Early voter turnout lower than expected for District 2 commissioner in Chatham Co.

CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WTOC) - A special election is being held in Chatham County Tuesday to fill the seat left by late District 2 Commissioner Gator Rivers and there are roughly 24,000 eligible voters who can help decide who will take that spot.

Voters in Chatham County District 2 will have four choices on the ballot that’s David Tootle, Malinda Jane Scott Hodge, Michael Joseph Hamilton, Sr, and Ni’Asha Banks.

There are 17 polling locations that voters will cast their ballot at Tuesday.

Billy Wooten with the Chatham County Board of Elections says that because this special election is just for one district, preparations were much smaller than a general election across the whole county would be.

He says they are fully staffed so each polling place will have enough workers to handle voter turnout.

Wooten says that setup for the election has taken about ten days, and that all the ballot machines have been certified to be working correctly.

“We test every machine before it goes to the poll multiple times. We actually have to vote, in this case there are four names on the ballot, we have to vote a variety of test ballots where we cast a vote for each one of the candidates multiple times to ensure that everything is being accurately counted,” Billy Wooten said.

Just like in the general election, polls open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m.

You’ll need to have an ID with an address on it registered to the second district to cast your ballot.

And as a reminder for folks in the 8-02 precinct your polling location is at the Bull Street Baptist Church right across from the usual location for this special election only.

Stick with WTOC for updates this election day.

Copyright 2023 WTOC. All rights reserved.