Early voting starts today, Mon. Feb. 27

Plus, a quick look at candidates running for office

CORRECTION: Saturday voting ends 5 p.m.; House District is 75; runoff is Tuesday, April 18. We apologize for the errors.

When to vote early

Advance voting for Clayton County Sheriff, House District 75, and the Clayton County School District SPLOST renewal will take place on these dates:

• Monday, February 27—Friday, March 3: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Saturday, March 4: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Sunday, March 5: 12 noon to 5 p.m.
• Monday, March 6—Friday, March 10: 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.
• Saturday, March 11: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Monday, March 13—Friday, March 17: 8 a.m.-7 p.m.

Should any runoffs be needed, those will take place on Tuesday, April 18.

Here is a sample ballot in the county elections:

Where to vote early

You can vote early in the county election early at seven locations. Only three—the Historic Jonesboro Courthouse, Carl Rhodenizer Recreation Center, and South Clayton Recreation Center—offer secure drop boxes for paper advance/absentee ballots.

City of Jonesboro Elections

Voters who live inside the City of Jonesboro will cast ballots in a second election.

Voting for the mayoral and City Council at-large elections will be held at the new City Center’s Community Room, 1859 City Center Way, next to Lee Street Park. Voters who used to cast ballots in city elections at Lee Street Elementary or the old City Hall will now vote at City Center.

However, voters will have to make a second trip to their normal voting precinct to vote in the county elections. If you have questions, call City Hall at (770) 478-3800.

In the mayor’s race, voters will choose between Pat Sebo-Hand and Dr. Donya Sartor to finish the term of longtime mayor Joy Day, who resigned August 16, 2022. Because both councilwomen must vacate their seats to run for mayor, only one will remain in elected office. Although Day sold her home and moved to north Georgia, she is stumping hard for both Sebo-Hand and, in the council race, Arlene Charles. Sebo-Hand has served on the City Council for many years, is largely responsible for creating and growing the Jonesboro Farmer’s Market, and has been a vocal advocate for a new Jonesboro Library.

Sartor, who could become Jonesboro’s first Black mayor, has advocated for combining the county and local races on one ballot, and says Jonesboro has low voter turnout because it’s too hard for residents to get to polling places. She has picked up the endorsement of the Working Families Party of Georgia: “Donya became a part of the WFP community through the nonpartisan candidate training program for Black women, Bet on Us. In 2022, she completed the Bet on Us Candidate Cohort Program. She is a Georgia Working Families Party member who has contributed greatly to our efforts in Georgia. She believes our government can do a better job caring for people and envisions a Mayor’s office where agencies collaborate to better meet the needs of citizens, decrease unnecessary spending, safeguard public safety, and increase citizen engagement. Donya will fight for affordable housing, expanded wifi, and ordinances to protect green spaces and create more sidewalks and bike lanes.”

In the single contested City Council race, voters will choose between Arlene Charles and Alfred Dixon to fill Sartor’s seat.

Dixon, who previously had served on the City Council, is finishing his degree in political science at Clayton State while competing in men’s track and field. Along with brother Cameron, Dicxon has created community events like Runsboro and the kid-oriented Dreams and Ice Cream celebration on Martin Luther King, Jr, Day.

Charles is a longtime member of the Clayton County Georgia Republican Party and most recently managed the Herschel Walker for Senate campaign stop at Crane Hardware. She also serves on vote review panels for Elections and Registration.

A second council seat vacated by Sebo-Hand was won outright by Don Dixon, who was the only candidate to sign up for that race.

On February 22, Clayton County District Attorney Tasha Mosley moderated a forum for candidates in the City of Jonesboro elections. We’ve linked that forum below:

VIDEO: Feb. 22 Jonesboro Candidate Forum

https://mediahttp.iqm2.com/JonesboroGA/1329_480.mp4?_=1

Clayton County Sheriff

The hotly-contested race to succeed former Sheriff Victor Hill includes five qualified candidates. Interim Sheriff Levon Allen, who is Hill’s handpicked successor and godson, is listed on the ballot as the incumbent, but this is his first run for public office. A federal judge has scheduled Hill for sentencing March 14 after a jury convicted him of six counts of violating pretrial detainees’ rights.

Clarence Cox, Chris Storey, and Terry Evans are veterans of the Clayton County Sheriff’s Office, while Dwayne Fabian is retired from the Georgia State Patrol. All four have shown up for a grueling series of candidate forums. fielding questions from moderators and from members of the public. Allen has been a no-show as of press time, instead making the rounds at senior centers, posting feel-good photos to Hill’s Facebook page, and putting out a heavily-produced 26 minute and 11 second video that highlights his Clayton County schooling, his National Guard service, Hill’s mentoring, and brief mentions of three relatives Allen says he lost to violence in Atlanta.

The other candidates have blasted Allen and Hill during the forums, alleging the department burned through half a million dollars in state and federal asset forfeiture money, leaving the fund $45,000 in the red. Whoever wins is finishing out the remainder of Hill’s term through 2024, so will face another election campaign next year.

Charlene Watson-Fraser, who did not qualify to run for sheriff according the the county Elections and Registration office, continues to tell people to write her name in on the ballot. Under Georgia law, only qualified write-in candidates are counted. The Clayton Crescent tried contacting Watson-Fraser several times to ask why she is still soliciting write-in votes and whether she is aware those votes would not be counted under Georgia law. As of press time, she had not answered. Her campaign website includes a Venmo link for campaign donations. On December 22, 2022, Watson-Fraser filed a Declaration of Intent to Run with the county. On December 28, 2022, she filed a Campaign Contribution Disclosure Report that contained no donors and no donation amounts.

House District 75

Three candidates are vying for the seat Rep. Mike Glanton vacated due to health reasons. Glanton told The Clayton Crescent that he is recovering from a stroke.

Democrats Herman “Drew” Andrews and Eric Bell and Republican Della Ashley are competing for the open seat.

Andrews serves on the Development Authority of Clayton County (Invest Clayton). He is retired from the U.S. Army, works with unhoused people around the county, and was instrumental in setting up the pop-up warming center over the Christmas freeze. Andrews is part of an ad hoc committee that has formed to address the county’s homelessness problem over the long term. Andrews lost the May 24, 2022 Democratic primary to Glanton.

Ashley is another active member of the Clayton County Republicans, and was a member of the U.S. Public Health Service. She quit her work as a nurse to raise her children full-time. Now, she says, she has a desire to serve the community. Ashley lost the November 8, 2022 runoff to Glanton.

Bell, who has some Gold Dome experience as a 2017 legislative aide to Rep. Lester Jackson (D-2, Savannah), graduated from Morehouse, served in the U.S. Navy and is running on a platform of youth and senior services and banning assault weapons.

All three have shown up for candidate forums and answered questions from the public.

Where to vote on March 21

If you wait until Election Day to vote, you should go to your precinct. The Elections and Registration Office keeps an updated list of precincts on its website. As of press time, the latest update was in May 2022. Should any locations change, we will let you know.

You can check your precinct, state House district, and other individual voter information online through the My Voter Page at https://mvp.sos.ga.gov at the Georgia Secretary of State’s Elections Office.

Questions?

For questions about the sheriff’s or House District 75 races, ontact Clayton County Elections and Registration at (770) 477-3372. You also can e-mail elections@claytoncountyga.gov.

For questions about the Jonesboro municipal races, contact City Hall at (770) 478-3800.

Click here for more information about the Clayton County School District SPLOST.

The office at the Historic Courthouse will be open again starting Monday, February 27 following repairs from pipes that burst during the Christmas freeze.

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Ed. note: Due to an unforeseen medical emergency, in-depth candidate profiles and surveys are still in progress.