Category Archives: SPLOST

13,727 Voted in Lowndes County Georgia by 26 Oct 2012

A record 1,783 people voted Friday, bringing the total to 13,727 who have voted in Lowndes County Georgia in the first two weeks of early voting:

Daily and 13,727 Total voting in Lowndes County Georgia by 26 October 2012

DateDailyTotal
October 15, 2012 1,636 1,636
October 16, 2012 1,225 2,861
October 17, 2012 956 3,817
October 18, 2012 643 4,460
October 19, 2012 1,433 5,893
October 23, 2012 1,449 9,173
October 24, 2012 1,363 10,536
October 25, 2012 1,408 11,944
October 26, 2012 1,783 13,727
Data courtesy of Tiffany Linkswiler, Lowndes County Board of Elections.

Somewhere around 25% of registered voters have already voted. But there are plenty more voters out there.

You can still vote today (Saturday), during extended voting hours next week, or on that great election day, November 6th. Several recent elections here have been decided by less than 100 votes. Your vote counts!

-jsq

Voted in Lowndes County Georgia by 25 Oct 2012

There was a dropoff in the first week of early voting, but it picked back up last Friday and this week. Daily and Total voting in Lowndes County Georgia by 25 October 2012:

Daily and Total voting in Lowndes County Georgia by 25 October 2012

DateDailyTotal
October 15, 2012 1636 1636
October 16, 2012 1225 2861
October 17, 2012 956 3817
October 18, 2012 643 4460
October 19, 2012 1433 5893
October 23, 2012 1449 9173
October 24, 2012 1363 10536
October 25, 2012 1408 11944
Data courtesy of Tiffany Linkswiler, Lowndes County Board of Elections.

Somewhere around 20-25% of registered voters have already voted. But there are plenty more voters out there. You can still vote today, Saturday, during extended voting hours next week, or on that great election day, November 6th. Several recent elections here have been decided by less than 100 votes. Your vote counts!

-jsq

Videos of candidates @ AAUW 2012-10-24

Welcome After the fourth and final candidates forum, moderated for AAUW by Dr. Jim Peterson last night at VHS, the statehouse candidate attendance report card is:
Incumbents: Ellis Black (R 174) 0 of 4, Amy Carter (R 175) 1 of 4, and Tim Golden (R Sen-8) 1 of 4.
Challengers: Teresa Lawrence (D 174) 4 of 4, JC Cunningham (D 175) 4 of 4, and Bikram Mohanty (D Sen-8) 4 of 4.
Open seat 177: J. Glenn Gregory (R) 4 of 4, Dexter Sharper (D) 4 of 4.
Local candidates: 4 of 4 for every one of them,
Gretchen Quarterman (D) and Bill Slaughter (R) for Lowndes County Chairman,
Chris Prine (D) and J.D. Yeager (R) for Lowndes County Sheriff,
John Gates (R) and Demarcus Marshall (D) for Lowndes County Commission District 4,
Justin Cabral (R) and Jason Cain (D) for Solicitor General.

Here are videos of the entire forum.

Candidates Forum at VHS by AAUW, Deb Van Petten President,
Videos by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 24 October 2012.

Videos of the previous 3 forums:

Continue reading →

Candidates ready @ AAUW 2012-10-24

Here’s a picture of candidates waiting to speak at last night’s AUUW forum. None of the incumbent state legislators showed up. All of the challengers did, along with all the candidates for local offices.

Front row: John Gates, J. Glenn Gregory, Gretchen Quarterman, Teresa Lawrence, J.D. Yeager, Justin Cabral
Second row: Dexter Sharper, Demarcus Marshall, Bill Slaughter, Chris Prine, Jason Cain
Third row: Bikram Mohanty, J.C. Cunningham, AAUW organizer
Missing: Tim Golden, Amy Carter, Ellis Black
Picture by John S. Quarterman for LAKE, the Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 24 October 2012

The videos should be up later today. are up now.

-jsq

Candidates again tonight @ AAUW 2012-10-24

Will any of our incumbent state legislators show up this time? Their challengers have spoken every time. AAUW logo 7PM tonight is the last time to see all the local candidates in one place: Wednesday 24 October 2012, Performing Arts Center, Valdosta High School, 3101 North Forrest Street, Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, AAUW presents a Political Forum. This one, unlike some previous ones, is advertised on the sponsoring organization’s website (although oddly not on its facebook page) and in the VDT calendar.

So far, Ellis Black (R 174) 0 of 3, Amy Carter (R 175), 1 of 3, and Tim Golden (R Sen-8) 1 of 3. Challengers Teresa Lawrence (D 174), JC Cunningham (D 175), and Bikram Mohanty (D Sen-8) all spoke at 3 of 3. Videos of the previous forums:

Candidates at 30 Club forum at Serenity Church
Candidates at Homebuilders Association Forum at Rainwater Conference Center
Meet the Candidates by Chamber of Commerce at VSU

vote Don’t forget to vote, today, tomorrow, Saturday, or on that great election day, November 6th 2012.

-jsq

Videos @ 30Club 2012-10-22

Here's a video playlist of the Candidate Forum last night organized by the 30 Club at Serenity Church. Probably more commentary later; for now, in the interests of speed, just the raw videos.

Candidates Forum, 30 Club, J.D. Rice, President
Video by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 22 October 2012.

-jsq

County clarifies library and parks division in SPLOST VII

SPLOST VII’s $22 million for a new library and parks and rec goes about 2/3 for the library and 1/3 for parks and rec, and the latter doesn’t all go to parks and rec at Five Points, according to a mysterious red-letter note that has sprung up on the Lowndes County website.

The front page of lowndescounty.com has sprouted this undated and unsigned clarification under the SPLOST VII heading:

Exhibit A (Please note that the $22 million proposed by Lowndes County for the Library and Parks & Recreation, represents a division of approximately $14.5 million for the Library and approximately $7.5 million for Parks & Recreation. In addition, the $7.5 million proposed for Parks & Recreation is not allocated for parks and improvements at the 5-Points site. Parks & Recreation will use these funds for improvements in other areas of the county.)

Exhibit A is the list of projects and estimated costs that includes this item:

  • payment of bond debt for acquisition and construction of and equipping a new library facility and parks and recreation facilities
 
$ 22,000,000

Can somebody explain why the new library and Parks and Rec were lumped together in the first place? At least the county is sort of trying to explain the difference now.

They didn’t include the pie chart with their clarification.

Revised SPLOST VII Pie

I made the pie chart; took about Continue reading →

Videos @ HBA 2012-10-18

Here are videos of last night’s Political Forum. The goal of this post is speed, so there’s no fancy format, just a video playlist in which you can find candidates by video title or thumbnail picture. We will probably come back later and use some of these videos in other posts.

Political Forum moderated by Chris Beckham of NewsTalk 105.9 WVGA
The Home Builders Association of South Georgia (HBA), Franklin Bailey President,
Videos by John S. Quarterman for Lowndes Area Knowledge Exchange (LAKE),
Valdosta, Lowndes County, Georgia, 18 October 2012.

-jsq

When Can You Vote?

Several recent local elections have been decided by less than 100 votes. Your vote counts. Here’s when and where you can vote.

According to a Word file buried three levels deep in the Board of Elections website, and also according to GA Secretary of state Elections Division:

Early Voting: Deb Cox, Elections Supervisor, Lowndes County, Georgia Monday through Friday,
October 15-26, 2012, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.
2808 N Oak St., Valdosta
Saturday Voting: October 27, 2012, 9 a.m. – 4 p.m.
2808 N Oak St., Valdosta
Extended Hours: Your Vote Counts Monday through Friday,
October 29 – November 2, 2012, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m.
2808 N Oak St., Valdosta
Vote by Mail: Get the form from the Board of Elections
Election Day: precincts Tuesday, November 6, 2012
Go to your assigned precinct
Find your precinct through My Voter Page by the Georgia Secretary of State.

For a sample ballot, Continue reading →

Record early voting in Lowndes County —WCTV

2,861 Total Votes through Oct 16, 2012 A record 2,861 total votes were cast in Lowndes County by Tuesday 16 October 2012.

Greg Gullberg reported for WCTV yesterday, Early Voting In Lowndes County Sets New Record,

Jessica Cooke, first-time Lowndes Voter Georgia state officials say the pace for early voting is slower this year than for previous presidential elections, but as Eyewitness News reporter Greg Gullberg shows us, you’d never know it in Lowndes County….

Wave of voters Jessica’s not alone. In fact, she was joined by a wave of voters of all ages here in the first week of early voting here in Georgia. Now they’ve actually already set an all-time record here in Lowndes County for the most votes in the first two days of a presidential election, with almost three thousand.

Deb Cox, Supervisor, Lowndes County Board of Elections, and Gregg Gullberg of WCTV:

Continue reading →