Voters should expect new precinct cards in the mail soon

Continuing our interview from last week with Stephens County Elections Supervisor Bruce Carlisle, WNEG News reports that every registered voter in Stephens County has been mailed a new voter registration/precinct card. He explained that, due to the change of the voting location to have all voting take place at the Historic Courthouse in downtown Toccoa, all voters, both active and inactive, were issued new precinct cards by the state elections office. Carlisle said on Friday that all 20,172 cards were delivered to the local office and were mailed out. Carlisle did note that, due to U.S. Postal Service processes, the envelopes, mailed from the Toccoa Post Office, will go to Atlanta before being delivered to Stephens County residents, and Carlisle said it could be the end of this week before the new cards begin showing up in residents’ mailboxes.

In other election news discussed last week with Carlisle, he mentioned that the Stephens County Board of Commissioners, at their meeting tomorrow, will be voting on approval of qualifying fees for local races in the 2024 election, and explained the formula for how qualifying fees are determined.

This will be a busy year, Carlisle said, and pointed out that the local elections will not be the first election of the year. The presidential Preference Primary, in which the presidential candidates are the only time on the ballot, will be the first election of 2024, with Election Day March 12 and advance voting running from Feb 19 to March 8. He stressed that all voting, both advance voting and election day voting, will take place at the Historic Courthouse in downtown Toccoa. 

He said that the election office is now accepting requests for absentee ballots, which will be mailed out starting Feb. 19, and explained the process that must be followed to request an absentee ballot. 

He stressed that anyone wanting an absentee ballot for any of the elections this year, must request one now; adding that even if someone had requested an absentee ballot in 2023, they will not automatically receive an absentee ballot this year. 

For more information, call the Stephens County Election Office at (706) 886-8954.