Georgia voters headed to polls
ATLANTA - Voters head to Georgia's polling places today to cast ballots in the earliest primary election in state history.
Statewide contests range from a hotly contested Republican primary race to succeed retiring U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss to a re-election challenge for Republican Gov. Nathan Deal, who is seeking a second term.
A number of area counties have competitive commission races and various questions to attract voters.
In Whitfield County the Democratic Party added six nonbinding questions to the ballot, including one asking if Georgia should legalize the possession of less than one ounce of marijuana for adults 21 and older.
Walker County voters will decide whether to allow liquor by the drink in restaurants in unincorporated areas. They'll also vote on a quarter mill property tax that would fund the operation of the public library system. And in Dade County, a straw poll asks voters who should be responsible for library funding.
Polling precincts statewide will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m., and voters should bring with them any valid state or federal government-issued photo ID.
Types of valid photo ID are a Georgia's driver's license, even if expired; a valid employee photo ID from any branch, department, agency, or entity of the U.S. government, Georgia, or any county, municipality, board, authority or other entity of this state; a valid U.S. passport; a valid U.S. military photo ID; or a valid tribal photo ID.
People can verify their polling location by visiting the secretary of state's My Voter Page at www.mvp.sos.ga.gov. A free mobile app can be downloaded on the Apple and Android smart phone platforms. Search for "GA Votes" in the app store, according to the Georgia secretary of state's office.
Pro-secession billboard removed
MONTGOMERY, Ala. - An advertising company has removed a highway billboard purchased by a Confederate organization advocating a Southern secession from the United States, the leader of the group said Monday.
The Confederate League of the South said Lamar Advertising Co. took down the billboard along Interstate 85 in Montgomery after complaints. The billboard had the word "secede" in capital letters, along with the group's name and website.
The sign went up Friday and was removed over the weekend, league president Michael Hill said.
"I checked my email Saturday, and I had an email from Lamar Advertising saying they had gotten complaints and had other customers who were threatening to quit doing business with them if they didn't take it down," Hill said. "It was gone by mid-Sunday morning."
A Lamar Advertising executive did not return a message seeking comment. The league started an online petition asking the company to reinstall the billboard.
Hill said the company offered a refund, but that wasn't necessary since he had yet to pay.
The league advocates conservative positions and supports Southern states leaving the United States.
The Alabama-based group erected the same billboard in Tallahassee, Fla., and the Florida Chamber of Commerce and Independent Colleges and Universities of Florida responded last month by putting up a billboard nearby with the words, "Succeed Florida!"
In Alabama, "it's a squelching of dissent issue," Hill said.
Hill said the league next hopes to place the billboard northeast of Atlanta.