Voter registration is set to wrap on on Oct. 9, 2018. Residents of Columbia County can register or re-register in person until 5 p.m. next Tuesday or mail-in their forms post-marked Oct. 9. If you are not registered to vote yet, or need to re-register, it is highly encourged you do so before the deadline. If you have previously been registered in Columbia County and have moved elsewhere within the county and you do not re-register, you will still be able to vote; however, your ballot may not be accurate for your current address and will reflect elections from your old address accordingly.
As reported back in August in the Banner-News, there are several races that will begin when early voting opens up at the City Courthouse on Oct. 22. There are currently 5 issues on the ballot for voters to decide on as well choices between various political candidates for several positions. We will detail the issues next week. The full list of Columbia County municipal political candidates, in registration order, is as follows:
Emerson
Mayor: Joe Mullins and Janice Curtis
Alderman Position 1: Donna Bilbray
Alderman Position 2: LaTina Fields-Robinson and Lawana S. Long
Alderman Position 3: Lora Watson
Alderman Postion 4: Janice Ferguson
Alderman Position 5: Brenda McAteer and Jimmy D. Hughes
Magnolia
City Attorney: Michael W. Boyd
Alderman Ward 1, Position 2: Larry Talley
Alderman Ward 2, Position 2: Tia Wesson
Alderman Ward 3, Position 2: Jennifer Green, Steve Nipper, Justin L. Sneed
Alderman Ward 4, Position 2: Steve Crowell
McNeil
Mayor: Teresa Triplet
Alderman Position 1: Virginia Ann Warren and Carl Bailey
Alderman Position 2: Brenda Kelley
Alderman Position 3: Kim Muncrief
Alderman Position 4: Pamela Vaughn
Alderman Position 5: Shirley Hunter
Waldo
Mayor: Kenneth Eugene Haupt, Jerry Smith, Juan Minniefield, Patricia Doss Glover
Alderman Ward 1, Position 1: Paula Jean Williams and Ples Johnson Jr.
Alderman Ward 1, Position 2: Marcina Beasely
Alderman Ward 2, Position 1: Darryl Witcher
Alderman Ward 2, Position 2: Rickey Lambert
Alderman Ward 3, Position 1: Lawanda Gail Battle
Alderman Ward 3, Position 2: Wyteshia Howell
Taylor
Mayor: Clifford Page, Charles Matlock, Samantha Vaughn, Jordan Hanson
Alderman Ward 1, Position 1: Nora K. Corcoran, Jeffrey A. Martin, William Mark Smith
Alderman Ward 1, Position 2: Johnny R. Haynes, Krista J. Hamlin
Alderman Ward 2, Position 1: Nancy Gordon and Crista Mosley
Alderman Ward 2, Position 2: Jesse W. Aycock
Alderman Ward 3, Position 1: William Paul Higgins
Alderman Ward 3, Position 2: Bobby Joe Woods
Editor’s note: These lists are not finalized yet and names can be removed before the Oct. 22 early voting start.