Three weeks of in-person early voting will conclude this Friday, May 15, making this the last week of early voting for Union County and the State of Georgia ahead of the General Primary Election and Nonpartisan General Election set for next Tuesday, May 19.
All in-person early voting is taking place from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. inside the Union County Voting Center at 33 Roscoe Collins Drive, located across from Union County High School off the Glenn Gooch Bypass.
Continue reading with a subscription.
North Georgia News — serving Union County since 1909.
$10 a month. Cancel anytime.
As of Saturday, 1,950 Union Countians had cast ballots out of 21,611 active voters. That’s 9% of the local electorate participating through two full weeks of early voting.
Comparatively, the statewide turnout through was 6.5%, so once again, Union County is well ahead of the state voting average, sitting comfortably in the Top 20 of 159 counties in Georgia.
As this is a primary election, residents need to request either a Republican or Democratic ballot, which includes selections for the Nonpartisan General Election. Voters may also request a ballot for the Nonpartisan General Election only.
Just three local seats are up for grabs in 2026, all of them on the Union County Board of Education: Districts 2, 4 and 5, which are currently held by Tony Hunter, Jason McCarter and Patrick White, respectively.
Six total candidates – all Republicans – qualified for the three School Board positions, meaning whoever wins their primary will not face a Democratic opponent in November. This will pave the way for General Election results to be known this spring.
District 2 is the only contested School Board race, with four qualified candidates, including Incumbent Hunter, who is facing challenges from fellow qualifiers Holly Scarlett Jones, Naveela Philbeck and John Davis.
Both District 4 and District 5 featured lone qualifiers in Jonathan Alan Cook and Incumbent White, respectively.
There are plenty of other offices up for election, at the federal level but particularly at the state level, including Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, State School Superintendent, Georgia General Assembly, multiple levels of judgeship, and more.
For a full breakdown of candidates and offices, visit https://sos.ga.gov/candidate-qualifying-elected-office. And to view regularly updated voting totals, visit https://sos.ga.gov/page/election-data-hub-unofficial-turnout.
The deadline to request an absentee-by-mail ballot was May 8. These ballots can be returned using the official Voting Center drop box during early voting hours; mailed back in plenty of time to be counted after polls close on Election Day; or dropped off at the Voting Center through 7 p.m. Election Day.
Voters who decide to wait until Election Day to cast their ballots will need to head to their predetermined voting precincts between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. next Tuesday.
Union County has 11 voting precincts: Blairsville, Jones Creek, Choestoe, Owltown, Coosa, Pat Colwell, Dooley, Suches, Gum Log, Trackrock and Ivy Log.
As a reminder, the Blairsville Precinct has permanently changed to the Multipurpose Gym located right next door to the Voting Center, as has the Trackrock Precinct, which officials moved this year after the original polling location was deemed unsafe due to a dilapidated facility.
There are still 11 precincts, but two of them having moved to the same location means there are now just 10 polling places.
The deadline to register to vote in the May 19 elections was April 20, and the deadline to register for the Nov. 3 General Election is Oct. 5.
Residents may visit https://mvp.sos.ga.gov for mail-in application and ballot status, poll location, registration information on file with the county, sample ballots for upcoming elections, provisional ballot status and more.
People with questions are asked to call the Union County Board of Registrar’s Office at 706-439-6016.
