoral and City Council races have had a “good turnout,” with about 3 percent of the city’s approximately 31,000 voters already casting ballots, said Vida Rawls, the city’s election superintendent.

An education local option sales tax question in Peach County also has drawn early interest among voters there. About 15 percent of the county’s 14,172 registered voters had voted early, officials said.

Meanwhile, Perry’s mayoral and City Council races were slow to catch on. Less than 1 percent of voters had cast a ballot early.

“We hope people come out” Tuesday, election clerk Anne-Marie Saul said.

To contact writer Julie Hubbard, call 744-4331.