With less than 48 hours remaining before voters in Newton County go to the polls for the county’s 2017 SPLOST vote, the fate of the penny sales tax is still up in the air.

As of Friday afternoon, according to the Newton County Board of Elections, fewer than 800 people had voted on the measure. At this same juncture in 2011, more than 1,000 votes had been cast. The 2011 SPLOST was approved with 54 percent of the vote.

The 2011 vote was the smallest margin of victory for the tax. The 1995 SPLOST passed with more than 78 percent of the vote, while the 2000 SPLOST passed with 62 percent of the vote. In 2005, 64 percent of Newton County voters voted to approve the tax.

The 2017 Newton County SPLOST election is Tuesday, March 21. Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. For information about polling places, visit the Newton County Board of Elections website. For questions about your voter status and to view a sample ballot, you can visit the Georgia Secretary of State’s “My Voter” page.