A total of 122 people have cast ballots during the first four days of early voting for the Smithville Municipal Election.
Twenty one voted by personal appearance and two by absentee ballot on the first day, Wednesday, May 26th
Thursday, May 27th, twenty seven voted in person
Friday, May 28th, thirty one voted in person and one by absentee .
Saturday, May 29th, forty people voted in person
The DeKalb County Election Commission reports that the City of Smithville has a total of 3,076 registered voters.
Here’s a break down of the registered city voters by age group:
Ages 18-20: 144 registered voters
Ages 21-30: 509
Ages 31-40: 432
Ages 41-50: 552
Ages 51-65: 730
Ages 65 and over: 709
Female registered city voters also outnumber males 1,739 to 1,336
Of course it’s unknown how many people will vote in the upcoming Smithville Municipal Election, but the turnout seems to have been trending upward in recent years.
In 2006 a total of 696 people cast ballots to elect a mayor and two aldermen. The following year, 738 turned out to elect three aldermen. In 2008, 963 voters went to the polls to choose a mayor and two aldermen. Last year, a total of 811 cast ballots. Even though the turnout was down a bit last year compared to 2008, it was still somewhat higher than in 2006 and 2007.
The record also shows that in each of those years from 2006 to 2009, most of the people who voted, did so during the early voting period.
In 2006, 425 voted early and 271 cast ballots on election day.
In 2007, 555 voted early and 183 election day
In 2008, 684 voted early and 279 election day
In 2009, 590 voted early and 221 election day
This year’s city election begins with early voting Wednesday, May 26th through June 10th.
Voting times are Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday from 9:00 a.m. until 1:00 p.m. and Thursday from 2:00 p.m. until 6:00 p.m. on the first floor of the courthouse. No voting on Memorial Day, May 31st.
A mayor and two aldermen will be elected on Tuesday, June 15th. Each term is for two years. The terms of office for those elected will begin on July 1st.
The candidates for mayor are incumbent Taft Hendrixson and challengers Debi Loring DePriest and Bruce Medley.
Candidates for alderman are incumbents Cecil Burger and Stephen White and challenger Shawn Beckham.
Archived News & Obituaries