Holden: Turnout Currently Low for Presidential Primary

Attendees to Tuesday’s Cobb EMC Power Breakfast at Paisano’s Italian Restaurant in Dallas received with their meals information on Paulding’s electorate and details about the current election and future ones.

Deidre Holden, supervisor of Paulding County Elections & Voter Registration, served as the breakfast’s keynote speaker and told those in attendance that since the Feb. 13 start of early voting ahead of the March 6 presidential preference primary, 518 county residents have voted in the elections office—a number she deemed as low. In addition, 690 paper absentee ballots have been issued, with 372 of them returned.

The county has 82,580 registered voters.

Those wishing to weigh in on the presidential race have time to increase the current 1-percent turnout. Early voting at the county’s elections office runs from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. each weekday through March 2.

In addition to the weekday voting opportunities, the county’s first-ever Saturday voting opportunity will be this Saturday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Advance voting begins Monday at three satellite locations—Poplar Springs Baptist Church, 2056 Hiram Douglasville Highway, Hiram; Mount Tabor Park, 1550 East Paulding Drive, Dallas; and the Crossroads Library, 909 Harmony Grove Church Road, Acworth. Voting hours at those three locations are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday; and 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday and Thursday.

Holden also gave information about this year’s general election. Qualifying for the July primary is set for May 23-25—later than normal due to redistricting, which has not only affected federal and state offices but also will change local voting boundaries.

See the attached videos for highlights from Holden’s address.