Residents of Columbus, Saluda and Tryon can get an early start on voting for the municipal election as one stop, or early voting begins tomorrow, Thursday, Oct. 17.

All early voting will be done at the Polk County Board of Elections Office, located on the second floor of the Womack building in downtown Columbus Monday through Friday between 8:30 a.m. and 5 p.m.

Early voting will end on Saturday, Nov. 2, the only Saturday the election’s office will be open. Early voting can be done on Nov. 2 from 8:30 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Residents of the towns can still register to vote while early voting. Voter registration to vote on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 5 has ended.

This election has several contested races in the towns with seven filing for two council seats in Saluda, six filing for two Tryon council seats and four filing for three council seats in Columbus.

Council candidates in Saluda include incumbents Johnnie Kinard and George Sweet along with Carolyn Ashburn, Karen Bultman, Mark Oxtoby, Hobart (Sunny) Pace and Ellen Rogers.

Council candidates in Tryon include incumbents Doug Arbogast and Wim Woody along with Bill Crowell, Bill Ingham, Happy McLeod and Billy Moss.

Council candidates in Columbus include incumbents Rick McCallister and Margaret Metcalf along with Josh Denton and Tommy Melton.

Tryon Mayor Alan Peoples is the only contested mayor and is being challenged by Jim Wright. Anne Day filed to run for Tryon mayor and although her name will still be on the ballot, she has dropped out of the race.

Saluda Mayor Fred Baisden and Columbus Mayor Eric McIntyre are running unopposed this year.

The City of Landrum does not have early voting with all voting being done on Nov. 5 at the Landrum United Methodist Church.

Council candidates filing for three seats in Landrum include incumbent Billy Inman, former council member Randy Wohnig and newcomers Savannah Martin and Tammy Wells Cox. Mayor Bob Briggs is running unopposed and has already been declared the mayor by the Spartanburg County Board of Elections.

On Election Day in Polk County, Columbus voters will vote at Columbus Town Hall, Saluda voters at the Saluda Fire Department and Tryon voters at the Harmon Field cabin.