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Absentee ballots ready as election nears
Voters in Forsyth County go to
the polls on July 18 to elect coun
ty commissioners, school board
members, a sheriff, state legisla
tors and fill other local offices.
The Forsyth County Voter
Registrar’s Office wants residents
to be as knowledgeable about the
process as possible. Below is
important information about the
upcoming elections.
Who’s running
If you are not sure who is run
ning in the July 18 primary, you
can view a complete list of candi
dates for local races online.
List of candidates: www.forsy
thco.com/voterreg/candidates.htm
Sample ballot: www.forsyth
co.com/voterreg/ballots.htm
Registering to vote
Monday, June 19 is the dead
line to register to vote and be eli
gible to cast ballots in the July 18
primary. If you have previously
registered to vote, you need to do
nothing.
If you want to register to vote,
you must:
■ Be a citizen of the United
States
■ Be a legal resident of the
county.
■ Be at least 17 1/2 years of
age. You must tum 18 by July 18
to be able to vote.
■ Not be serving a sentence
for conviction of a felony involv
ing moral turpitude.
■ Have not been found men
tally incompetent by a judge.
Applications for Voter Reg
istration are available in a number
of locations, including online.
Residents can pick one up at the
Voter Registrar’s Office, the
Forsyth County Library, many
governmental offices, most
Kroger, Ingles and Publix stores
in Forsyth County. You can also
register to vote when you renew
your driver license.
To access the application
online: www.forsythco.com. Click
on the “Application for Voter
Registration” link.
•' When you complete the appli
cation, mail it to Cathy Cox,
Secretary of State, 1104 West
Tower, 2 Martin Luther King
Drive, S.E., Atlanta, GA 30334-
J 505.
. Within about two weeks, you
should receive acknowledgement
From the Voter Registrar’s Office
that you are officially registered to
vote. You will also get a voter reg
istration card that lists your voting
precinct and tell you the County
Commission, School Board,
On the calendar
As a resident of Forsyth County, you
are encouraged to take an active role in the
planning and operations of your county
government. Below are some opportunities
for you to participate in the governmental
process:
Monday, June 26:
■ Board of Commissioners: Regular
Meeting 5 p.m., Public Hearings 7 p.m.,
Commissioners Meeting Room, second
floor, Administration Building.
Agenda: www.forsythco.com/agendas
or the Sunday edition of the Forsyth
County News
Tuesday, June 27:
■ Planning Commission: 6:30 p.m.,
Commissioners Meeting Room, second
floor, Administration Building.
Agenda: www.forsythco.com/agendas
Note: This is a joint meeting between
A weekly feature page of the Forsyth County News with material provided by Mitch Clarke, Forsyth County public information officer.
General Assembly and U.S.
Congress district in which you
live.
If you have questions about the
Voter Registration process, please
call the Voter Registrar’s Office at
(770)781-2118.
Absentee ballots
Absentee ballots are now
available in the Voter Registrar’s
Office located in the
Administration Building, Suite
200. They will be available
through July 17.
There are several reasons
allowed for voting absentee:
■ You will be absent from
your precinct on Election Day
from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. This
provision does not apply if you
live in one county and work in
another. Employers are allowed
by law to let you off for two
hours for voting on Election Day
if there is not adequate time out
side your working hours for you
to get to the polls.
■ You have a physical dis
ability.
■ You are a caregiver for a
physically disable person.
■ You are an election official
who will be working in a different
precinct from where you vote.
■ Election Day falls on a
religious holiday.
■ You are a public safety
employee required to be on the
job that day.
■ You are 75 years or older.
■ You are a member of the
United States Armed Forces and
live outside the county.
To vote by absentee ballot,
residents can come to the Voter
Registrar’s Office on the second
floor of the Administration
Building from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m.
Monday through Friday.
Residents must cast their
absentee ballots in the Voter
Registrar’s Office when they
make application for an absentee
ballot, so please be prepared to
vote when you arrive.
Students who are away from
home may have a parent com
plete an absentee application for
them and have their ballot
mailed to them at their out-of
town address.
The absentee ballot applica
tion is available on the Forsyth
County Web page. You can print
it on your home printer, fill it
out and mail it to the Forsyth
County Voter Registrar’s Office,
110 E. Main St., Suite 200,
Cumming, GA 30040.
To access the ballot online:
www.forsythco.com/voterreg.
Click on the “Application for
Absentee Ballot” link.
the Planning Commission and the Board of
Commissioners. The only public hearing a
zoning request will receive is held at this
meeting. There will be no public hearing at
a Board of Commissioners meeting.
Monday, July 3:
■ Appeals Board: 7 p.m.,
Commissioners Meeting Room, second
floor, Administration Building.
Agenda: www.forsythco.com/agendas
Note: This meeting is being held on a
special night due to the Fourth of July hol
iday.
Tuesday, July 4
■ Forsyth County government offices
are closed for the Fourth of July holiday.
Offices will reopen at their regular time on
July 5.
Monday, July 10:
■ Board of Commissioners: 5 p.m.,
Commissioners Meeting Room, second
BRINGING GOVERNMENT CLOSER TO THE PEOPLE
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www.forsythco.com/voterreg/ballots. htm
www.forsythco.com/voterreg
www.forsythco.com/Voterreg/precincts. htm
John Creek
precinct moved
Resident who vote in the Johns
Creek precinct will go to a new
polling place on July 18. The
polling precinct, previously at the
Kroger, has moved across the
street to Lowe’s on Peachtree
Parkway.
Qualifying as an
independent
Candidates who wish to run
for office in the November gen
eral election as Independents
must qualify between 9 a.m.
June 26 and noon June 30.
Qualifying will take place in the
Voter Registrar’s Office on the
second floor of the
Administration Building.
Independent candidates must
also file nomination petitions
with the Voter Registrar’s Office
between June 26 and July 11.
Nomination petitions must
contain signatures from five per
cent of registered voters in the
district where the office you
seek is located.
For candidates seeking coun
tywide office in Forsyth County,
1,743 valid signatures will be
needed. The Voter Registrar’s
Office encourages candidates to
get between 2,200 and 2,500
signatures to ensure you have
enough signatures of actual reg
istered voters.
Qualifying fees are paid to
the Voter Registrar’s Office. The
qualifying fee is nonrefundable
if the candidate fails to get
enough signatures.
Election returns
online
The Forsyth County Office of
Public Information will post
election returns on the county’s
Web page on Tuesday night,
July 18.
The results will be posted
just as soon as each precinct is
floor, Administration Building.
Agenda: www.forsythco.com/agcndas
or the Sunday edition of the Forsyth
County News
Monday, July 24:
■ Board of Commissioners: Regular
Meeting 5 p.m., Public Hearings 7 p.m..
Commissioners Meeting Room, second
floor, Administration Building.
Agenda: www.forsythco.com/agendas
or the Sunday edition of the Forsyth
County News
Tuesday, July 25:
■ Planning Commission: 6:30 p.m..
Commissioners Meeting Room, second
floor, Administration Building.
Agenda: www.forsythco.com/agendas
Note: This is a joint meeting between
the Planning Commission and the Board of
Commissioners. The only public hearing a
zoning request will receive is held at this
meeting. There will be no public hearing at
counted, and will continue
throughout the evening until all
votes are counted.
The main election page will
show a running total of all con
tested races in Forsyth County.
There will also be links to each
of the county’s 23 voting
precincts so residents can see
how candidates did in different
parts of the county.
To access that page on elec
tion night: www.forsythco
.com/elections.
To learn more
If you still have questions
about any aspect on the upcom
ing primary, you can call the
Voter Registrar’s Office at (770)
781-2118. Or you can visit their
Web page at www.forsythco
.com/voterreg.
If you have questions about
statewide races, election dates or
related information, visit the
Secretary of State’s election
Web page at www.sos.stat
e.ga.us/elections.
a Board of Commissioners meeting.
Tuesday, August 1:
■ Appeals Board: 7 p.m.,
Commissioners Meeting Room, second
floor, Administration Building.
Agenda: www.forsythco.com/agendas
Monday, August 14:
■ Board of Commissioners: 5 p.m.,
Commissioners Meeting Room, second
floor. Administration Building.
Agenda: www.forsythco.com/agendas
or the Sunday edition of (he Forsyth
County News
Monday, August 28:
■ Board of Commissioners: Regular
Meeting 5 p.m., Public Hearings 7 p.m.,
Commissioners Meeting Room, second
floor. Administration Building.
Agenda: www.forsythco.com/agendas
or the Sunday edition of the Forsyth
County News
FORSYTH COUNTY NEWS Thursday, Jum 16, MOO
Around Forsyth
County
Meetings set to
explain rules
of greenspace
The Georgia Greenspace
Program seeks to promote the
permanent protection of at least
20 percent of each eligible
county’s geographic area. The
Board of the Department of
Natural Resources is reviewing
proposed rules to govern this
program and is holding a series
of public hearings scheduled
throughout Georgia.
The Forsyth County Board of
Commissioners will also hold a
public hearing on Monday, July
24, at 7 p.m. in the Commiss
ioners Meeting Room on the
second floor of the
Administration Building.
Any member of the public
may comment on the rules at
any of these hearings.
Copies of the rules are avail
able:
■ Forsyth County Board of
Commissioners office, 110 E.
Main St., Suite 210 in
Cumming.
■ Forsyth County Library,
585 Dahlonega Street.
■ Electronically by emailing
rebecca_head@dnr.state.ga.us
Those unable to attend the
public hearing can submit writ
ten statements, postmarked not
later than June 23. Mail your
comments to Department of
Natural Resources, Georgia
Greenspace Program; 7 Martin
Luther King Jr. Drive, Room
146, Atlanta, GA, 30334.
The Board of Natural
Resources will consider the pro
posal rules and any comments
received on July 25 at 9 a.m. at
205 Butler Street, Suite 1252 in
Atlanta.
Information: By telephone,
(404) 656-5165; by email,
rebecca_head@dnr.state.ga.us.
Keep Forsyth
County Beautiful
honors volunteers
Keep Forsyth County
Beautiful honored its volunteers
at an Environmental Achieve
ment Awards Dinner on Wed
nesday, June 7.
Those receiving awards were:
■ Eva Ward Educator of
the Year
■ Pat Plant Volunteer of
the Year
■ Bud Arnett State Farm
Insurance Agency Business
of the Year
■ Blake House, Sawnee
EMC Business of the Year
■ Tim Allen
Governmental Award of the Year
The dinner was sponsored by
American Proteins, BP Amoco,
SP Recycling and Georgia
Power. All volunteers received
certificates for working in the
programs this year.
The programs included:
■ Christmas Tree Recycling:
4,423 trees recycled
■ Telephone Book Recyc
ling: 12 tons
■ Scrap Tire Recycling: 50
tons
■ Adopt-A-Road
■ The Great American
Cleanup
■ Litter Incident Report
Program
■ Shore Sweep
■ America Recycles Day
Information: By telephone,
(770) 205-4573.
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