Early voting period for Area 8 runoff election will be Wednesday through Friday, Feb. 19-21

Like the school board special election, the upcoming runoff between Phil Leventis and Keith Schultz will also include an early voting period for registered voters in Sumter School District Area 8.

Three days of early voting will be available on Wednesday, Feb. 19, through Friday, Feb. 21, at Sumter County Voter Registration Office, according to county Voter Registration and Elections Director Pat Jefferson. Early voting hours each day will be 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.

The voter registration office is at 129 E. Liberty St. (Magnolia Place) in downtown Sumter. The facility is also the former offices of The Item newspaper.

According to Jefferson, any registered voter in Area 8 is eligible to vote in early voting next week or the Feb. 25 runoff, whether they voted in the special election or not.

Area 8 in Sumter School District includes the western and northern portions of the City of Sumter. Major roadways include Wilson Hall Road, Loring Mill Road, Patriot Parkway and others.

Before making the trip to vote, if registered voters are unsure if they reside in Area 8, they can call the county voter registration office on Tuesday, and staff will verify if they are eligible. The office's phone numbers are (803) 436-2310, -2311, -2312 and -2313.

Jefferson said new county voter registration cards were mailed last year and the school areas, or districts, are located on the bottom of the card on the left side.

Sumter school board seats are nonpartisan races in Sumter County.