More than 400 people have gone to the polls so far in Polk County, bringing the total with early voting well over 2,000 to decide who will take over several seats for new terms starting in 2025.
Primary Day opened this morning with precincts beginning voting at 7 a.m., and polls around the county remain open until 7 p.m. for those who have yet to take part and are registered.
Voters will need to pick the GOP ballot in order to participate in the 2024 local and state primaries, since all of the candidates took up the Republican ticket for this year’s election.
So far, elections officials put the tally up to 421 ballots cast across the seven precincts in Polk County.
As of 11 a.m., Aragon’s precinct saw 38 votes cast, Camp Antioch was up to 58 ballots, Lake Creek sat at 63 votes cast, Cedartown was up to 85 voters who stopped in, Blooming Grove was at 28, Rockmart at 83 and Fish Creek at 66 votes cast for Primary Day.
That brought the overall total to 421. Previous figures were updated to put early voting tallies at more than 2,000 ballots cast between the Cedartown and Rockmart early voting precincts, plus 153 absentee ballots that were returned to the Board of Elections ahead of today.
Absentee ballots that weren’t mailed back to the Board of Elections and remain out (50 in total) can be turned into officials by 7 p.m. at the Board of Elections office (same office you go to for tags) on West Avenue in Cedartown.
Voters are deciding several contested races locally on the GOP ballot.
Among those is the countywide District 1 County Commissioner Jordan Hubbard faces three challengers: Deborah Connelly, Michael Gravett and James Vines for a full term. Hubbard was appointed earlier this year to fill the remainder of the term of the late Scotty Tillery, who passed at the start of 2024.
Also in a countywide race is District 3 race as incumbent Ray Carter seeks a new term against two challengers: John Paschal and Butch Garrett.
Two other contested races are countywide as well: coroner between incumbent Norman Smith and challenger Nathan Womack, and surveyor between Robert Cannon and Nick Rainey.
Over in the Board of Education races that are specific to districts in the Rockmart area, District 5 voters are facing a choice in an open seat between Greg Teems and Jeff Hawkins. The District 6 ballot includes an open seat race between Christina Robinson and Paul “Drew” Williams Jr.
Check back for additional updates on voting tallies and results as they become available.
