Political pundits had predicted a mayoral runoff for months, but Richmond County's Board of Elections office couldn't budget for one until the general election was over and the winner had not been determined.
Augusta commissioners have approved spending more than $83,000 from the city's contingency account to pay for Tuesday's runoff between Mayor Bob Young and former Mayor Ed McIntyre. The bulk of expenses will be poll workers' salaries - a bill that is expected to run about $65,000.
An additional $5,000 will be spent on temporary election-office employees, and the rest will be used to pay for printing and material and supply costs.
To prepare for a second election, employees were working through the weekend, said the office's executive director, Lynn Bailey.
"We're just trying to get it together," she said.
Five candidates sought the mayoral seat, but no one secured the needed 45 percent of votes to win Nov. 5. The top two vote-getters were Mr. McIntyre - who got 40 percent of the vote - and Mr. Young - who received 38 percent.
If recent absentee ballot traffic is any indication, elections officials will need every penny allotted to accommodate what is expected to be an unprecedented turnout. As many voting machines will be deployed during the runoff as were used during the general election.
As of Friday afternoon, the elections office had issued more than 5,100 absentee ballots, 100 shy of the number issued for the Nov. 5 general election.
"We will, without a doubt, exceed that number," Ms. Bailey said, which means turnout Tuesday could exceed that of the general election.
Even though the Thanksgiving holiday could be inflating absentee numbers, Ms. Bailey is predicting 55 to 60 percent turnout. Turnout for the general election earlier this month was 60 percent.
"I think absentee ballot traffic is always somewhat of a gauge," she said.
Reach Heidi Coryell Williams at (706) 823-3215 or heidi.williams@augustachronicle.com.
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