This year, Georgia’s election season extends through Christmas. In fact, Dec. 24, Dec. 25 and Jan. 1 are the only three weekdays that in-person early voting won’t be available during the three weeks after it opens in Bulloch County.
The Elections and Registration office in the County Annex will offer 13 days of in-person advanced voting opportunity, beginning Dec. 14 and including one Saturday, Dec. 19, toward the Jan. 5 U.S. Senate and Georgia Public Service Commission runoff election. A second location, the Honey Bowen building, will host early voting on three weekdays, Dec. 15-17.
Meanwhile, mailed-out “absentee” ballots are available by request, and the local elections staff has already mailed more than 5,100 of them, Bulloch County Election Supervisor Patricia Lanier Jones said Wednesday.
Local election officials actually recommend the use of the absentee paper ballots as the safest option, as they have done since COVID-19 became a threat to everyone’s health earlier this year.
“To protect the citizens and poll workers, we encourage our voters to vote by mail,” states an updated election info flier Jones provided. “If you choose to vote in person, we urge you to follow social distancing guidelines and wear your mask.”
Absentee ballots can be mailed out to voters through Dec. 31. In order to be counted, an absentee ballot must arrive back at the election office or in one of its drop boxes before 7 p.m. Jan. 5.
To fill out an absentee ballot request online, go to www.securevotega.com/secureabsentee. Or to print a ballot request form, visit www.mvp.sos.ga.gov and then submit the completed form to the local elections office by mail, fax or email.
Or contact the office about your ballot request. Its address is Bulloch County Board of Elections & Registration; 113 North Main St., Suite 201; Statesboro, GA 30458. The office’s phone number is (912) 764-6502, and its fax number is (912) 764-8167. Its emails are elections@bullochcounty.net and voterregistrar@bullochcounty.net.
Only the request forms can be faxed or emailed. Completed absentee ballots, in their envelopes, must be returned either by mail, through one of Bulloch County’s two drop boxes or in person to the elections office.
The statewide My Voter Page, www.mvp.sos.ga.gov, also provides a way to check if your absentee ballot has been accepted after you return it.
Drop boxes return
The drop boxes are back at the same locations that were used for the November general election.
The indoor drop box is locked down on a table inside the back entrance of the Bulloch County Annex in the elections office area, 113 N. Main. St. This box will be available 8 a.m.-5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
The freestanding outdoor drop box is located in the parking area of the same complex, but behind the North Main Annex, 115 N. Main St., near the cell tower. This drop box is available for deposit of ballots 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
It is secured to the concrete pavement, and both drop boxes are under continuous video surveillance. State law requires that the video footage be retained until after the results of an election are final.
Georgia law also limits who may “possess or deliver” a voter’s ballot. Besides the voter, persons allowed to do this include the voter’s parent, grandparent, aunt, uncle, brother, sister, spouse, son, daughter, niece, nephew, grandchild, son-in-law, daughter-in-law, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, an individual who resides in the same household with the voter or the caretaker, as defined by law, of a voter with disabilities.
The law is intended to prohibit “ballot harvesting” and mass delivery of absentee ballots.
Early voting sites
The elections office area of the County Annex will be staffed for early voting 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday-Friday, Dec. 14-18; Monday-Wednesday, Dec. 21-23, and Monday-Thursday, Dec. 28-31.
The annex will also be the only location for Saturday voting, 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Dec. 19, Jones announced with her printed notice.
Noted for its ground-level ease of access, the Honey Bowen Building, 1 Max Lockwood Drive, Statesboro, will be open for early voting 8 a.m.-5p.m. Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, Dec. 15-17.
There will be no in-person voting Jan. 4.
But Bulloch County registered voters who do not take advantage of early or absentee voting can vote at their assigned place in the county’s 16 traditional voting precincts Tuesday, Jan. 5, between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m.
On the ballot
The ballot includes just three contests.
The runoff between Republican incumbent David Perdue and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff is for a full six-year term in the U.S. Senate. Meanwhile, Republican appointed incumbent Kelly Loeffler and Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock are in a runoff to complete the remainder of what was originally U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson’s term, through 2022, since he retired at the end of 2019.
With party control of the Senate in the balance, those races are drawing national attention. Georgia voters will also decide a much lesser-known contest between Republican Lauren “Bubba” McDonald Jr. and Democrat Daniel Blackman for the seat McDonald holds on the state Public Service Commission.
Monday, Dec. 7, remains the deadline for eligible Georgia residents to register to vote if they aren’t already registered, or to update addresses or signatures.