For the second time, the Coronavirus has forced Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to extend the date for the next election.
Thursday morning via a conference call, Sec. Raffensperger informed County Officials that the May 19 election that had been moved from March 24, would now be moved to June 9.
“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 being in prioritizes the health and safety of voters, county election officials and poll workers,” Raffensperger said.
Toombs County Registrar Carey Alligood said that this is the last time the election can be moved because doing so again would cause a conflict with the Presidential Election in November and that was legally prohibited.
Early voting for the June 9 primary starts on May 18, with voter registration ends on May 11.
Alligood said there has to be 21 days of early voting and despite the health climate on June 9, by law the polls with have to be opened and staffed for in-person voting adding, though, that safety precautions to ensure social distancing will be in place. Secretary Raffensperger said based on current modeling by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the VOVID-19 pandemic in Georgia is expected to peak around April 24, and while certain challenges will remain on June 9, the additional three weeks in which he authorized the extension of the election, should give his office adequate time to shore up contingency plans, find and train addition a poll workers, and procure supplies necessar to clean equipment and protect poll workers.
The Secretary of State’s Office is mailing absentee ballot applications to every registered voter in Georgia where each voter can request a mail-in ballot. If you’ve already received one, it is still valid for the June 9 election. If you have recently moved or have a Post Office Box and did not receive a request for an absentee ballot, contact Alligood at 526-8226 and she will mail you one. The requests were not delivered to Post Office boxes and the letters were not forwarded to a new mailing address.
For those who decide to vote in person, they will experience the new voting machine machines which involves a touchscreen, scanner and a paper ballot for voting security and accuracy.
For those voters in Montgomery County that need an absentee ballot, please call Bobbie Carpenter at 912-583-4296.
