Elections

How city elections work

The Mayor is elected citywide. The City Council has two districts, and each district has two posts, for four council seats in all. Every term is four years. Two council seats are up at each election, so the Mayor and Posts 2 are elected together, and Posts 1 are elected two years later.

City elections are held in November of odd-numbered years, on the same day as Georgia's other municipal elections. Winners take the oath of office at the council's first regular meeting in January. Each election year the council adopts an election ordinance in January and publishes a notice of election with that year's dates.

Which seats are up next

Term end years are shown as the election year in which the seat is next contested. Exact dates come from the notice of election.

Council districts

Your address determines which district's council members represent you. The map below shows the two districts. Open the full map to see street names.

How to vote

City elections are run by the Early County Board of Elections, 17 McDonald Avenue, Blakely, Georgia. Voting on election day is from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. For registration, absentee ballots, and advance voting, call the Board of Elections at 229-723-4522 or use Georgia's My Voter Page.

The notice of election sets the deadlines for each election. For the November 7, 2023 election they were:

• Voter registration deadline: October 10, 2023, 5:00 p.m. (about four weeks before election day)
• Advance and absentee voting began: October 16, 2023 (about three weeks before)
• Deadline to request an absentee ballot: October 27, 2023 (11 days before)
• Runoff, if needed: December 5, 2023 (four weeks after)

Runoffs. If no candidate receives a majority of the votes cast, the two candidates with the most votes meet in a runoff, as provided in O.C.G.A. § 21-2-501. Only voters eligible in the general election may vote in the runoff.

Running for office

Candidates qualify with the City Clerk at City Hall during the qualifying period, which falls in late August of an election year. For the 2023 election, qualifying ran August 21 to 25, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., and the qualifying fees were $288 for Mayor and $216 for City Council. The fees and dates for the next election are set in that year's election ordinance and notice.

Candidates file Georgia's declaration of candidacy and financial disclosure forms, which are collected in the candidate application packet below. Questions about qualifying go to City Hall at 229-723-3677.

Recent results

Results as reported by the Early County News and WALB. Official certified results are held by the Early County Board of Elections.