Early voting ends Friday

Early voting has been going on here since September 20th and as of late Tuesday afternoon county elections officials reported that 1,704 have voted early.
You can still vote early right up until 5 p.m. this Friday, October 29th at the courthouse.
The registrar’s office has mailed 250 absentee ballots and 150 of those have been returned.
Election day is next Tuesday, Nov. 2nd, and the county’s 13 polling places will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. so that registered voters may cast ballots.
Officials remind voters who have traditionally voted at Holder Park now vote at the Regional Community Center, which is the former Roddenbery syrup plant.
Three hotly contest local races are dominating the political scene here, but also up for election are offices including U.S. Senate, U.S. Representative, governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, agriculture commissioner, insurance commissioner, state school superintendent, labor commissioner and public service commissioner.
Topping the local races is the contest between incumbent State Court Judge Bill Bass and challenger Joshua C. Bell.
Bass is seeking his third term on the bench. Bell, a municipal court judge for Cairo, Whigham, Climax, Attapulgus and Bainbridge, is running for public office for the very first time.
The race for the District 2 seat on the Grady County commission is another closely watched race. Commission Vice Chairman Charles Renaud, the incumbent and a certified appraiser, is being challenged by Billy Poitevint, a sheet metal fabricator.
District 5 County Commissioner Bobby Burns is retiring, and T.D. David and Cecil Rash are vying for his seat. David is the controller of Ira Higdon Grocery Company and Rash is the retired finance director for the city of Cairo.
Also looming large this election cycle is the selection of two state representatives to the Georgia General Assembly.
Incumbent Republican Representative Eugene Maddox is being challenged by retired educator Dr. Marjean Boyd for the Dist. 172 post.
A small portion of eastern Grady County is in Dist. 173 and voters in those precincts will decide between Republican Darlene Taylor and Democrat Haley Shank.
The incumbent Dist. 173 State Rep Mike Keown chose not to seek re-election to the legislature and is challenging longtime congressman Sanford D. Bishop for the Second Congressional District seat in Congress.
The early voting is conducted in the registrar’s office on the first floor of the courthouse between the hours of 8 a.m. and 5 p.m.