Athens-Clarke Board of Elections votes to add Saturday early voting in Senate runoff
The Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections this week voted to provide for advance voting for the Dec. 6 General Election runoff on Saturday, Nov. 26.
The board voted 3-2 to establish polling places that Saturday at the ACC Elections Office at 155 E. Washington St. and at the Miriam Moore Community Center at 410 McKinley Dr. These polling places will be open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. that day.
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The board had already approved advance voting for Sunday, Nov. 27, which is an option for counties, with many electing not to have Sunday voting.
The U.S. Senate race runoff pits incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock against Republican challenger Herschel Walker. Warnock’s campaign and the Democratic Party of Georgia successfully sued the state arguing that early voting should be allowed Nov. 26, according to the Associated Press.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger previously had instructed county elections officials to disallow Saturday voting based on his interpretation of state voting law. He said there would be no Saturday voting due to a state law that prevents voting on the second Saturday before an election if there is a holiday on a Thursday or Friday. Thursday is Thanksgiving and Friday is a generically named "State Holiday."
The Board of Elections opted on two locations, noting the obstacles that might occur due to a home University of Georgia football game which creates traffic congestion for the downtown.
The ACC Elections Office in downtown will host the Sunday early voting from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m.
During the remainder of the week, early voting will be available at four other polling places in Athens.
Oconee County, for instance, will open early voting on Monday, Nov. 28, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each day through Friday at the Oconee County Civic Center on Hog Mountain Road in Watkinsville.
In Athens, The ACC Elections Office will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. during most days, but will close at 5 p.m. Friday.
Other polling places open for early voting from Monday through Friday are Miriam Moore Community Center, 310 McKinley Drive, ACC Extension, 275 Cleveland Road, Bogart, ACC Tennis Center, 4460 Lexington Road and Athens Regional Library, 2025 Baxter St.
The voting times at the places are 9 a.m. to 7 p.m., excluding Friday when it ends at 5 p.m.
This article originally appeared on Athens Banner-Herald: Athens-Clarke add Saturday as early voting day in U.S. Senate race runoff
