County turnout light, stream of Winder voters steady

Turnout this morning for the county's special election was light, but there was a steady stream of voters at the Winder Community Center.

As of noon, 255 people had voted at the community center in the city election and 82 had voted across the same room in the county election. The polling place at the Winder Lion's Club also had had more than 80 county voters turn out in the morning hours. Turnout was very low in Auburn, where the only item on the municipal ballot is Sunday sales of alcohol by the package. There are 16 county polling places open around the county until 7 p.m.

Voters today will decide the future direction of the county government as well as who will be the next mayor of Winder. Council elections also are on the ballots in Bethlehem, Statham and Winder. And Sunday sales of alcohol by the package are on a few ballots.

During the early voting period that ended Friday, nearly 1,000 people cast ballots in the county's special election, and almost 500 voted in Winder's elections.

Interim county elections supervisor Monica Franklin said that only two voters whose names had been struck from the state's voter list last month had complained about being mistakenly stricken.

She said the only significant glitch in the election has been the failure of one of the state's computer servers, which has limited access to information about the polling locations of voters who have come to her office or called for help.

The election results will be posted tonight at the county administration building at 233 E. Broad St. and also online on the county's website. Check the Barrow County Board of Elections & Registration page under "Vote" at www.barrowga.org.