Harris, Muscogee elections officials prepare for concurrent elections for Georgia House District 139 race
COLUMBUS, Ga. (WRBL) — Imagine two elections with the same candidates for the same job being held at roughly the same time.
You don’t have to imagine that if you live in Georgia House District 139, which consists of parts of Muscogee and Harris counties.
Columbus businessman Sean Knox and former Muscogee County Republican Party chairperson Camen Rice are in a runoff for the Special Election to fill the unexpired term created by Richard Smith’s sudden death in late January.
That election is May 7.
Knox and Rice are also the last two standing in the Republican Primary to win the seat for a full two-year term beginning next year. After finishing last in the Special Election, Dr. Donald Moeller withdrew from the primary and endorsed Rice.
That Primary election is May 21.
That sets up a strange situation in the early voting period for both elections.
So, the week of April 29th through May 3rd, 11,000 people in Harris County and another 28,000 in Muscogee County will be eligible to early vote at the same time for two different elections for two candidates wanting the same job.
Harris County Director of Elections Sherail Jarrett has one word for it – “Crazy.”
Special precautions are being put in place to make sure the the votes are properly counted in each election. Both races could be close if the special election held last week is any indication. Knox won with 1,045 votes of the 2,455 ballots cast. He beat Rice by just 12 votes. Rice was the leading vote-getter in Harris County, while Knox got the most votes in Muscogee County.
Here’s what voters can expect as these two elections play out.
In Harris County the advance voting will be in the same room as the primary – just a different area.That will be at the Carver Center up in Hamilton.
In Muscogee County, the advance voting for the two elections will be held in different rooms at the City Services Center.
The reason is there are differences that elections officials must manage, said Nancy Boren, Muscogee County Director of Elections and Registration.
“So, the voter lists are different, The ballots are different. Our equipment is different, as is the tabulator that tabulates the ballots. We have different absentee ballots, even about collection drop box,” she said.
What could possibly go wrong?
“We look at something new every day of anything that could possibly go wrong,” she said. “What we are trying to do, those nail down those occurrences and have an answer for each one of the things that could go wrong.”
Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer for the Secretary of State’s Office, summed the situation mandated by Georgia law this way: “It’s unfortunate but are stuck with it.”
The Who, What, Where, When, and Why of the HD139 Special Election Runoff is broken down in a slideshow below.
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