It will be at least two months before Georgia voters and candidates know who’ll be on the ballot in November.
Today, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger postponed the Statewide General Primary/Presidential Preference Primary Election until June 9.
The decision comes one day after Gov. Brian Kemp extended the state’s public health state of emergency through May 13. Kemp also extended his statewide shelter in place order through April 30.
“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 begins and prioritizes the health and safety of voters, county election officials, and poll workers,” says Raffensperger.
Throughout this crisis, the Secretary of State’s office has been in close contact with county election officials across the state. Over the past week, the reports of mounting difficulties from county election officials, particularly in Southwest Georgia, grew to a point where county election officials could not overcome the challenges brought on by COVID-19 in time for in-person voting to begin on April 27. Additionally, current modeling by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation projects the COVID-19 pandemic in Georgia will peak around April 24, only days before in-person voting was scheduled to begin.
Secretary Raffensperger acknowledges there still will be challenges on June 9 but says the additional three weeks will give his office and counties time to “shore up contingency plans, find and train additional poll workers, and procure supplies and equipment necessary to clean equipment and protect poll workers.”
Raffensperger says he did not make the decision lightly. Early voting in the May 19 primary would have conflicted with the governor’s emergency extension order. The secretary says he felt that was sufficient cause for him to exercise his own emergency authority under the law.
“I certainly realize that every difficulty will not be completely solved by the time in-person voting begins for the June 9 election, but elections must happen even in less than ideal circumstances,” said Raffensperger. “Just like our brave healthcare workers and first responders, our county election officials and poll workers are undertaking work critical to our democracy, and they will continue to do this critical work with all the challenges that the current crisis has brought forth.”
- The voter registration deadline for the June 9 primary is May 11
- Early voting will begin on May 18
- The new primary runoff date is August 11
Raffensperger says he will not push the primary past June 9. He insists any later date could impair election officials’ ability to get ready for the November 3 General Election. It could also make it challenging to get ballots to military voters on time.
Absentee ballot applications will continue to be accepted and processed by counties even if the application says May 19.
Once county election officials properly verify the signature on the application, the voter will be sent an absentee ballot for the primary election now to be held on June 9.
All votes previously cast in the presidential preference primary and general primary will be counted. If you receive an absentee ballot but do not submit it, you may still vote in-person when election polls open.
