And the winner is? For some, that answer is undecided until July. Election day is over, but not all races have been won. That means it’s time to start planning for a runoff. Locally, Ben Hasan and Bob Finnegan will compete for the District 6 seat in the Augusta Commission. Corey Johnson and Harold Jones II will face off for Hardie Davis’ old position as State Senator for District 22. A runoff in a primary election is different than any other. If you did not vote on Tuesday, you can still vote in the runoff. Once again, Richmond County voters will have the power to choose even the ones who didn’t hit the polls on the 20th. “There are special rules in place in a primary that don’t exist in any other type election. For those people who did not vote at all yesterday, they may vote in the runoff,” Richmond County Board of Elections Director Lynn Bailey said.
So, on July 22nd, we’ll do it all over again. Since there are runoffs at the state level too, all 44 polling stations in Richmond County will open back up, but between personnel and supplies, a runoff racks up a pretty big bill.
Bailey estimates that grand total will fall, “somewhere between $100,000- $110,000. Something like that.”
Add another $4,000 to open up to 4 advance voting sites three weeks before.
Bailey says personnel makes up about two-thirds of that. The other costs come from, “the cost for renting trucks, for paying rent to the facilities, for printing. Before you know it, you’ve got yourself quite a bit of money.”
Full Article: On Your Side: Cost of a runoff; who can participate.