Live Updates: Georgia primary, non-partisan Election Day underway

WRBL will be updating this article live throughout Tuesday night. Find the latest details on Georgia Election Day down below.

8 p.m.: With the early advance and absentee votes reporting in Muscogee County, Columbus Realtor Travis Chambers has taken the lead in the Council District 10 citywide race.

Chambers has just over 50 percent of the 8,523 ballots cast. Businessman John Anker has 32 percent of the votes. Military retiree Rocky Marsh has 10 percent and pastor Patrick Leonard has 7 percent.

To avoid a runoff, the top vote-getter must have 50-percent, plus one.

The race is on the ballot twice. The second time is a special election to fill the remainer of the term won by John House, who resigned last year.

Chambers has 49.5 percent of the votes in the special election to 32.5 for Anker.

The other contested Council race is right. Incumbent Toyia Tucker has 51.3 percent of the 1,577 ballots cast. She is leading challenger and retired law enforcement officer Tyrone Thomas, who has 48.7 percent of the early votes. Tucker is 41 votes ahead.

In the only contested Muscogee County School Board race, incumbent Pat Frey has 53.5 percent to 46.5 for Laketha Ashe. Frey is up by 32 votes of the 452 cast.

This is a rematch from last year’s special election when Frey won by two votes.

5 p.m.: As of mid-afternoon, more than 5,100 people have voted in-person in Muscogee County. As of 3:30, about 14,000 people have voted either on Election Day, early advance or absentee in Columbus.

Voting lines across the state are non-existent with the Secretary of State’s Office posting the average wait time was less than one minute.

Polls across Georgia and here in Muscogee County will remain open until 7 p.m. All 25 precincts in Muscogee County are open.

We talked to a couple of voters about the importance of voting, even in elections with low turnout.

“For me, it’s always important,” said Teresa Burkett, a Midtown voter. “And that’s the bottom line. It’s important.”

Here’s what another Midtown voter had to say.

“If you’re a Republican or a Democrat, every vote counts. Everybody’s decision matters,” said Porsche Luttrell. “You know, nobody is right. Nobody’s wrong. It’s just your choice.  And your choice matters. So come out. And I feel like every vote counts.”

WRBL is watching more than 40 races. There is one Georgia State House race that is on the ballot that has voters confused. But that confusion in the District 139 race to replace the late Richard Smith should end soon.

Tuesday marks the third time in less than two months that Carmen Rice and Sean Knox have been on the ballot opposite each other.

Rice defeated Knox in a runoff two weeks ago to secure the remainder of Smith’s term, which expires at the end of the year. She is now the incumbent and sitting State House representative for District 139. She was sworn in last week.

But to get the full two-year term that starts in January, she must beat Knox in the Republican primary. The winner will then have an inside track to the job in the November General Election.  The district has parts of Muscogee and Harris Counties.

We caught up with both candidates. Rice was sign waving along Moon Road. Knox was working the phones trying to get people to the polls.

In the Special Election, Knox beat Rice by just 12 votes. But in the runoff for the unexpired term, Rice won by a couple of hundred votes.

COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) — It is Election Day in Columbus and across Georgia.

Polls opened at 7 a.m. and will remain open until 7 p.m. statewide. In Columbus there are 25 neighborhood precincts open.

Turnout has been low in three weeks of early advance voting. Statewide the turnout is low – only about 550,000 Georgians voted early.

“The problem we’ve got statewide is we’re only at 7.9 percent turnout so far with the early voting absentees that are in  Muscogee is running at 6.6 percent,” said Secretary of State’s Office Chief Operating Office Gabriel Sterling. “And I think Harris is running about a little over four and a half percent.  So it’s a light turnout. So  there shouldn’t be a whole lot to do. I’m hoping that we get flooded with at the polls (on Election Day).

Director of Elections and Registrations Nancy Boren breaks down the Muscogee County numbers.

“We’ve had just over 7,000 people to vote early,” Boren said. “We’ve issued about 1,400 absentee ballots and received back almost 600 today, which is pretty good.  We’re excited about that. We hope to get more. Light turnout tomorrow. Go to your assigned precinct. The city Services center, even though you vote early here, is not a polling place on Election Day. You will need to go to your assigned location.”

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