Monday started the final week of advance, in-person voting in the Nov. 7 general election.
Augusta voters decide whether to fund construction of a new James Brown Arena in a referendum on the Nov. 7 ballot. Grovetown voters select a mayor and two council members and Blythe voters select two council members.
In the arena referendum, barely 1.26% of Augusta’s 126,607 registered voters cast ballots as of Saturday. Advance voting expanded to three more locations Saturday after two weeks of it were held at the Beazley Room at Augusta Municipal Building.
The Robert Howard Community Center at Diamond Lakes Regional Park had the highest Saturday turnout in the referendum with 124 casting ballots. The heaviest single day of voting in the referendum was Tuesday, Oct. 24.
If turnout remains low, a very small segment of the population will decide whether to impose a one-half-percent sales tax to fund the arena. State legislators made the vote possible by authorizing a new special purpose, local option sales tax to fund a coliseum, known as the C-SPLOST.
If voters approve, the half-cent tax is expected to cover the cost of borrowing and spending up to $433 million to build a $250 million arena with 10,500 seats.
At the current turnout level, the elections’ $195,000 price tag means each of 1,596 ballots cast so far has cost taxpayers $122.18 each.
In Grovetown, 253 people have voted early at the former Euchee Creek Library in Nov. 7 elections for mayor and two city council seats.
The heaviest single day of voting in Grovetown was Oct. 16, when 36 voters cast ballots. As of Friday, 19 people had applied to vote by mail and eight had returned their ballots.
Where to vote
Where to vote early this week: Augusta, 8:30 a.m.-6 p.m.
- Linda Beazley Room, Augusta Municipal Building, 535 Telfair St.
- Charles H. Evans Community Center, 1866 Highland Ave.
- Robert Howard Community Center, 103 Diamond Lakes Way
- Warren Road Community Center, 300 Warren Road
Where to vote early: Grovetown, 8 a.m.-5 p.m.
- Former Euchee Creek Library, 5907 Euchee Creek Drive.
There is no voting Saturday or Monday. All voters must use their assigned polling places Nov. 7, when they will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
