Record early voter turnout in Walton County so far for a mid-term election

Officials say turnout is more comparable to the 2020 presidential elections

Advanced voting in Walton County is well under way and officials say turnout was strong for a first week.

“It was more than what we typically do in the first week,” said Lisa Clark, assistant director of Walton County Elections. We haven’t had this much before in a previous election, not the 2018 midterm or even the 2020 elections. I would say it is more comparable to what we had in the 2020 Presidential Election.”

Clark said that the first week is usually the slowest and it tends to pick up every week.

“Every week is usually busier than the one before and if that is the case again, that indicates a really good turnout for early voting in this midterm,” she said.

This is in line with indications for the rest of Georgia, which is reporting record turnout in early voting. As of Friday, Oct. 21, 2022, a total of 7,130 Walton County residents had successfully voted in person at the three early voting precincts, one in Monroe, one in Loganville and one in Social Circle. Sixty-one people had obtained provisional ballots to vote and four of them had been accepted at this time. A total of 1,831 absentee ballots had been issued and 432 had been returned and accepted.

There is early voting this week, including Saturday, Oct. 29, and then again from Monday, Oct. 31 and ending on Friday, Nov. 4. The official day of the election is Tuesday, Nov. 8.

The locations to early vote are:

• Monroe: Felker Community Center,725 S Madison Ave., Monroe, 30655. (Note: It will not at the previous location at Nowell Recreation Center for early voting. That location will only be open as the regular precinct on Nov. 8 for those who are assigned to it.)
• Loganville: Meridian Park, 105 Generation Blvd., Loganville, GA 30052
• Social Circle: South Walton Community Center, 573 Fairplay Road,Social Circle,GA 30025

Hours of operation for early voting at all three locations remains as follows:

• Monday to Friday: 10/24 to 10/28 and 10/31 to 11/04 – from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Saturday 10/29 – from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

If you don’t manage to vote early or by absentee ballot, you get one last chance to cast your vote at your assigned polling location on Election Day, Nov. 8, 2022.  The polls will be open from 7:00 am to 7:00 p.m.  If you are not sure of your assigned precinct you can call the election office at 770-267-1337 to find out.

Absentee ballot deadlines

• Request ballot must be received by): Oct 28
• Return ballot by mail must be received by): Nov 8 by 7:00 p.m.
• Return ballot in person: Nov 8 by 7:00 p.m.

Sample Ballot

You can see a sample ballot at this link

There are only three qualified write-in candidates for this election that will be counted. These are:

For Governor

• Milton J. Lofton
• David C. Byrne

For Secretary of State

• Brenda Lynn Nelson-Porter

You can see the full text of the Proposed Constitutional Amendments on the ballots at this link