If you want to vote in the Jan. 5 Senate runoff, today is the last day to get registered.
There are a lot of important dates coming up, and the first is today.
This is the deadline for registering even if you maybe turned 18 or will before the election, or if anyone legitimately moved to Georgia in the last month. Channel 2 Action News spoke to one DeKalb County voter who came by the election headquarters to clear up confusion she had in November.
“I want to make sure I’m on the voter registration file,” said voter Duncan De La Field.
While some will wait till the last minute to register, other voters we found are already turning in absentee ballots making sure their vote’s in early.
“Feels like this year, you just got to do everything when you got the chance because you never know,” De La Field said.
DeKalb County expects more absentee and mail-in votes than any previous runoff and is on pace to nearly match what it saw in the general election last month.
“All of this is historic, as you can imagine. November was historic, this is historic,” said DeKalb County Elections Director Erica Hamilton.
>> Register to vote here <<<
Hamilton said they check one of 13 different forms of ID, and they’re following the law and guidance from the secretary of state’s office to make sure no one registers fraudulently.
Over the next few weeks they’ll investigate any suspicious applications to make sure they do live here. But today, is the final day to register.
“You can come by the office. We’ll be here. You can mail it in, as long as it’s post-marked by Monday,” Hamilton said.
You can also register online up until 11:59 p.m. And if you just moved, and are eligible to register and vote, it doesn’t matter where you voted before, or even if you didn’t vote in November.
Here’s what you need to do if you still need to register:
To register to vote, you must:
- Be a citizen of the United States
- Be a legal resident of the county
- Be at least 17 1/2 years of age to register and 18 years of age to vote
- Not be serving a sentence for conviction of a felony involving moral turpitude
- Have not been found mentally incompetent by a judge
- Register Online through the Secretary of State’s online voter registration system.
- Register by Mail – Download and complete the postage-paid voter registration application and mail it to the Secretary of State’s office.
After you register, the Secretary of State will send your precinct card to your county, who will then send it to you. Your precinct card lets you know where you need to go in order to vote. It is important to note that you don’t need to bring your precinct card to vote.
If you have misplaced or have not received your precinct card within 3 to 4 weeks of submitting your voter registration application, contact your local county registration office to request a new precinct card or to check the status of your application.
Vote
- View a list of upcoming elections and registration deadlines on the Secretary of State’s election calendar.
- Locate your polling place by logging into the Secretary of State’s My Voter Page.
- On Election Day, polling stations open at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m. If you can’t vote during those times, you can either vote early or send in an absentee ballot.
- When you arrive at your polling station, you’ll need to bring a valid photo ID such as a driver’s license, passport, or voter identification card.
- The polls offer audio ballots for voters who are blind or have low vision and booths for voters in wheelchairs. If you need help with your ballot, you can ask a family member or friend to come with you to the polls and fill the ballot in with your choices.
- If you move, you must file a notice of your new address in writing to your County Board of Registrar’s Office, or submit a new voter registration application.
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