By Kelly Young

kyoung@jacksonvilleprogress.com

Preliminary Cherokee County early voting numbers show residents are coming out in force to vote in the March 4 primaries.

March 2008 early voting numbers have already exceeded the early voting figures from the 2006 and 2004 March primaries — with the polls open for another three days of early voting.

“Through the end-of-business Tuesday, we’ve had 938 people vote in the Democratic primary and 934 in the Republican primary. It’s been a really good turnout so far, and I think it’s a good thing for the county that we have so many people coming to vote,” said County Clerk Laverne Lusk. “The two parties have been running neck-and-neck so far in terms of voter turnout, and we have already surpassed the number of people who voted early in the last two Cherokee County primaries.”

According to Lusk, 1,872 people have early voted thus far, compared to 1,270 (969 Democratic, 301 Republicans) total early voters in the presidential primaries of 2004, and 1,597 (430 Democrats, 1,167 Republicans) in the party primaries of 2006.

“Usually, if you have a good turnout in early voting, you can expect to have a strong showing on election day as well,” she said. “There seems to be a lot more interest in the elections this year. I’ve even heard people from both parties say they are excited about having precinct conventions this year — which has never happened before.”

Historically, nearly half of all Cherokee County voters cast their ballots before election day.

Early voting will continue at the Jacksonville Senior Citizen Building, the Cherokee County Courthouse in Rusk and the A. Frank Smith United Methodist Church in Alto until 5 p.m. Friday.

Each polling place will have ballots for both the Democratic and Republican primaries, but voters will need to decide at the polling place which they are going to vote in. The front side of all Cherokee County ballots are the same, however, the back side will differ depending on which precinct the voter lives in.

Republicans in Precinct 1 will have the opportunity to vote for either James Bacon Sr., Kevin Lankford or Kelly Traylor for commissioner of their precinct. All voters in Precinct 2 will get to vote for constable, with Jake Carter and Jack White on the Republican ballot and Mark Green and Jeremy Jackson on the Democratic ballot. Democrats in Precinct 3 can lend their support to either Moody Glass Jr., F.E. Hassell or Randall Bonner. And finally, Precinct 4 Democrats will choose between Jamie Beene and Joe Self for their constable.

If you are unsure what voting precinct you live in, contact the county clerk’s office with your name and address, and they will be able to tell you what precinct you live in and where to vote.

The same 28 polling places used in last November’s elections will again be used for the March primaries.



Cherokee County

Polling Places

• Precinct No. 10 — Northeast Rusk, Civic Center, Euclid Street

• Precinct No. 11 — East Rusk, Blounts Chapel Church, Highway 84

• Precinct No. 12 — North Rusk, Gallatin Community Center, FM 768

• Precinct No. 13 — North Maydelle, Maydelle Fire Station, Highway 84

• Precinct No. 14 — Southeast Jacksonville, Corinth Baptist Church, Turney

• Precinct No. 15 — Ward 3 Jacksonville, Tyler Street Baptist Church, Tyler Street

• Precinct No. 16 — Dialville, Dialville Methodist Church, CR 1611

• Precinct No. 23 — South Rusk, Salem Baptist Church, FM 241

• Precinct No. 24 — Rusk, Cherokee Civic Theatre Annex, 6th Street

• Precinct No. 25 — Wells, Wells Fire Station, Highway 69

• Precinct No. 26 — East Alto, County Barn, FM 851

• Precinct No. 27 — West Alto, Alto Fire Station, Highway 21

• Precinct No. 28 — South Maydelle, Assembly of God Church, Highway 84

• Precinct No. 29 — Forest, Forest Baptist Church, FM 1911

• Precinct No. 32 — Mt. Selman, Mt. Selman Baptist Church, CR 3941

• Precinct No. 33 — Reese, Reese Community Center, Highway 175

• Precinct No. 34 — Mixon, First Baptist Church, FM 177

• Precinct No. 35 — Cove Springs Community Church, Highway 175

• Precinct No. 36 — Southwest Jacksonville, New Hope Baptist Church, FM 747

• Precinct No. 37 — Mt. Haven, Mt. Haven CME Church, FM 747

• Precinct No. 38 — Ward 2 Jacksonville, Jacksonville Activity Center, Peoples Street

• Precinct No. 42 — Ward 1 Jacksonville, Old Elberta School, MLK Drive

• Precinct No. 43 — Ward 4 Jacksonville, Jacksonville Public Library, Jackson Street

• Precinct No. 44 — Northeast Jacksonville, Tecula Baptist Church, CR 4113

• Precinct No. 45 — New Summerfield, New Summerfield City Hall, Highway 110

• Precinct No. 46 — Pleasant Hill, Blackjack Baptist Church, Highway 110

• Precinct No. 47 — Ponta, First Baptist Church, Highway 110

• Precinct No. 48 — Concord, Presbyterian Church, CR 4705