SPECIAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION
FOR THE CITY OF MEIGS
TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2007

SPECIAL ELECTION
TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2007
THOMAS COUNTY AND THOMASVILLE BOARDS OF EDUCATION S.P.L.O.S.T.

SPECIAL MUNICIPAL ELECTION
FOR THE CITY OF MEIGS
TUESDAY, MARCH 20, 2007

These cities will be holding their municipal election on Tuesday, November 8, 2005 for voters to cast their vote for the candidate of their choice to be elected to various seats. Voters who reside within the city limits of these municipalites will be eligible to participate in these elections. Voters wanting to cast an absentee vote will have to submit their request in writing. This includes voters who have requested that ballots for all elections be automatically mailed to them as such requests do not apply to these municipal elections. House Bill 244 has caused some changes in the way absentee voting is conducted. For example, when someone requests an absentee ballot by mail, they do not have to provide a reason, but if someone comes in the registrar's office to cast an absentee ballot, (excluding advance voting week), they have to provide a reason and they have to show some form of I.D. Also, there will be NO ABSENTEE VOTING on the DAY BEFORE THE ELECTION.


HERE ARE SOME THINGS EVERY VOTER NEEDS TO KNOW ABOUT ABSENTEE VOTING:

If you would like to vote absentee by mail, send a written request stating the election for which you would like an absentee ballot, your name as registered, your residential address, the address that you would like the absentee ballot to be mailed to, your date of birth, and signature. Mail the request to:
For the CITY OF THOMASVILLE MUNICIPAL ELECTION: Thomas County Board of Registrars, PO Box 110, Thomasville, GA 31799
For the CITIES OF BOSTON, COOLIDGE, MEIGS, AND PAVO: City Clerk's Office of the respective city.
Applications and requests for absentee ballots BY MAIL will be accepted until FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4TH, 2005.
ABSENTEE BALLOTS CANNOT BE MAILED THE DAY BEFORE AN ELECTION so please send your request as soon as possible to ensure that it reaches election staff in time to be processed.

If you vote absentee by mail for any reason other than being DISABLED, another person cannot deliver your ballot to our office. You must either mail it back to us or deliver the ballot yourself.
An absentee ballot will not be issued the day before the Election, this includes absentee voting in the office on the touch screen voting units.

You do not have to provide a reason if you request an absentee ballot by mail.

ADVANCE VOTING (IN PERSON ONLY) FOR THE MUNICIPAL ELECTIONS WILL BE HELD MONDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2005 THROUGH FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 4, 2005 FROM 8:00 A.M UNTILL 5:00 P.M.

If you have questions about absentee voting, please call us at 225-4101.



FEBRUARY 14, 2005 - SPLOST ELECTION SET FOR MARCH 15, 2005 Thomas County Special Election
Thomas County will be holding a special election on Tuesday, March 15, 2005 for voters to cast their vote concerning SPLOST (Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax). Voters will be voting in favor of, or against the sales tax referendum. For those not already registered, February 14, 2005, is the deadline to register to be eligible to vote in the March 15, 2005 election. Voters wanting to cast an absentee vote will have to submit their request in writing. This includes voters who have requested that ballots for all elections be automatically mailed to them as such requests pertain only to primary and general elections. We will be conducting ADVANCE VOTING in the office from Monday, March 7th through Friday, March 11th, 8:00 a.m. until 5:00 p.m. All voters wishing to cast their vote early should come to the Registrars' office at 227 West Jefferson Street. The polls will be open from 7:00 a.m until 7:00 p.m. on March 15, 2005. Click this link to NEWSMAX to learn more of what the Splost Tax is about.

FEBRUARY 9, 2005 - THE FUTURE OF ADVANCE VOTING Streamlining the Lines
As most voters know, the State of Georgia now allows early or "advance" voting during elections. When the election officials of Georgia counties were given the go ahead to implement advance voting, no one really knew what to expect, not even the election officials on the state level. Would the voters take advantage of early voting? Would the voters frown on some extra paperwork that would be required in order to vote early? Questions such as these were yet to be answered. Well, voters not only took advantage of this new convenience, they showed up in large numbers in every county across the state. Local election officials were instructed to follow the same procedures as for absentee voting. Registrars' offices had a sudden influx of "absentee" votes to process. We quickly learned that if advance voting was going to be this popular, some paperwork had to be cut and the process had to be streamlined. This was a learning process for everyone involved and we quickly realized where improvements had to be made. Our office has had several conversations with the Secretary of State Elections Division's officials, discussing ways to streamline this new voting process. We suggested a longer advance voting period so that voters will have a longer window of time to fit voting into their schedule and it will also help our office in processing the needed paperwork. It is very difficult to process thousands of voters in one week's time and keep up with all the documentation without working almost 24/7, which tends to wear down the staff. We also suggested that a voter's certificate be completed by the voters instead of an absentee application. The extended time period in which a voter can advance vote is being introduced in House Bill No.229. As far as cutting the paperwork is concerned, we haven't heard of any changes yet. The State election officials ARE working on making the advance voting process quicker. Our office processed over 3,000 voters during advance voting week in the November, 2005 general election. It went well for the most part, but our office is ill suited to handle such a crowd. The voters had to form a line down the hallway because our office is located in the middle of the building, not close to the main entrance. Voters were looking for someone to be at the main entrance when they walked in. We tried to accommodate our voters as situations arose, and for the most part, most voters were happy and welcomed the opportunity to vote early. I will be working on moving the advance voting to a larger area in the building, and possibly have more than 1 advance voting location for larger elections. As a result of our unofficial polling of voters, we have concluded that the long wait, the confusion of the lines, and the paperwork involved are the voters' biggest concerns. Correcting these situations will be a priority of this office. We will make advance voting an advancement in our voting process. All suggestions and ideas are welcomed.
By Lisa Greene, Chief Deputy Registrar

JANUARY 20, 2005 - New Mapping Software
The Board of Registrars' office has installed mapping software to further aid in maintaining more accurate records and data. This software will prove to be an inexpendable tool in the Registrars' office's daily tasks. We plan to publish maps on the website in the future.
By Lisa Greene, Chief Deputy Registrar
CLICK HERE to access the maps that have been posted lately.