Lincoln County residents who are unregistered and wish to votein the upcoming primaries in August will have until Saturday, July2, to sign up and be eligible to participate.

     On that day, the only place to register will be the LincolnCounty Circuit Clerk’s office in the Lincoln County-BrookhavenGovernment Complex. The office will be open from 8 a.m. until noonfor voter registration.

     People can also register at the clerk’s office duringregular office hours from now up until July 2, and they can alsoregister at the Mississippi Highway Patrol office located at 160Highway 84 East and at the Lincoln County Department of HumanServices office located at 1372 Johnny Johnson Drive.

     Since the circuit clerk’s office is where voter informationis logged anyway, Lincoln County Circuit Clerk Terry Lynn Watkinsencourages registration at her office instead of other places.

     “We like to try to get everyone to come here to register,”Watkins said. “There have been instances in the past when peoplewould go register at another office, and we wouldn’t receive theforms here.”

     If any voter has moved and needs to pick up a change ofaddress form, that can be done at the circuit clerk’s office aswell.

     The age to vote is 18. However, Watkins said that somepeople may not know that if they are turning 18 before Nov. 8, thenthey can register to vote in the general election in November.

     For those curious about absentee voting, Watkins said thatthey have not received the absentee ballots at this point.

     “The Secretary of State’s office is building our databasenow for absentee voting,” she said. “But if you know you’re goingto be out of town, we’ve started a file here at the office forabsentees. Just call and let us know.”

     Watkins said she hopes the absentee ballots will be readysometime next week.

     If anyone has any questions about voting, Watkins said toplease call their office at 601-835-3435.