Special to the Herald

SPRINGFIELD – The Effingham County Board of Commissioners and the city councils in Guyton, Rincon, and Springfield recently approved an Intergovernmental Agreement for the Effingham County Elections & Registration Office to handle municipal elections this fall.

In addition to each city’s council races, the Nov. 7 election is expected to feature a countywide Transportation Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (TSPLOST) referendum. City and county officials intend to finalize the referendum language during August.

“Everybody (from all the involved governmental entities) thought this would be the easiest for voters,” Effingham County Director of Elections & Registration Laura Bassett said.

“So everybody can come here,” Bassett said. “If you live within the City of Rincon, you will get to vote on the TSPLOST and the council races. If you live in Springfield or Guyton, you’d have the TSPLOST and their council race(s). You can kind of do one-stop voting.

“… (The Board of Elections & Registration) is happy to provide this service to the voters. I’ve got a great board.”

All three cities will have polling places open on Election Day, Nov. 7.

Guyton residents will be voting for mayor and two council posts. Rincon residents will vote to fill three at-large council seats; and Springfield residents will also vote to fill three at-large council seats.

The deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 7 election is Oct. 11. If you have had a change of address since the last election, you must re-register to vote. More information is available on the Secretary of State website at: www.sos.ga.gov by clicking on the “Elections” tab and “Register to Vote” tab.

Voters can also find their polling place and download a sample ballot from the Secretary of State website.

Bassett, who said her office will also handle any needed municipal runoffs in the wake of Nov. 7, mentioned another important election change.

A new Georgia law, Senate Bill 129, provides employees time off for advance voting in primaries and elections. This measure, which took effect July 1, amended existing law and, among other things, provides time off for employees for advance voting and revises provisions related to time off for employees to vote on Election Day.

Georgia employees can take two hours off on Election Day or one of the days designated for in-person early voting. Likewise, Georgia employees can take two hours off, regardless of whether the polls are open two hours before or after a work shift ends.

Time off for voting is not required to be paid. That is up to the employer. From a practical standpoint, employees must give reasonable notice to their employers of the need for time away from work to vote.