ATLANTA— Georgia’s general primary election slated for May 19 has been postponed to June 9 due to health and safety concerns over COVID-19, according to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Thursday.
The decision comes after Gov. Brian Kemp extended the state’s public health emergency status another month to May 13.
Raffensperger said the extension was legally necessary before the primary could be delayed.
“This decision allows our office and county election officials to continue to put in place contingency plans to ensure that voting can be safe and secure when in-person voting begins and prioritizes the health and safety of voters, county election officials and poll workers,” Raffensperger said in a statement Thursday.
Early voting for the primary now starts May 18. Voter registration will end May 11.
Reasoning for pushing the election back
The primary election featuring presidential, state and local primary contests scheduled for May 19 faced a scenario in which many poll workers may not have shown up to staff voting precincts.
Poll workers on average tend to be older adults who are more at risk of harmful impacts from COVID-19.
On Thursday, Raffensperger said his office has fielded “reports of mounting difficulties” that county elections officials were struggling to have precincts ready forn in-person early voting set to begin April 27, ahead of a May 19 election.
The three-week delay gives state and county election officials more time to train poll workers, distribute cleaning supplies and draw backup plans for any possible issues.
“Just like our brave health-care workers and first responders, out county election officials and poll workers are undertaking work critical to our democracy, and they will continue to do this critical work with all the challenges that the current crisis has brought forth,” Raffensperger said.
It’s the second time the state’s presidential preference primary will be delayed after originally being set for March 24.
Raffensperger’s office indicated that the local primaries would be tough since holding the primaries past June 9 could conflict with federal law requiring certain deadlines for runoff results and ballot creation to be met for the Nov. 3 general election.
“I certainly realize that every difficulty will not be completely solved by the time in-person voting begins for the June 9 election, but elections must happen even in less than ideal circumstances,” Raffensperger said.
Important information for Rabun County residents
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger began mailing out absentee ballot applications for the May 19 general primary on Monday, March 30.
Tammy Whitmire, Rabun County elections supervisor, said in an interview Thursday that these same applications can still be filled out and turned in to receive an absentee ballot for the June 9 election.
“When people get that [application], they can go ahead and turn them in so they can get their ballots when ready,” Whitmire said.
Whitmire said that the applications that have been mailed out have an election date of May 19, but that the state will not be remailing them so voters should use this application for the June 9 election.
She said that the state already knows that this ballot application is for this particular election.
Whitmire encouraged every voter to cast an absentee ballot for the general primary so they can do so safely from home without going to a poll location.
“That’s the safest way to vote,” Whitmire said.
The absentee ballot application can be returned by email, fax, mail or placed in drop box 105 outside the Board of Elections Office.
However, the paper ballot itself can only be submitted via mail or placed in the drop box.
Whitmire said that if someone has not received a ballot application in the mail by May, they should contact the Rabun County Board of Elections Office at 706-782-1878 so one can be sent to them.
The application for an absentee ballot can also be found on the state’s “My Voter Page” by visiting mvp.sos.ga.gov/MVP/mvp.do and typing in your information in the box on the right-hand side.
Turnaround time for receiving ballot
Whitmire said that voters should turn in their application as soon as possible so that they can receive a ballot to mail in by election day.
“The earlier you get your application in, the better off you will be,” Whitmire said.
The ballot has to be returned by election day on Tuesday, June 9.
She said that although this seems like a significant amount of time, it’s not long when considering the process that it takes the state to mail out the applications and receive them back and then mail out the ballots and receive those back.
Whitmire said that people need to remember that it’s the state mailing these out, not the local elections office.
She said that the process begins with the state office mailing absentee ballot applications to voters. Voters then fill this out and return it to their local board of elections office. The local office works to put the information into an electronic system, which the state downloads at night to view.
The state then takes the data from the system to mail ballots to active voters. Voters then turn in their completed ballot to their local elections office.
Whitmire said that this process is completed for 6 million plus voters, so that’s why it’s important to submit them sooner rather than later.
She said that our Rabun County office could potentially receive 12,000 absentee ballot applications from voters, when it ordinarily would receive about 1,000.
Whitmire said that her staff consists of 2 or 3 people entering this data.
Rabun County usually has a 50-60 percent turnout for voting, she said.
Applications and ballots are mailed to voters' physical address
Whitmire said that the state mails the absentee ballot application to the residence where the voter is registered.
However, some voters are not able to get mail at their residence so these applications are then rerouted to the local elections office.
“So, all of those have been returned to me,” Whitmire said about the Rabun County Board of Elections office.
Whitmire said that her office then has to go through each individual application and check to see if there is a P.O. Box on file where the mail could be delivered to.
If there is no alternative address, Whitmire said that the voter needs to contact the office to update their voter registration information.
She said that so far, her office has already received between 700-1,000 of these returned applications they have to sift through and that people should be patient when waiting for their application.
Waiting until the end of April to inquire about an absentee ballot application will give staff members time to sift through the returned ballots and find an alternative address, Whitmire said.
She said that voters are able to track their ballot by visiting the “My Voter Page” on the Secretary of State’s website at https://www.mvp.sos.ga.gov/MVP/mvp.do
You can also register to vote, view your registration status and get the latest election news from this website.
If I voted in the March 24 election does my vote count?
Every voter will be able to vote in the June 9 general primary election and what’s on their ballot depends on whether the voter cast their ballot in the March 24 presidential preference primary.
If you voted in the election on March 24, your votes for presidential preference and ESPLOST have been recorded, Whitmire said.
For the June 9 election “you’ll just get a regular, general ballot,” Whitmire said. She said that the voting system has record of who voted and didn’t vote.
Those who didn’t vote on March 24 will receive a “combined ballot” for the general primary election on June 9, Whitmire said.
This “combined ballot” will have options to vote for presidential preference, ESPLOST and state, federal and local elections.
“This is a primary, so they have to pick a ballot style they want,” Whitmire said about submitting their application for an absentee ballot.
They would select a political party at the top of the form, whether Democratic, Non Partisan or Republican.
If a voter chooses a “non-partisan” party option, they would only be able to cast votes for
Supreme Court Judge, Court of Appeals Judge, Superior Court Judge, Probate Judge and if they have a combined ballot, the ESPLOST.
Do I need a separate absentee ballot application for each election?
Every voter will need to fill out and submit a separate absentee ballot application for each election unless they meet certain criteria:
-Age 65 or older
-Disabled
-UOCAVA Voter- Member of armed forces or Merchant Marines of the United States, commissioned corps of the Public Health Service or the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, spouse or dependent residing with or accompanying said member, or a United States citizen residing overseas.
“We can send them ballots for the rest of the year,” Whitmire said about voters meeting any of these exceptions.
She said that voters meeting any exception rule will be mailed paper ballots for every election for the rest of the year and do not need to fill out another application.
Can I share my completed ballot on social media?
“It’s illegal to take pictures of your ballot,” Whitmire said. She said that if someone posts a picture of their ballot on social media, they could potentially have a case brought against them by the state of Georgia.
“I would not encourage anybody to do that,” Whitmire said.
Can I still register to vote?
You can register to vote through May 11 by going to the “My Voter Page” or contacting the Board of Elections Office.
As of now the state of Georgia still plans to have early voting scheduled for May 18, but this could change as the COVID-19 situation changes.
Whitmire said that elections offices are on the “essential functions list” for the state and if the state orders everything to shut down, the elections office will stay open.
“If they have any questions, feel free to call the office and we’ll help them get through this time,” Whitmire said.
Board of Elections Office preparations
“For now, we are answering the telephone, checking emails and faxes,” Whitmire said. She said that the office is closed to the public but that forms can be submitted in their drop box.
She said that because there is no way to determine how many paper ballots the office will receive for this election, the number of elections workers needed will depend on how the situation progresses.
“I will bring in the people necessary to get the job done,” Whitmire said.
Contact the Rabun County Board of Elections Office:
Mail: 18 Old Raco High Dr. Suite 105, Clayton
Drop Box 105 outside the front entrance
Phone: 706-782-1878
Fax: 706-782-3754
Email: twhitmire@rabuncounty.ga.gov
Website: http://rabuncounty.ga.gov/elections.php
Upcoming election dates
May 18- Early voting begins (tentative)
June 9- Day of general primary election
November 3- Day of general election