Early voting turnout strong

Early voting in the May 2019 general municipal and school board elections ended Tuesday with strong numbers.

Rusk is the only area that had to hold elections for both the city and school district.

In the municipal election, 418 residents had voted early, as of Tuesday afternoon, April 30 – 370 people had cast paper ballots and 111 voted electronically.

Incumbent Angela Raiborn and hopefuls Jefferson Jackson and Connie Parsons are all seeking the mayor’s seat on Rusk City Council. In District 1 council seat race, incumbent Ben Middlebrooks and candidate Trey Todd are each seeking that position.

Residents of Rusk’s Districts 4 and 5 are also getting the chance to vote in the recall elections, each concerning their councilmen, District 4 Councilman Ken Ferrara and District 5 Councilman Jan Pate.

Only residents of Districts 4 and 5 are able to vote in their respective recall elections.

In the Rusk Independent School District election, 443 residents had voted early as of Tuesday afternoon. Incumbents Jeff Johnson, Jake Ocker and Tracy Session and newcomer James Sanchez are all seeking one of three seats up for grabs on the Rusk School Board.

Polls for both Rusk’s city and school district elections will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, May 4, at the RISD Administration Office, 203 E. Seventh St., Rusk. Voters will be asked to present a photo ID in order to vote in either election.

In the only contested race in the Jacksonville ISD election, Matthew Leinback and Meredith Tarrant are each seeking the Place 2 seat. On Tuesday, ??? district residents had voted early.

Polls for the JISD election will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, May 4, at the Jacksonville Public Library, 502 S. Jackson St., Jacksonville. Voters will be asked to present a photo ID in order to vote in that election.

And in Alto ISD incumbent Jay Jones and candidates Jeremy Jackson and Charley Reid are competing for two seats on the district’s board.

Despite massive clean-up efforts at AISD after tornadoes swept through the district’s campuses on April 13, 146 voters cast ballots early.

Polls for the AISD election will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., Saturday, May 4, at the AISD Administration Office, 24 CR 2429, Alto. Voters will be asked to present a photo ID in order to vote in that election.