Steady stream of voters reported in Montgomery

Update

As the Montgomery municipal election kicked off at 7 a.m., voters quickly took to the polls to vote.

According to social media reports by Montgomery Advertiser reporters, as early as 9:19 a.m., only 83 of 1,571 voters cast ballots in the first two hours of the polls opening at Eastmont Baptist, whereas the polling location at Huntingdon College had “a steady stream of voters” during that same time.

According to Advertiser reporter Brian Lyman, close to 200 people had cast their votes at Aldersgate as early as 8:57 a.m. Meanwhile, at Eastmont Baptist Church, only 83 of 1,571 voters turned out as of 9:19 a.m. At the Bell Road YMCA, almost 200 people had voted as of 10 a.m.

During the afternoon, nearly 600 people voted at Dozier Elementary school before noon and 200 people had voted at the ASU Acadome as of 12:35 p.m.

Earlier story

Today, the people of Montgomery will have the opportunity to either support current city administration with a vote for reelection or make changes and support someone else.

The Montgomery municipal race will be held today and will run from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. The race includes those running for mayor and those running for a seat on the Montgomery City Council.

In the mayoral race, incumbent Todd Strange will face off against former Alabama congressman Artur Davis, Montgomery County Commissioner Dan Harris, Ella Bell of the Alabama State Board of Education and local businesswoman Buena Browder.

In addition, over 33 candidates will be vying for seats on the Montgomery City Council. Incumbents facing opposition include Richard Bollinger (District 1), Tracy Larkin (District 3), David Burkette (District 4), C.C. Calhoun (District 5), Jon Dow (District 6) and Arch Lee (District 7).

District 2 councilman Charles Smith will not be seeking reelection and his seat is contested by six candidates. Councilmembers Richard Jinright and Glen Pruitt face no opposition in their respective districts.

The following candidates will run in the race:

-District 1: Tijuanna Adetunji, Hobson Cox, Robert C. Lowry

-District 2: Thomas Bass, Renee Ann Casillas, Joseph “Bud” Epps, William Holliday, Brantley Lyons, Ian Maloy

-District 3: Montaski McCoy, Ron Sanders

-District 4: William Boyd, Jamel Brown, James Brown Jr., David Burkette, Cedric Coley, Terance “Watchdog” Dawson, KK Middleton

-District 5” William A. Green, Jr., Phyllis Harvey-Hall, Tashina Morris

-District 6: Fred Bell, Jimmy Harris, Oronde K. Mitchell, Erick Wright

-District 7: George A. Childress, Karen Jones, Horace McCoy

Voting will take place across 46 precincts in the city. According to Christopher Turner, assistant director of elections for the Montgomery Election Center, there are over 125,000 registered voters in the city.

Turner said that during the last municipal election in 2011, only 18 percent of the electorate voted, but that due to the high profile of this year’s mayoral race, at least 30 percent or more of registered voters could turn out to the polls.

At 7 p.m. today, the polling locations will close and the ballots will be counted at the Montgomery Election Center on Washington Avenue, where the results will be displayed on a screen.

For questions on where to vote, contact the Election Center at 334-832-7744.