Four names will be on the ballot of a special election in Fort Oglethorpe being held Nov. 2 to fill the position made vacant by the death of Mayor Ronnie Cobb last month.
Candidates to fill the remainder of Cobb’s term are Judd Burkhart, Richard Egeland, Lynn Long and Harold Silcox.
Each has previous experience in local government, according to Orma Luckey, superintendent of elections in Fort Oglethorpe.
Burkhart has served as the city’s mayor; Egeland, Long and Silcox have years of experience as members of the city council and Long also was county commission chairman from 1993-1996.
Luckey said that due to issues of timing and preparation of ballots, the mayoral election must be conducted at a separate location from the general election being held the first Tuesday in November.
Regardless of the precinct where they vote for national, state and county races on Nov. 2, any registered Fort Oglethorpe residents wanting to participate in the mayoral election that day must cast their ballot in the council room at City Hall, she said.
Polls on election day remain open between the hours of 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
Because the city’s charter requires the winning candidate to gain at least 40 percent of votes cast, a Nov. 30 runoff election is a distinct possibility, Luckey said.
“I’ve been working elections since April,” she said in reference to the exceptionally busy election calendar this year.
Nathan Deal’s resignation from the U.S. Congress made it necessary to hold a special election in April, which led to a special run-off election. There were also primary elections – again with runoffs – in July and now the special and general elections slated for the first Tuesday in November.
“This is the most I can remember,” Luckey said.