Last week to vote early

After months of disruptions due to COVID-19, election day in Georgia is now less than two weeks away. This is the last week to vote early ahead of the June 9 primaries.

Habersham County’s two largest voting precincts will open Monday, June 1. The Habersham North and South precincts will remain open for in-person voting through Friday, June 5.

The North precinct is located at the Ruby Fulbright Aquatic Center in Clarkesville, and the South Precinct is in the gym at First Baptist Church of Cornelia. Voters may cast ballots at either location from 8 a.m.-7 p.m. weekdays. The county elections office also has machines set up for advance voting in the commissioner’s conference room on the main floor of the Habersham County Administration building. They’re open to voters from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. June 1-5.

Approximately 21% of Habersham County’s active registered voters already have cast ballots ahead of election day. So far, 4,717 voters have returned absentee ballots and another 934 voted in person during the first two weeks of early voting. Election officials say another 134 voters cast ballots in person during Saturday voting on May 30.

Absentee voting

Earlier this year, the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office mailed absentee ballot request forms to all 6.9 million active Georgia voters. Nearly 1.6 million Georgians have requested absentee ballots, but only about 600,000 of them – about 40% – have sent them back with less than two weeks until Election Day, the Georgia Recorder reports.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger continues to encourage Georgia voters to vote absentee to protect their health and limit wait times at the ballot box.

“While we understand the Georgia tradition of in-person voting and look forward to returning to normal in-person voting in future elections, the extra precautions necessary to preserve voter and poll worker health during the pandemic will result in long wait times and an increased health risk that could be avoided through absentee ballots for this election,” he says.

Habersham County Election Supervisor Laurel Ellison says her office has mailed out 8,293 absentee ballots. Around 57% of those have been returned.

Systems are in place to prevent people from voting twice.

“If a voter has received an absentee ballot by mail and they decide they want to vote early in person or on Election Day, we request that they please bring the absentee ballot that they received with them so that we can cancel it and allow them to vote in person,” Ellison says. “If they have requested an absentee ballot and have never received it and they come to vote early in person or on Election Day, they will sign an affidavit that will allow them to vote in person, which will cancel the ballot that they requested and never received.”

In order to be counted, absentee ballots must be returned to the elections office by 7 p.m. on June 9. They may be mailed in or dropped off at any of the county’s early/advance voting locations listed below.

Directions to Polling Place

Directions to Polling Place

Directions to Polling Place

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