Qualifying to be held in March
Voters in Effingham County will choose a sheriff and three members of the Board of Commissioners and Board of Education in elections this fall.
Qualifying for those offices and others set for election Nov. 8 is scheduled for March 7 through March 11. Commissioners set qualifying fees for the offices at their Jan. 5 meeting.
On the county commission, the seats up for election are chairman at large and representatives of the first and fourth districts. Those seats currently are held by Wendall Kessler, Forrest Floyd and Reggie Loper.
On the Board of Education, second, third and fifth district seats are up for election, currently held by Troy Alford, Lamar Allen and Vickie Decker. All three school board members already have announced that they are running for re-election.
The sheriff and county commission seats are partisan. Other partisan seats up for election on Nov. 8 are clerk of superior court, coroner and tax commissioner.
The Board of Education seats are non-partisan. Other non-partisan seats up for election this year are chief magistrate, probate court judge and supervisor of the Ogeechee River Soil and Water Conservation District.
Qualifying for the May 24 general primary begins at 9 a.m. March 7 and ends at noon on March 11, according to Elections Supervisor Olivia Morgan.
Each party holds their own qualifying, and non-partisan contenders qualify at the county elections office. A second qualifying period is scheduled for independent candidates, beginning at 9 a.m. on June 27 and ending at noon on July 1. Independent candidates qualify in the county elections office.
Qualifying fees, which are dictated by state law as 3 percent of the base salary of the seat, are: sheriff, $2,270.25; tax commissioner, $1,894.94; probate judge, $1,894.94; magistrate judge, $1,894.94; clerk of superior court, $1,894.94; members of the Board of Commissioners, $454.05; chairman of the Board of Commissioners, $499.45; members of the Board of Education, $72; and coroner, $546.
All local offices are four-year terms.
Federal, state
The presidential preference primary is March 1.
Federal and state offices appearing on the May 24 primary ballot and Nov. 8 general election ballot and the length of terms are: president, four years; vice president, four years; U.S. Senate, six years; U.S. Representative Districts 1 and 12, two years; state senator, two years; state representative Districts 159 and 161, two years; state supreme court justices, six years; state appeals court judges, six years; state Superior Court judges Ogeechee Circuit, four years; district attorney, four years; and public service commissioner, six years.
The deadline to register to vote in the presidential preference primary is Feb. 1. See other important election dates in the box on this page.