Clayton News Daily

By Joel Hall

jhall@news-daily.com

The City of Morrow will hold a special election today, to select a new member of the Morrow City Council.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m., to 7 p.m., in the Community Room of the Morrow Municipal Complex, located at 1500 Morrow Road.

Running in the election for the vacated seat are former Morrow Downtown Development Authority Executive Director John Lampl, former city Property Manager Jeanell Bridges, and retiree James "Jim" Duckworth. The three will vie to fill the unexpired term of former City Councilman Charles Sorrow, who resigned from office in January due to health concerns.

Sorrow's term is set to expire in 2011.

According to Morrow City Clerk and Elections Registrar Evyonne Browning, anticipation is high in the city, with early voting totals rivaling total participation in the 2005 election.

"Everybody is pleased with the amount of early voting," Browning said. "In the last [2005] election, it was right at 500 [voters]. At the end of early voting [for today's special election], we had 281 voters and six absentee ballots. In a lot of elections, the count for the regular election is about the same, right at 300. I have no idea what the turnout is going to be."

There are currently 2,712 people registered to vote in the City of Morrow, according to Browning. Voting will take place by paper ballot, she said.