Election Updates for May 21 Election

On Friday, the final day of advanced-in-person voting for the May 21 election, 405 voters cast their ballot at the Historic Courthouse in downtown Toccoa, bringing the total of advance-in-person votes to 3,000. A total of 309 Absentee Ballots have been requested and mailed out, and so far, 258 have been filled out and returned. Absentee ballots can be returned in the official drop box at the Stephens County Historic Courthouse through close of voting tomorrow, May 21, at 7 p.m. 

The called meeting of the Stephens County Board of Elections and Registration that was scheduled for 5:30 p.m. today has been canceled. However, The Stephens County Board of Elections and Registration will have a quorum present tomorrow, May 21, beginning at 8:00 am and will remain in session until the completion of their duties for the May 21 General Primary/Non-Partisan and City of Avalon Special election.  This will take place in the Historic Courthouse located at 37 West Tugalo Street Toccoa and is open to the public. 

Election Day voting in Stephens County will take place tomorrow, May 21, for the General Primary & Non Partisan election and the City of Avalon Special Election, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Any registered voter who is in line by 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote. 

All voting, including voting for the Avalon election,  will take place at the Historic Courthouse in downtown Toccoa; no voting will be held at the Senior Center or any other location.

Voters must bring government-issued photo ID with them when they come to the Courthouse to vote. Any valid state or federal government-issued photo ID is acceptable, including a Georgia Driver’s License, even if expired, a student ID from a Georgia public College or University, a valid employee ID from any Federal, State or Local governmental agency or entity, a valid US Passport, Military Photo ID or Tribal photo ID. 

In Georgia, there is no party affiliation attached to a person’s voter registration, so when voters head to the ballot box for the primary tomorrow, each voter must select one of three ballots: a Democratic Ballot, a Republican Ballot or a Non-Partisan ballot.  The ballot selected for the primary does not restrict a voter’s choices during the November 5 general election. However, ballot selection during election day voting determines who may vote in any run-off election on June 18 that results from the May 21 election.

For any runoff election, three pools of voters may participate in the runoff voting – those who did not vote at all in the May 21 election, those who selected a non-partisan ballot during the May 21 election day voting, and those that voted on the ballot containing the candidates who are in the run-off. For example, if two Democratic candidates will be in the June runoff due to neither candidate receiving more than 50 percent of the vote, only those who selected a Democratic or NonPartisan ballot, or those who did not vote at all in the General Primary or Special election, will be allowed to cast a ballot in the run-off. Those who selected a Republican ballot in the General Primary or Special Election would not be able to vote in the runoff. 

In another point of information about the ballots for this election, In Georgia, state and county political parties are allowed to put advisory questions on the ballot to survey its voter base, which means that, In addition to candidates in specific state and local races, Democrat and Republican ballots in tomorrow’s election will contain questions posed by party officials. These questions are non-binding and are used by political parties to judge party member opinions on various matters. There are eight statewide questions on the Democratic ballot and eight statewide questions on the Republican ballot. There are no local-based questions on either ballot. A list of all advisory or opinion questions asked on this elections party-based ballots is included with this story on wnegradio.com, as well as links to all sample ballots. 

Also, The Stephens County Board of Elections and Registrations will hold a special called meeting on Friday, May 24,  at 5:30 p.m. to certify the May 21 General Primary/Non Partisan & City of Avalon Special Election results.  This meeting will be held in the Historic Courthouse located at 37 West Tugalo Street, Toccoa and is open to the public. 

For more information, visit mvp.sos.ga.gov or contact the local election office at (706) 886-8954. 

BALLOT SAMPLES:

Stephens County Nonpartisan
Stephens County Republican
Stephens County Democratic
Federal Candidates only Republican
Federal Candidates only Democratic
Avalon Nonpartisan
Avalon Republican
Avalon Democratic

For 2024, Georgia Democrats put the following eight questions on the party’s primary ballots:

  1. Should the United States and the State of Georgia protect Georgians from gun violence by banning assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, closing background check loopholes, and passing other common-sense gun safety reforms?
  2. Should the State of Georgia incentivize clean energy production as part of a climate policy that recognizes the urgent threat that climate change poses to Georgians’ health, lives and future?
  3. Should the State of Georgia expand voter access by allowing same-day voter registration, removing obstacles to voting by mail, and making secure ballot drop boxes accessible at all times through Election Day?
  4. Should the State of Georgia protect reproductive freedom by repealing the current six-week abortion ban, restoring the protections of Roe v. Wade and ensuring access to contraceptives, IVF, abortion and other reproductive health care?
  5. Should the State of Georgia stop using taxpayer dollars intended for public education to pay for private school vouchers?
  6. Should the State of Georgia raise the minimum wage to a living wage?
  7. Should the portion of the Georgia state constitution allowing for involuntary servitude of prisoners and others convicted of offenses be repealed, thus prohibiting all forms of slavery and involuntary servitude statewide?
  8. Should the State of Georgia improve access to safe, affordable housing by increasing the affordable housing supply, protecting tenants’ rights to habitable living conditions, and cracking down on negligence or abuse by property management companies or landlords?

Georgia Republicans put the following eight questions on the party’s primary ballots:

  • For future elections, do you want hand marked paper ballots, scanned and verified by hand count on live stream video?
  • Should the legislature enact the FairTax replacing the state income tax and state sales tax with a consumption tax equal to current state funding and taxing no legal citizen or family up to the poverty level of spending?
  • Should the legislature ban registered lobbyists from serving on the State Elections Board?
  • Should the Georgia Republican Primary have a closed primary, meaning that only registered Republicans would be allowed to vote in the Republican Primary?
  • Should public officials who allow illegal migration to occur be held responsible for crimes committed by illegal aliens?
  • Would you support a statewide vote to allow gaming in Georgia so the voters can decide this issue instead of politicians in Atlanta?
  • Currently, hundreds of thousands of hours and dollars are spent every year cleaning up voter rolls. Would you support an amendment to the National Voting Rights Act that would require registered voters to renew their registration every four years?
  • Do you believe unelected and unaccountable international bureaucrats, like the UN controlled World Health Organization (WHO), should have complete control over management of future pandemics in the United States and authority to regulate your healthcare and personal health choices?