Time is running out for residents who want to take part in next month’s primary election in Georgia.
Advance Voting for the April 7, 2026 Special Election Runoff to fill the unexpired terms of Marjorie Taylor Greene (US House of Representatives, District 14) and Colton More (State Senate, District 53) will begin today, Monday, March 30, 2026 at 8:30 AM and end at 5 PM on Thursday, April 2, 2026.
Daily hours are 8:30 AM – 5:00 PM. All Advance Voting will take place at the Chattooga County Registrars Office located at 10017 Commerce Street in Summerville.
On Election Day, April 7, 2026, the polls are open from 7 AM – 7 PM. All Election Day voting takes place at the assigned polling locations, not the Registrars Office. Polling places in Chattooga County include: Gore Fire Hall, Lyerly Community Center, old Menlo City Hall, Chattooga County Civic Center and the Trion Recreation Department.
Government issued photo ID is required. The registration deadline for this election was March 9, 2026.
A Georgia state senator has stepped down from office to focus on her campaign for lieutenant governor.
Democratic Sen. Nabilah Parkes, who represented part of Gwinnett County, announced her resignation in a public statement Friday. Parkes first launched a campaign for Georgia insurance and fire safety commissioner in January before shifting to the lieutenant governor’s race on March 5.
Parkes now joins state Sen. Josh McLaurin of Sandy Springs and Richard Wright in the Democratic field for lieutenant governor. In her resignation letter to Gov. Brian Kemp, Parkes sharply criticized the Georgia Legislature, calling it “a place where good ideas go to die and where extremists continue to attack our freedoms.” Georgia’s primary election is scheduled for May 19.
Qualifying has officially ended for the May 19 primary election and the November 3 general election, setting up several contested races for the Floyd County Commission.
In Floyd County Commission Post 1, incumbent Rhonda Wallace will face a Republican primary challenge from Shane Cowan.
In Post 4, incumbent David Thornton is being challenged in the Republican primary by Bryon Eugene Benefield. The winner of that race will face Democrat Fred Adams in the November general election.
The Post 5 seat, currently held by Scotty Hancock, is open as Hancock is not seeking re-election. Ronnie Kilgo, Cleve Jackson, and Tonya Eden Shepard will compete in the Republican primary, with the winner advancing to face Democrat Shonna Bailey in November.
Chattooga County voters may cast their ballots today in the Special Election for the 14th Congressional District Race and the 53rd State Senate Race. As of yesterday morning, Friday, February 27, 2026 there have been 70 absentee by mail ballots issued. Of those, 26 have been accepted and 44 are outstanding. Yesterday was the last day to submit an application for an absentee by mail ballot for the March 10, 2026 Special Election. An additional 1,051 ballots have been cast during Advance Voting so far. Advance Voting continues today. Polls are open from 9 AM – 5 PM for Saturday voting (Today, February 28, 2026). All Advance Voting takes place in the Chattooga County Registrars Office located at 10017 Commerce Street in Summerville. Government issued photo ID is required.
Chattooga County Elections officials will begin the early processing of Absentee by Mail ballots on Monday, March 9, 2026, at 2:00 p.m. at the Registrar’s Office, 10017 Commerce Street in Summerville. The process is open to the public.
Early processing does not mean votes are being counted early. Instead, election workers carefully remove absentee ballots from their outer envelopes and prepare them for scanning. During this step, ballots are scanned into the system, but they are not tabulated or totaled.
Officials emphasize that actual vote tabulation will not occur until after the polls close on Election Day, in accordance with Georgia election law. The early processing step helps ensure results can be reported more efficiently once voting officially ends.
Residents who wish to observe the process may attend at the Registrar’s Office.
Both the Chattooga County Republican Party and the Chattooga County Democratic Party have announced qualifying details for local candidates seeking to run for the Chattooga County Board of Education seats up for election in 2026: District/Seat #2 (Trion area outside the City of Trion), District/Seat #3 (Menlo and surrounding areas), and District/Seat #4 (Lyerly and the southern side of the county).
Qualifying for State Court Judge and Chattooga County Board of Education Seats 2, 3, and 4 will take place March 2 through March 6, 2026.
Qualifying will be held in the Chattooga County Registrar’s Office, located at 10017 Commerce Street in Summerville, for all Independent and Nonpartisan candidates. Hours for qualifying are Monday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.; and Friday from 8:30 a.m. until noon.
Election officials remind residents that Advance Voting will still be ongoing during that same time period. Anyone with questions about qualifying can email chattoogaregistrar@gmail.com, call 706-857-0739, or visit the Registrar’s Office in person.
Holly Chaney has announced she is running to represent District 12 in the Georgia State House, a district that includes Chattooga County and portions of Floyd County.
Republican Georgia Public Service Commission incumbent Tricia Pridemore announced Tuesday that she will not seek reelection this year, a move that adds fresh uncertainty to the balance of power on the five-member panel that regulates monopoly utilities such as Georgia Power.