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As of the close of early voting on Friday evening, 1,021 in-person early votes have been cast in Troup County, according to Election Supervisor Andy Harper.

Harper said 82 of the 173 absentee ballots that were sent out have been returned.

Troup County has over 47,000 registered voters so about 2 percent of voters have already cast their ballots.

The special election set for March 21 will feature the SPLOST VI referendum and the mayor’s race in LaGrange.

Early voting will continue through March 17. One final Saturday voting day will be available on  March 11.

Registered voters can cast their ballots in advance at the Troup County Government Center Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

The majority of the county will only see the SPLOST VI referendum on their ballots, which asks the voters to extend the county’s Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST). The current SPLOST is set to expire in 2024. If approved, SPLOST VI would run from 2015 to 2031.

The optional one percent sales tax is used to fund capital outlay projects proposed by the county and all three cities.

The money is divided up by population, so LaGrange and Troup County would get the majority of the funds at 45 percent each. West Point and Hogansville get the remaining funds at 5 percent each.

The county is projecting revenues of $80 million, based on previous SPLOST receipts.

The only other issue on the ballot is the special election between former LaGrange City Councilmen Jim Arrington and Willie Edmondson to replace former mayor Jim Thornton, who resigned in November.

Harper said it’s difficult to tell what the overall turnout will be because special elections can have wildly different turnouts based on interest.