Monday is the first day candidates can qualify for municipal and special elections to be held Nov. 4 in Georgia and for seats on the Gainesville Board of Education.
State law stipulates that no qualifying can take place before 8:30 a.m. but when qualifying ends is left up to local election officials.
“Each municipal superintendent shall designate the days of the qualifying period, which shall be no less than three days and no more than five days,” is the way the Secretary of State’s office puts it on its website. “The days of the qualifying period shall be consecutive days. Qualifying periods shall
commence no earlier than 8:30 A.M. on the third Monday in August immediately
preceding the general election and shall end no later than 4:30 P.M. on the following
Friday.”
In Hall County, much of the attention leading up to the start of qualifying has centered on the Gainesville mayor’s post. The incumbent, Sam Couvillon, announced earlier this year that he will vacate the post to run in the Republican Primary next year for the 9th District Congressional post now held by Andrew Clyde.