Monday is final day to register

Monday is the registration deadline to vote in the July 20 primary.

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To register, a potential voter must be a U.S. citizen, must turn 18 before the primary, be a Columbia County resident, be legally sane, and not a felon.

Registration sites include the county Board of Elections office in the Evans Government Center, Grovetown and Harlem city halls, the Probate Judge's office in Appling, the state Department of Driver Services location in Evans, and public libraries.

Registrants also can mail in registration forms to P.O. Box 919, Evans, GA 30809, but the application must be postmarked by Monday.

Registration forms are available on the county's Web site, www.columbiacountyga.gov.

In the primary, the Columbia County Commission is the only partisan government body in the county this year with open seats. Five Republicans qualified for the commission -- three incumbents and two challengers -- with no Democrats competing.

Commission Chairman Ron Cross is being challenged by retired businessman Brett McGuire, while incumbent District 4 Commissioner Scott Dean faces a challenge from David Payne. District 1 Commissioner Ron Thigpen has no challengers.

Also at the end of all ballots will be a referendum to continue the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax until 2017. School officials hope to raise about $150 million in sales tax revenues and use it to build at least four new structures to replace aging schools and fund millions of dollars in improvements at existing schools. It also would be used for the purchase of new school buses and technology upgrades.

For voter registration information, call (706) 868-3355.