Early voting starts Feb. 8

Early advanced voting for the March 1 presidential preference primary will be offered at the Pike County courthouse from Monday, Feb. 8 to Friday, Feb. 26 during regular office hours. Early advanced voting will also be offered Saturday, Feb. 20 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the courthouse. There is no advance voting offered on the Monday before the election. All polling precincts will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, March 1.’Avoid the long lines and wait times by voting early,’ said Pike County registrar Sandi Chamblin. ‘If you have a family member in the military, deployed overseas or away at school but registered in Pike County, they are eligible to vote. We just need an absentee ballot application filled out by a family member so a ballot can be mailed to them.’In addition to the presidential candidates, all Pike County ballots will include the SPLOST referendum to fund road improvements in Pike County. The one percent sales tax would be a six year continuation of the current SPLOST once it expires and would raise around $5.8 million for road, street and bridge improvements in Pike County and the cities of Concord, Meansville, Molena, Williamson and Zebulon. Candidates on the Republican ballot include Jeb Bush, Ben Carson, Chris Christie, Ted Cruz, Carly Fiorina, Lindsey Graham, Mike Huckabee, John R. Kasich, George Pataki, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio, Rick Santorum and Donald J. Trump.Candidates on the Democratic ballot include Hillary Clinton, Martin O’Malley, Bernie Sanders and Michael Steinberg.See sample ballots on page 5A of the Journal Reporter or at mvp.sos.ga.gov. For more information, call 770-567-2003.