On Nov. 2, Fort Oglethorpe residents will be asked to go one place to vote for governor and another place to select a new mayor.
City officials decided on the date to hold the special election to fill the remainder of former Mayor Ronnie Cobb’s term, according to City Manager Ron Goulart. Cobb died last Tuesday of a heart attack.
The City Council officially will vote on the date at a called meeting Wednesday, he said.
The date will coincide with the state general election, but Goulart said voting for mayor would take place at City Hall rather than at the individual precincts voters already will be visiting.
Orma Luckey, superintendent of elections for the city, said election guidelines from the Secretary of State’s Office mandate separate voting places. Having all of the mayoral votes in at City Hall also will keep things simpler for vote counters, because the city limits extend into Walker County so those precincts would have to offer different ballots to voters.
Sarah Thompson, a spokeswoman for the Georgia secretary of state, said Fort Oglethorpe is one of several towns in the state that holds city elections at different polling places. She said the city charter sets up the polling places, and this case is different only because the two elections coincide.
“It’s just one of those unforeseen things,” Goulart said of the election and Cobb’s death.
Goulart said he did not expect much confusion over the dueling ballot boxes, and he said early voting will allow people to avoid the extra stop.