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Published Sunday, October 05, 2008 in Local

400-500 per day turn out for early vote in Coweta

By Sarah Fay Campbell

The Times-Herald

Turnout for this year's presidential election is expected to be the highest in many, many years.

But before you can vote, you must be registered. And the final deadline is Monday.

Mailed voter registration applications must be postmarked by Oct. 6 to be valid. You can also go to the Coweta County Voter Registration Office, at 22 East Broad Street, and register on the spot. Voter registration forms are available at local libraries, as well as online at www.sos.georgia.gov.

There have been so many new voters that many precinct cards haven't gone out yet. However, if you registered through an organization, you can contact the registrar's office and make sure your registration went through. Some applications have been slow in arriving. But it's better to be safe than sorry, said Registrar Joan Hamilton.

You can check on your registration by calling 770-254-2615.

As long as you vote regularly, your registration doesn't expire. However, if you haven't voted in several presidential elections, you may have been removed from the voter list.

The registrar's office in Newnan has been very, very busy.

Not just with processing an incredible amount of new voter registrations, but with handling the incredible demand for early voting.

Early voting started Sept. 22, and an average of 400 Cowetans have been casting early ballots each day, Hamilton said.

Friday was the biggest day yet. By 4:45 p.m., a whopping 507 people had come through the office to cast their early ballots.

At times, the line went all the way down the steps to the sidewalk. It even turned the corner at the busiest times. But the wait isn't bad.

"They love it," said Poll Worker Alice Malcolm. "Even if they have to wait in line."

Kevin and Melanie Carroll decided to vote early Friday to make their lives a little less hectic. "He's very, very busy at work. And we have four kids," Melanie said. They were glad to take advantage of early voting, which is offered for the first time this year. Advance voting, which offered the opportunity to vote the week before the election, has been available for several years. This year, advance voting has been essentially expanded to 45 days.

Nelton Goss was voting early for the first time, too. He and his wife had to be in downtown Newnan anyway, and figured Friday would be a slow day.

It wasn't. But he still got done faster than he likely would have at his polling place on Nov. 4.

Registrar Joan Hamilton encourages voters to "know before you go."

There are several ballot questions, and many offices up for grabs.

Sample ballots are available in the office for voters to look at before they head to the voting machines. "We've got them on both tables, we've got them hanging on the walls," Hamilton said of the sample ballots.

She's been getting a lot of calls requesting the ballot information, as well. The easiest way to see the sample ballot is to visit www.coweta.ga.us. The link to the ballot is right on the main page. Hamilton said she can also fax the sample ballots.

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