Qualifying has ended for the upcoming Grovetown and Harlem city elections, and Grovetown is going to see a race for both the mayor and city council seats.
The city of Grovetown has two council seats and the mayor seat up for election. For the mayoral race, incumbent Gary Jones, former council member Deborah Fisher and current council member Ceretta Smith all filed to run, according to Brian Henderson, city clerk. Fisher recently stepped down from her position on the city council so she could run for mayor. Another election will have to be held at a later date to fill her spot.
For the city council seat, council member Eric W. Blair, Marsha Keating and Richard Bowman all filed to run. The city council seats are at-large seats, which means that the two candidates with the most votes will be elected.
Harlem has two seats up for election, and incumbents Gregg Stokes and Al Reeves are the only two that filed. This means there will be no election in November, and they will complete their current terms before starting the next term.
Early voting will take place Oct. 16 – Nov. 3, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday voting will be held Oct. 21 and Oct. 28 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Early voting will only take place at the former Euchee Creek Library, 5907 Euchee Creek Drive, Grovetown.
Election day is Nov. 7 and voting will occur at regular voting precincts. To find your precinct or view a sample ballot, visit the My Voter Page or For more information, visit the Columbia County Board of Elections website or Facebook.
Stephanie Hill is the managing editor and covers Columbia County government for The Augusta Press. Reach her at stephanie@theaugustapress.com.
