Clarke County voters are dominant in Georgia House District 117 and make up a very slight majority of voters in the 119th Georgia House District, an analysis of voter registration data as of Oct. 1 shows.

Clarke County voters also differ demographically from those in Barrow, Jackson and Oconee counties, who share the 117th, and from voters in Oconee County, who share the 119th, the analysis of the registration data confirms.

Early voting starts today in the two special elections to fill the vacant 117th and 119th Georgia House seats, and the two candidates in the 117th and four candidates in the 119th have to persuade voters to vote for them and to turn out at the polls if they hope to represent the area in the General Assembly session in January.

All six candidates have the opportunity to meet with potential voters tonight in a candidate forum at the Oconee County campus of the University of North Georgia and in a forum Oct. 23 at the Athens-Clarke County Library.

The Oconee County Area Republicans will be hosting Steven Strickland, a Republican candidate in the 119th House District, on Thursday at the Oconee County Library.

County Split

Clarke County makes up 56.4 percent of the registered voters in House District 117, compared with 23.1 percent for Oconee County, 11.3 percent for Jackson County, and 9.1 percent for Barrow County.

For more, visit Oconee County Observations.