Oconee County voters wishing to participate in the June 16 General Primary Runoff will have only five days of early voting, beginning Monday, June 8, and ending on Friday, June 12.
The runoff is particularly important for Republicans, since the party has not yet selected its candidates for the U.S. Senate, Governor, Lieutenant Governor, or Secretary of State.
Republicans also will decide in the runoff who will be the nominee for state Senate District 46, which includes all of Oconee County.
Reflecting the importance of these races, the local Republican Party, in partnership with other Republican Parties in the 10th Congressional District, has invited candidates in the runoff to a forum from 6 to 8 p.m. on June 1 at the Thomas Cotton Gin, 3783 Greensboro Highway (SR 15), south of Watkinsville.
So far, both candidates for Senate District 46, Marc McMain and Doug McKillip, have agreed to participate, as have both candidates for the Public Service Commission District 5 race and for State School Superintendent.
Democrats still need to pick a Lieutenant Governor and a Secretary of State nominee as well as candidates for Insurance Commissioner and Labor Commissioner.
The tight advance voting window creates a challenge for both parties, as small numbers of voters will be deciding key races. In the May 19 General Primary and Nonpartisan election, 53.4 percent of the 12,445 votes cast in Oconee County were through Advance In Person voting, which stretched across 17 days and included two Saturdays.
At the May 22 meeting of the Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration, Sharon Gregg, Director of Elections and Registration for the county, encouraged voters who need extra time to take advantage of early voting, when lines are likely to be shorter than on Election Day.
Republican Stumping Ground
In an email message on May 27, Oconee County Republican Party Chair Kathy Hurley said “We have candidates for three of the seven races completely confirmed.”
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| Republican Flyer (Click To Enlarge) |
McMain and McKillip are confirmed for the Senate District 46 race, as are Bobby Mehan and Josh Tolbert for the Public Service Commission District 5 race and incumbent Richard Woods and Fred “Bubba” Longgrear for State School Superintendent.
“Two other races we have one candidate in each race confirmed,” Hurley wrote, “with talks going on with those opponents.”
Vernon Jones has confirmed for the Secretary of State race, Hurley said, and Greg Dolezal has confirmed for the Lieutenant Governor race. Tim Fleming (Secretary of State) and John F. Kennedy (Lieutenant Governor) have been invited, she wrote.
“We learned this morning that Burt Jones was unavailable,” Hurley wrote of the Governor’s race, “but do not have a definitive answer from Rick Jackson.”
“The Senate race is similar as we await word from each campaign,” Hurley wrote, referring to candidates Mike Collins and Derek Dooley.
“The format of the evening will have the opposing candidates in a race on stage together with Tim Bryant asking the questions,” Hurley wrote. Bryant hosts Georgia Morning News. Each race will be allotted 15 minutes of time, Hurley said.
Tickets are free but should be reserved through EventBrite, Hurley wrote.
Matchup Scheduled
The matchup between McMain and McKillip will be the first of the campaign, as McMain did not attend a citizen-organized candidate forum on April 21 at Oconee Veterans Park.
In the May 19 Republican Party Primary, McMain received 43.3 percent of the vote to 34.7 percent for McKillip and 22.0 percent for Michael Broun.
McKillip carried Clarke County (40.9 percent to 25.8 percent for McMain) and Gwinnett County (37.4 percent to 34.4 percent).
Oconee split nearly equally between McMain (38.6 percent) and McKillip (38.2 percent).
McMain is from Walton County, while both McKillip and Broun are from Oconee County.
U.S. Rep. Collins and former football coach Dooley are set to meet on at 12:45 p.m. tomorrow (May 31) in the Atlanta Press Club’s Loudermilk-Young Debate Series. Both are seeking to challenge Incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff in November.
Lt. Gov. Jones will be on the Atlanta Press Club’s debate stage at 1:30 p.m. on Monday (June 1). Jackson declined the invitation.
Democratic Ballot
Sample ballots for the Democratic And Republican runoffs now are available on the Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration Web site.
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| Clip From Democratic Ballot |
The Democratic ballot contains only four races, headed by Josh McLaurin and Nabilah Parkes for Lieutenant Governor. (They are scheduled to appear before the Atlanta Press Club at 4:15 p.m. tomorrow.)
Secretary of State candidates are Dana Barrett and Penny Brown Reynolds.
Insurance Commissioner candidates are DeAndre Mathis and Keisha Sean Waites.
Labor Commission Candidates are Nikki Porcher and Michelle Michi Sanchez.
The Oconee County Democratic Party hosted a Candidate Fair sponsored by the Democratic Party Committees of Congressional District 10 on April 25 at the Oconee County Civic Center.
McLaurin and Michi Sanchez were among those who attended and spoke at that event.
Oconee Election Board Certification
The Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration certified the results of the May 19 election at it meeting on 22 after determining that an outstanding ballot from overseas could not be counted because it has not been received in that day’s mail as was necessary to be accepted.
A total of 12,445 ballots had been cast, with 5,557 (44.7 percent) cast on Election Day, 6,640 (53.4 percent) cast Advance In Person, 244 (2.0 percent) cast Absentee by Mail, and four (0.0 percent) cast provisionally but ultimately accepted.
Turnout as a percent of Active registered voters was 38.7 percent, compared with 41.9 percent in May of 2022.
In the June runoff in 2022, only 21.7 percent of Oconee County’s Active registered voters cast a ballot.
That election had runoff elections for the Democratic Party for Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Commissioner of Insurance, Commissioner of Labor, and U.S. Congressional District 10.
The Republican Party had a runoff for the U.S. Congressional District 10 and Post 3 on the Oconee County Board of Education.
Review Of Election
“So advanced voting went well,” Elections and Registration Director Gregg said when she began her report to the Board at its May 22 meeting. “We didn't have any issues in advanced voting.”
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| Gregg 5/22/2026 |
“I would encourage voters to vote during advance voting,” she said. “Usually, there are no lines. Also, anyone that's 75 years of age or older or disabled, during advance voting, can go to the front of the line at any time”
On election day itself, she added, that opportunity to move to the front of the line is limited to the period from 9:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Voting is from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on election day.
“We had a line at Civic Center, so that was our only issue on Election Day as far as lines,” Gregg said. “No other location had lines.”
Civic Center is the voting location for the Oconee Central Precinct. Of the county’s 32,161 Active Voters, 17,804 are in Oconee Central Precinct, or 55.4 percent.
In May 19 Election Day voting, 2,736 ballots were cast at the Civic Center, or 49.2 percent of the votes cast that day.
Gregg said she was exploring blocking off an area at the Civic Center in the future that is accessible “and create a room just for those voters that can't stand in line, that are disabled.”
Ballot Length
“It was a very long ballot, and we had reports from managers that some voters, they didn't move along in a timely fashion,” Gregg said.
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| Hanley 5/22/2026 |
Board Chair Jay Hanley said the long ballot was “partially due” to the number of questions put on the ballot by the political parties, saying in “the last two or three cycles, there have definitely been many, many more than there ever have been in the past.”
“Those are nonbinding and meaningless,” Board Member Ken Davis said. “They take up a lot of space and a lot of time to do it, but I, for one, am going to get back to my committee and ask that they consider not doing them. Because I'm not sure it's a benefit anyway.”
Davis represents the Oconee County Democratic Party Committee on the Election Board. Both the state and local parties have the option of adding questions to the ballot.
Gregg said the longest wait time reported by an election manger was 45 minutes “but there have been people that said they've waited over an hour.”
“We encouraged everyone to get a sample ballot and look at it while they waited in line so they'd be prepared,” Gregg said. “I did have one manager say a voter took 30 minutes in the booth, and another one said a voter took 45.”
“They did check on them,” she said. “They asked if they needed assistance, and it just took them that long.”
Early Voting
Early voting in the June 16 General Primary Runoff is from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the County Administrative Building, 7635 Macon Highway.
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| Board Of Elections Flyer |
Voters must use the same ballot in the runoff as they used in the May 19 Primary.
Voters who did not vote in the primaries or who used the nonpartisan ballot on May 19 may vote in the runoff of their choice.
The deadline to request an absentee ballot is June 5.
Video
The video below is of the meeting of the Oconee County Board of Elections and Registration held on May 22 in the Board Room at the Oconee County Administrative Building.
Gregg began her discussion of the May 19 elections at 16:32 in the video.
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