As of Friday Oct. 16, 613,725 early voting ballots had been cast according to Sharyl Sutton, Voter Education Coordinator for the Georgia Office of Secretary of State. Sutton also reported that their office had received 1,630,735 Absentee ballot requests and had already accepted 584,742 Absentee ballots.

All registered Georgia voters are eligible for an absentee ballot.

Sutton said, Secure the Vote Georgia, wants to ensure every absentee ballot counts and offered tips on what voters can do to avoid having the votes rejected.

Sutton said the number one reason an absentee ballot is rejected is because it misses the deadline return date being Nov. 3, by 7 p.m.

“It must be received by the county elections office, not merely postmarked,” she clarified. “The second reason is the voter forgot to sign the oath on the back of the envelope.”

Sutton said voters need to follow the rules when it comes to filling out their Absentee ballot.  Voters must completely shade their choice with a blue or black pen for the scanner to read the ballot.

“I’ve heard from county Elections Supervisors that some voters use a crayon or marker,” Sutton said. “Those cannot be scanned or counted.”

Sutton added that the ballots must arrive clean, free of any stains or stray marks or writing. so that the machine will accept the ballot properly.

As a reminder Sutton said Absentee ballot drop boxes do not require postage. Voters may only deposit their ballot in their own local county drop box.

Sutton said Absentee ballots, early in-person and Election Day in-person voting is safe, secure, verifiable and auditable in Georgia.

Finally, voters should make their absentee ballot requests now to avoid any mail delays. 

Voters who wish to cast a ballot in-person but have already requested an absentee, should surrender that absentee at the polls. Voters who do not have their absentee but wish to vote in-person will be asked to sign a cure affidavit, and it will take longer while the registrar manually cancels the absentee ballot.

No voter is ever turned away from a Georgia poll if they’ve forgotten their photo ID; they will be given a provisional ballot. But a provisional ballot is pending and will not be cast, until the voter returns within three days with acceptable photo ID for their county elections office. A provisional ballot status is available at My Voter Page.

 Georgia voters may go to any early/advance voting location in their registered county but should go to their assigned precinct on Election Day. Georgia poll workers never write on any ballot.

 It only takes 30-seconds on the new online portal, they can find the button on www.SecureVoteGA.com  or go to www.ballotrequest.sos.ga.gov

Voters can sign up for alerts and track their request & ballot at https://georgia.ballottrax.net/voter/