Primary Election Nuts and Bolts
Early voting has begun with Election Day set for May 19.
May 19 is primary day in Georgia, the first step in whittling the list of wannabes and hopefuls down to those whose names will be on the Nov. 3 general election ballot.
Early voting for the primary is underway, through May 15, but voters should check with their county for specifics, particularly on weekend voting dates.
There are 7,358,889 active voters in Georgia, according to the secretary of state’s office. Early voting began April 27 and by May 4 with 3.6 percent of active voters cast ballots, the vast majority of early in-person and the remainder returned absentee ballots.
The deadline to request an absentee/mail-in ballot is May 8.
Ballots mailed in must be received by 7 p.m. on May 19.
Polls open on primary day at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m., barring special circumstances.
Any runoffs needed after the primaries will be held June 16.
Elections have become a big money maker in Georgia. AdImpact, which tracks political advertising spending reported that, by the end of April, $204.6 million already had been spent and reserved in Georgia, the fifth highest state total in the country. The Republican gubernatorial race accounted for most of that — and yet to come will be tens of millions of dollars expended on Georgia’s U.S. Senate race.
Meanwhile, two years ago, the Georgia legislature approved — set to take effect on July 1 — a measure that requires the state to stop using QR codes to count votes, but failed to provide funding or a road map of how the method of counting votes would change.
Now, lawmakers are waiting to see if Republican Gov. Brian Kemp calls them back for a special session to deal with the looming deadline.
Voices on both sides of the aisle suggest that any changes — which would be expensive and, with each passing day, more difficult to implement — wait until after the 2026 elections, implemented perhaps for the 2027 municipal elections, so that any new system can be tested before the 2028 election cycle.
Likewise, Kemp has said that he will not call the legislature back into special session to take advantage of the recent decision by the Supreme Court of the United States that removed the racial consideration when drawing district lines.