With only five days of early voting remaining before the Nov. 4 election, only 4.7 percent of the eligible voters in Oconee County have turned out to cast a ballot that features a county referendum on continuation of the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (ESPLOST).
In Bishop, 43 of the 267 eligible voters, or 16.1 percent, have cast a ballot in city races that include the mayor and all four council races.
In Watkinsville, 248 of the 2,516 eligible voters, or 9.9 percent, have turned out to decide the mayoral race between incumbent mayor Brian Brodrick and former mayor Bob Smith.
In Bogart, 34 if the 1,006 eligible voters, or 3.4 percent, have cast a ballot for two council seats.
Early voting continues through Friday at the Oconee County Administrative Building, 7635 Macon Highway, north of Watkinsville. Early voting for the Bogart races is at the Historical Agricultural Building, 125 East Thompson Street.
The election is unique, with two statewide Public Service Commission races and the school tax referendum on the ballot and with races in three of the county’s four cities.
In March of 2021, when the referendum on the current one cent ESPLOST was the only issue on the ballot, only 6.3 percent of the county’s active voters cast a ballot at the end of voting.
ESPLOST Referendum
Oconee County voters will decide if they want to renew the 1 percent ESPLOST or allow it to expire when the cap in collections is reached, probably at the end of 2026.
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Oconee County Schools has a web page dedicated to ESPLOST that includes a list of projects at 11 of the system’s 12 schools that will be undertaken if voters approve the referendum on the ballot on Nov. 4.
Topping the list are projects at the two high schools.
Money from approval of the tax will be used to convert two existing practice fields to turf, resurface tennis courts, re-turf the stadium, and build an auxiliary gym at North Oconee High School.
Tax revenue will be used to replace the original roof at Oconee County High School and renovate the stadium press box, turf a practice field, and resurface tennis courts at the school.
School officials have made presentations at school council meetings, faculty and staff meetings, superintendent advisory panels, the Oconee County Rotary Club, the Oconee County Republican Party, and the Oconee County Democratic Party to promote the tax.
By the end of the day on Saturday, 1,614 of Oconee County's 34,515 eligible voters had cast a ballot in early in person voting, and another 15 had returned an absentee ballot.
Public Service Commission Races
Oconee County is in District 2 of the statewide Public Service Commission, which consists of 38 counties from eastern metropolitan Atlanta to the Savannah River and from Hart County to Chatham County.
Incumbent Republican District 2 Commissioner Tim Echols is being challenged by Democrat Alicia Johnson.
District 3 consists only of Clayton, DeKalb, and Fulton counties and is represented at present by Republican Fitz Johnson. Democrat Peter Hubbard is challenging Fitz Johnson.
While the candidates must live in the District they represent, they must run statewide, and voters in Oconee County and across the state will be voting on Nov. 4 both for District 2 and District 3 candidates.
Bishop Race
Voters in Bishop are being asked on Nov. 4 ballot to decide between incumbent Mayor Drew Kurtz and challenger Joey Allen.
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Incumbent Post 1 Council Member Chuck Hadden is being challenged by Jacob Spaulding.
Incumbent Post 2 Council Member Deborah Lucas is being challenged by Alexander Schmidt.
The name of incumbent Post 3 Council Member Hudson Holder will appear on the ballot as well as the name of challenger Greg Montgomery.
On Sept. 24, the Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration voted to disqualify Holder on the grounds that he does not live within the city limits.
Holder filed suit in Oconee County Superior Court on Oct. 4 asking Superior Court Judge Lisa Lott to overturn that disqualification.
Post 4 Council Member Mindy Porterfield is being challenged by Jeff Davis.
The mayor and council members in Bishop serve four-year terms.
Bogart Races
In Bogart, Council member do not have posts, and voters on Nov. 4 will see the names of incumbents David Kilpatrick and Greg Maddox, as well as the names of challengers Nathan Seagraves and Stephanie Stalnaker, on the ballot.
The top two vote getters will join Council for a four-year term.
Bogart’s boundaries include a part of Clarke County, and Bogart does not contract with Oconee County to run its elections.
Watkinsville, Bishop, and North High Shoals do contract with the county for elections. North High Shoals will not have elections on Nov. 4.
The county reduced its number of precincts from eight to four in February of this year, and the Nov. 4 election is the first for which Bogart voters cast a ballot for city races at a different location from where they vote for county and state races.
Watkinsville Race
Watkinsville voters will find the names of incumbent Mayor Brodrick and former Mayor Smith at the top of the city races, but they also will see the names of incumbent Post 1 Council Member Chuck Garrett and Post 2 Council Member Connie Massey.
Neither Garrett nor Massey has any opposition.
Smith defeated incumbent Mayor Dave Shearon in 2019 but resigned on March 17 of 2021 after feuding with Brodrick and other members of Council over a number of issues, including the hiring by Shearon and Council of City Manager Sharyn Dickerson.
Upon Smith’s resignation, Council elected then Post 1 Council Member Brodrick to serve as Acting Mayor.
In a special election in June of 2021, voters elected Brodrick as mayor, and Garrett to Post 1 on Council.
Mayor and Council members in Watkinsville serve two year terms.
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