March 13, 2018
By: Dwayne Page
Early voting hours for the May 1 DeKalb County Democratic Primary have now been set.
The DeKalb County Election Commission, meeting in regular session Monday evening, set the same time frame as in previous county elections.
The times are as follows:
Mondays—1 p.m. to 5 p.m.
Tuesdays—9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Wednesdays—9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Thursdays—2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Fridays—9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Saturdays—9 a.m. to noon.
Early voting begins April 11 and runs through April 26 on the first floor of the DeKalb County Courthouse.
“The commission is very mindful of the fact there are different population segments and not everyone is available to cast their ballot at the same time of the day and that is why there are a couple of afternoon voting periods,” said Dennis Stanley, Administrator of Elections.
The commission also set the Election Day voting hours at the usual time—8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Meanwhile, Stanley announced there is still time to pick up a petition for the August 2nd municipal elections and available school board seats. The qualifying deadline is Noon April 5th.
In Alexandria a mayor and three aldermen will be elected to four-year terms and one alderman will be elected to a two-year term to fill a vacancy.
Petitions have been issued in Alexandria to Lloyd Dyer and Eddie Shane Blair for Alderman but those petitions have not yet been returned and verified.
In Liberty a mayor and five aldermen will be elected. Petitions issued and returned for mayor include incumbent Dwight Mathis and challenger Darrell Johnson.
Derek Johnson has picked up and returned a petition for one of the aldermen spots. Other alderman petitions have been issued to incumbents Jason Ray, Eddie Dwayne Blair, Joe Don Bratten and William H. Reynolds.
In Dowelltown three aldermen are to be elected. No petitions have been issued for those races.
In Smithville a mayor and two aldermen will be elected. Petitions issued and returned for mayor include incumbent Jimmy Poss and challenger Josh Miller. Petitions issued and returned to date for alderman include incumbents Jason Murphy and Gayla Hendrix along with challenger Brandon Cox.
Five school board seats are up for election in August. In District 1 incumbent Danny Parkerson has picked up and returned his petition.
In District 2 petitions have been issued to incumbent Jerry Wayne Johnson, C.D. Webb, Thomas Alan Hayes and Orville Hendrix. Only Hayes has returned his petition.
In District 3 a petition has been issued to incumbent Jim Beshearse and it has been returned and verified. In District 4 a petition has been issued to incumbent Kate Miller. In District 7 a petition has been issued to incumbent Shaun Tubbs and it has been returned and verified.
Again, the qualifying deadline for the August 2 DeKalb County General and Municipal Elections is Noon April 5.