ELECTED OFFICIALS
It would be hard not to know that 2024 is a presidential election year, but it is also election year for Jones County elected officials.
Those offices include County Commission Districts 1-4 and the chairman of the Board of Commissioners. Board of Education Districts 2 and 4 are up for election, as are Jones County Constitutional Officers, which include tax commissioner, clerk of superior court, judge of probate court and sheriff.
The office of coroner will also be on the 2024 ballot.
Qualifying for all the county positions will take place beginning March 4 and will end at noon Friday, March 8. Qualifying will take place in the Conference Room at the Jones County Government Center at 166 Industrial Blvd.
The Presidential Preference Primary is March 12. Early voting for that election will take place Feb. 19 through March 8. The registration deadline for the March 12 presidential primary is Feb. 12.
The date of Jones County’s primary election and non-partisan elections is May 21, with advance voting taking place April 29 through May 17. The last day to register to vote in the May 21 election is April 22.
The date for the General Election is Nov. 5, with early voting scheduled Oct. 15 to Nov. 1. The final day to register for the General Election is Oct. 7.
Jones County Commissioners discussed the possibility of two additions to this year’s ballots at their Jan. 16 meeting. The first is a referendum for a Transportation Special Local Option Sales Tax that, because of time requirements, would have to be placed on the November ballot. The TSPLOST was put before voters in May of 2018.
The referendum would have included Jones County in a regional TSPLOST anticipated to raise $500 million in funds for the region with Jones County sharing in those funds, but it failed by a small margin.
If approved, a TSPLOST would fund road improvements and other transportation expenses.
The other possibility to be added to a county ballot this year is a referendum to approve package liquor sales in the county. It was suggested the funds collected from the liquor sales could also be used for road improvements and transportation expenses.
A similar question was on the ballot in the City of Gray Nov. 2, 2021, and lost by one vote. The referendum that would have allowed package liquor sales in the city got little attention with only 314 voters opting to even cast ballots.
The final vote was 153 for the sales and 154 against.
All that is required to place the question on a ballot this year is a resolution passed by the Jones County Board of Commissioners requesting it. The referendum could be placed on the ballot for any county election.
Any questions about this year’s elections may be directed to the Jones County Elections and Voter Registration Office at 478-986-3222 Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Election information can also be found on the Georgia Secretary of State’s website, sos. georgia.gov.
