THOMASVILLE- Qualifying for the City of Thomasville District 1 and District 2 Council seat, along with four City School Board seats will take place near the end of August.

The dates and hours of qualifying will be conducted at the Thomas County Board of Elections Office, 1402 E. Jackson St, from August 21-25.

The qualifying free for the Thomasville City Council’s District 2, Post 1 council seat which is currently held by Jay Flowers, is $607.68. Flowers had served the council for 10 years, prior to being named mayor in January 2022.

The Thomasville City Council’s District 1, Post 1 council seat will also be up for election. Wanda Warren has served her community for the past three years in this position.

Warren shared that after much prayer, she intends to re-qualify for her Post.

“I’ve prayed on it a lot, and after much prayer I will be qualifying for re-election,” she said. “I look forward to continuing to help my community. We’ve worked through a lot of tough situations this year, and I believe I have grown a lot and learned a lot.”

Warren said one of her main focuses going into this election cycle will be on the financial status of the city, as she wants to continue to move forward in growing the city’s general fund, allowing for economic viability.

Although not yet qualified, Thomas County NAACP President Lucinda Brown announced her intention to qualify and run for Warren’s position via Facebook earlier this year.

“I am excited and proud to throw my hat in the ring and officially announce my candidacy for the Thomasville City Council,” Brown posted. “I look forward to representing everyone in Thomasville fairly. I will run a positive campaign, on which I will display integrity and honesty in all my interactions.”

Brown went on to share that she has many years under her belt on the outside of government, working in various volunteer positions that have taught her a great deal about the workings of city and county government.

“I know I will be an asset working for the community inside of the system,” she stated in her post.

The qualifying fee for this City Council Seat is also $607.78

Thomasville City School Board has four open positions on their board.

Karen Kelso, City School Board- At Large, Kejar Butler, City School Board- District 1 and Board Chair, Mary Scruggs- City School Board- District 1 and Britney Glass, City School Board- District 2, Vice-Chair are all up for re-election. The qualifying fee for all four positions is $35.

When reached out to for comment about the possibility for re-qualifying, Glass and Scruggs stated they intend to qualify and run again, while Kelso stated she does not plan to re-run for her position.

The election will not take place until November 7, 2023, but there are plenty of opportunities for residents to begin early voting or vote through an absentee ballot.

Residents can begin requesting absentee ballots on August 21. However, the earliest day they can mail back their absentee ballot is October 13.

For those not yet registered to vote, the deadline for registration and change of address for the general/special and SPLOST election is October 10. Those looking to register may do so at the Thomas County Board of Elections Office or online.

Upon registering, the first week of early, in person voting will take place October 16-20. There will be two Saturday options for early in person voting. The first one will be October 21 with the following Saturday, October 28, being the second opportunity. A second week of early in person voting will take place October 23-27. October 27 will also be the last day to request an absentee by mail ballot.

The final week of in person early voting will take place October 30-November 3.

Those who choose not to vote early, will be able to vote in person on Election Day at their polling site, which can be found on the Thomas County Board of Elections website.