Early voting begins today
In-person early, or advanced, voting begins today in the Georgia Presidential Preference Primary.
Advanced voting for the March 12 Presidential Preference Primary will be conducted at the Stephens County Historic Courthouse, 37 W. Tugalo Street in Toccoa. Advanced voting will continue each weekday through Friday, March 8.
Mandatory advanced in-person Saturday voting will take place on February 24 and March 2. Hours for advanced in person voting will be from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Election day voting hours on March 12 will be from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. at the Historic Courthouse.
There will be no voting at the senior center or any location other than the Historic Courthouse in Toccoa.
The official, and only, drop-off box for absentee ballots for the Presidential Preference Primary is located inside the Historic Courthouse.
The last day to register to be eligible to vote in the Presidential Preference Primary was February 12. Voters may check their voter registration status and information at www.mvp.sos.ga.gov
For all in-person voting, voters must bring one of the six acceptable forms of photo identification; driver’s license, passport, and voter identification card are three acceptable identifications
Registered voters who are unable to vote in person, or who prefer to vote by mail, can request an absentee ballot. Voters are not required to provide a reason for the absentee ballot request.
To request an absentee ballot for the March 12 election, call the Stephens County Election Office at (706) 886-8954 or visit mvp.sos.ga.gov. The deadline to request an absentee ballot is March 1 and the local office will begin mailing absentee ballots today. The last day to submit an absentee ballot application and the last day the Stephens County Election Office will issue ballots for the March 12 Presidential Preference Primary is Friday, March 1.
Audio ballots for voters who are blind or have low vision, and booths for voters in wheelchairs, are available as needed. Voters who need help with ballot completion can ask a family member or friend to come with them to the polls and fill the ballot in with the voters’ choices.
In Georgia, the Presidential Preference Primary enables voters to select their preferences for candidates to represent their parties in the nationwide General Election in November. Georgia is an open primary state – voters select which party’s ballot they wish to vote – this decision does not register the voter with that party or bind them to that party’s candidates in the general election. In a primary election, if a candidate does not achieve the majority of votes (50%+1), there will be a primary runoff election.
Candidates listed on the ballot for the Republican nomination for President are former President Donald Trump, former South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley, and Texas businessman Ryan Binkley. Former legislators Ron DeSantis and Chris Christie, and South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, have suspended their campaigns. In previous primaries throughout the nation, Trump has collected 33 delegate votes, while Haley secured 17 delegate votes.
Three candidates, President Joe Biden, U.S. Representative Dean Phillips (Minnesota), and author/speaker Marianne Williamson, are listed on the Democratic Party ballot. In previous primaries throughout the nation, Biden is the only candidate to secure delegate votes – collecting 91 of the needed 1,910 to secure the Democratic nomination.
A copy of the sample ballots for both the Democratic and Republican party are available online.
Last week, The Stephens County Elections Office issued a map of parking for the Presidential Preference Primary. The map shows parking locations that will be available during early and election-day voting, and indicates altered traffic patterns on Tugaloo and Sage Streets that will be in place for elderly and handicap parking and shuttle drop-off.
A portion of Sage Street, between Tugalo and Doyle streets, will be closed to through-traffic through the end of voting on Election Day, March 12 – reserved for handicap parking for the elections.
A copy of the map is available online on wnegradio.com and our social media page on Facebook.
For further information, contact the Stephens County Election Office at (706) 886-8954.
