Rockdale Citizen

CONYERS -- Rockdale County voters can now cast an in-person advance ballot for the presidential primary and local Sunday alcohol sales referendum.

Voting by mail for the March 6 contest began in late January, but Monday was the first day when Georgia residents could turn out to advance voting sites to cast their ballots in person.

Mitt Romney, Rick Santorum, Newt Gingrich and Ron Paul are competing for a share of Georgia's 76 delegates in the GOP primary. That's the most delegates of any of the 10 states holding elections on Super Tuesday.

The precinct station for Rockdale County's early in-person voting will be the county's Board of Elections and Voter Registration offices, located at 1400 Parker Road, Lobby C, in Conyers.

Early in-person voting goes from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. through this Friday and again on Monday, Feb. 27, and Tuesday, Feb. 28. Extended hours for voting will be from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. from Wednesday, Feb. 29, through Friday, March 2, according to Rockdale Elections Supervisor Cynthia Welch.

The Elections Board will again offer Saturday in-person voting from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Feb. 25. Rockdale County was among the first to offer Saturday voting in 2008. Georgia legislators revised the state's elections law last year to have Saturday voting available across the state.

The Elections Board staff worked during past elections to make Saturday voting family friendly with children's activities including a voting machine for younger children to cast a ballot for a favorite cartoon character.

Welch explained convenience for residents was the main reason to have Saturday voting. The more people who take advantage of early in-person voting will also mean shorter lines on Election Day.

"We really want to have a good crowd come out Saturday," she said. "The Saturday voting is available for those who cannot make it here during the week due to work or family commitments. It certainly is something that we want people to bring their kids and make this a family event."

The March 6 ballot will also include referendums for the city and the county asking voters to decide on allowing Sunday retail alcohol sales. Both Rockdale County and the city of Conyers decided to hold their referendums concurrent with the Presidential Preference Primary election in order to get a larger group of voters than in November 2011 when the referendums would have been the only items on the ballot.

The referendum question asks voters if both the city and county can allow the sale of alcohol from 12:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m. on Sundays. There are no organized local efforts to campaign for or against the referendums. Concerns brought out during public hearings by the city and county included possible additional sales tax revenue for local governments, business preferences to open or stay closed on Sunday and a possible increase in drunk driving.

Conyers residents in two of Rockdale's 18 voting precincts will be in the unique position of casting votes on both referendums since they are residents of both the city and the county. County residents will receive a ballot with just one referendum.

For more information, go to the Elections Board web page at www.rockdalecounty.org or call 770-278-7333.