Voter Turnout Greater than Anticipated

It's 2pm and an elevator full of voters step off onto the third floor of to go cast their ballots. The flow has been steady all day long. Elections Superintendent and City Clerk Karen Pierce says they've had 650 votes cast by this time. They've also received 60 absentee ballots by mail and another 300 advance voters cast their votes at City Hall earlier. That number is better than she and the city expected. "We're expecting probably 1,200 votes at this rate," said Pierce. Last year, 2,000 ballots were cast when . "We're seeing abnormal numbers in a non-mayoral race" added Pierce.

She notes one reason for the high turnout may be because there are six candidates running for two City Council seats. Another big draw is the vote on Sunday Alcohol Sales. "We're actually turning away lots of people from the county," said Pierce. A number of voters came down to City Hall after voting in their county precincts to vote on whether or not stores should be allowed to sell alcohol by the package in the City of Lawrenceville. However, if those voters live in unincorporated Lawrenceville and not in the city limits, they will not be able to vote on the issue. Poll workers helped voters search a large map to see if they lived within the city's limits and often told them they did not and could not vote in this election.

Polls will be open until 7pm tonight. For more information about the candidates and Sunday Alcohol Sales, please visit our Voter Guide.

Stay with Patch as we will update you with the results as they come in tonight. Also, check out our on all the elections going on in Gwinnett County.