Early Voting This Week in East Cobb

Early voting begins today in East Cobb and several satellite polling stations throughout the county and continues all this week.

The East Cobb Government Service Center will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday. The center is located at 4400 Lower Roswell Road.

In Northeast Cobb, Noonday Baptist Church, 4121 Canton Road will serve as an early voting location, also from 8:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The other early voting satellite locations in Cobb are open the same days and hours as East Cobb and Noonday this week:

• Smyrna Community Center, 200 Village Green Center, Smyrna;
• NorthStar Church, 3413 Blue Springs Road, Kennesaw;
• Boots Ward Recreation Center, Lost Mountain Park, 4845 Dallas Highway, Powder Springs;
• South Cobb Community Center, 620 Lions Club Drive, Mableton;
• South Cobb Recreation Center, 875 Six Flags Drive, Austell.

The main Cobb Elections office, located at 736 Whitlock Avenue in Marietta, also will be open for early voting this week, but the hours are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.

All voters must bring a photo I.D. or other proof of identification with them to the polls (see attached PDF).

Early voting has been popular in Cobb and elsewhere in the metro Atlanta area. Citizens casting their ballots at the Cobb Civic Center on Saturday waited as long as four hours to do so, and substantial lines are anticipated this week.

The Cobb Board of Elections has been updating wait times for early voting four times a day.

At the top of the ballot is the presidential race, with Democratic incumbent Barack Obama facing opposition from Republican nominee and ex-Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney. Also on the presidential ballot is Libertarian Gary Johnson, a former governor of New Mexico.

U.S. Rep. Tom Price, a Republican who represents the 6th District of Georgia, including East and Northeast Cobb, faces Democrat Jeffrey Kazanow.

The contested race for the top elected office in county government was officially decided in the primaries. Incumbent Cobb Commission Chairman Tim Lee was re-elected in a Republican runoff, but East Cobb resident Craig Harfoot, who ran against Lee in 2010, is waging a write-in campaign.

Bob Ott, a Republican representing parts of East Cobb and Smyrna, was re-elected without opposition to a second term on the Cobb Board of Commissioners.

On the Cobb Board of Education, incumbent David Banks won the Republican primary and re-election in the Post 5 seat that includes East and Northeast Cobb, since there was no Democratic candidate qualifying.

All of East Cobb's incumbent state legislators were re-elected, either during the primaries, or were unopposed entirely: State Sen Judson Hill and State Reps. Don Parsons, Matt Dollar and Sharon Cooper.

All are Republicans, as is State Rep. John Carson, who is opposed by Democrat Kevin Westphal in the House District 46 race. That seat has been redrawn to cover areas of Northeast Cobb and southern Cherokee.

The main statewide races in Georgia are for two seats on the Public Service Commission. Incumbents Stan Wise of Marietta and Chuck Eaton, both Republicans, have drawn re-election opposition.

Also on the ballot is a constitutional amendment that would allow the state to create a committee to approve charter school applications.

Please see the attached PDFs for early voting details and a consolidated Cobb sample ballot.