Two people have qualified to fill the vacant Ward 3 Villa Rica City Council seat following Friday’s close of the qualifying period for the special election.
Phillip Butch, a chiropractor, and Stephanie Warmoth, a photographer, will vie for the position made vacant by the resignation of former council member Leslie McPherson.
The Ward 3 candidates will be on the Nov. 7 ballot, joining incumbent Mayor Gil McDougal, McPherson, attorney Mac Pilgrim, and firefighter Kendrick Davis, all of whom are seeking the position of mayor.
Shirley Marchman, incumbent Council Member for Ward 1, and Matthew Momtahan, incumbent for Ward 2, will also appear on the ballot, but both are unopposed in their bids for re-election.
McPherson qualified for the mayoral race on Aug. 22, which automatically made her Ward 3 council seat vacant. That same evening, the Villa Rica City Council met to call for a special election and to set a three-day qualifying period. That qualifying period began on Aug. 30 and concluded Friday, Sept. 1.
The offices of the mayor and the Ward 1 and Ward 2 council seats were already on the November general election ballot. Qualifying for those posts began Aug. 21 and ended Aug. 23.
Among other qualifications, a candidate must reside within the ward they seek to represent; mayoral candidates may live anywhere within the city limits. Any city resident may vote for the office of Mayor, whether they live In Carroll or Douglas counties. However, qualified voters may only cast a ballot for a council candidate if they reside in the ward the candidate seeks to represent.
Ward boundaries were redrawn following the 2020 Census, but a current map of the districts are on the city’s webpage, villarica.org .
Election day will be Tuesday, Nov. 7. There will be three weeks of early voting, running from Oct. 16 to Nov. 3. Advance voting will be available in Carroll County or Douglas County, depending on where a registered voter lives.
From Oct. 16 to 28, qualified voters who live in Carroll County may cast ballots at the Carroll County Elections office in Carrollton. Please remember that office is no longer on College Street and has moved to 997 Newnan Road, which is the old campus of West Georgia Technical College. Note also that Oct. 21 and Oct. 28 are Saturdays and the office will be open. The Carroll County office will be open from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. on weekdays, and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. each Saturday.
Meanwhile, those who live in Douglas County, may vote early from Oct. 16 – Nov. 3 at the Douglas County Courthouse, 8700 Hospital Drive in Douglasville, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. For Saturday voting in Douglas County, the courthouse will be open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
During the third and final week of early voting, from Oct. 30 through Nov. 3, Villa Rica residents who live in Carroll County only may continue to vote in Carrollton, or at the polling place at Powell Park in Villa Rica.
The deadline to register to vote in the Nov. 7 election is Oct. 10.
