Vote on Aug. 5 - if you're still eligible

Primary election season isn't over in Columbia County yet - unless you voted last week as a Republican.

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For everyone else, there's one more election Aug. 5. It'll be an expensive one.

Statewide, Democrats Vernon Jones and Jim Martin came out first and second in the five-way race to challenge Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss. Neither of them received more than half of the votes cast, so Jones and Martin will meet in a runoff Aug. 5

In last Tuesday's primary, most voters in Columbia County cast Republican ballots. None of those more than 13,000 voters are eligible to vote in the runoff.

The fewer than 2,000 Democrats who voted last week can vote again Aug. 5, along with the nearly 78 percent of the county's voters who didn't show up at all.

Turnout for runoffs usually is dismal, and the Aug. 5 election is unlikely to draw a crowd. But it's a full-blown election, so every precinct in the county has to be open - and it will cost county taxpayers about $50,000.

Most voters who went to the polls July 15 can't vote in the runoff. Those who are eligible should make an extra effort to show up Aug. 5 to make opening the polls worth it.