ATLANTA — Although the country is dealing with a pandemic, the political process used to keep the nation up and running has to still carry out functions - that includes holding elections.
Early voting has already commenced for the June 9 primary. Some polling places have seen long lines - but that's due to the fact that there are fewer places to cast a ballot because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Georgia Secretary of State's Office wants people to take advantage of absentee voting. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has been sending absentee ballot request forms to all 6.9 million active Georgia voters.
The state said almost 1.5 million Georgians have submitted a request for absentee ballots, with over 1 million already sent out to voters. Voters can submit their absentee ballot by mail or in drop-boxes for counties that have made it available.
For voters within the country, all absentee ballots must arrive at your county election office by Election Day, in this case, June 9 for Georgia.
But how do you know if your absentee ballot has been counted? The state has a system online where voters can follow the process of their ballot.
The state's "My Voter Page" allows you to find information about your elected officials, sample ballots, polling locations, your mail-in application and ballot status, and more.
These are the steps to follow to see if your absentee ballot has been accepted.
1. Go to the "My Voter Page" website and log in. The login asks for your first initial, last name, your county, and your date of birth. Click Submit.
2. Once you have logged in, you will see your personal voter page.
Then, your address, polling place locations, and other information pertaining to your elected officials is listed. On the same page you will find a box for "Absentee Ballot Request Information."
For this example, we have removed the voter's personal information and placed a black box around the section where you would see your own information.
If you have sent off your absentee ballot and want to check your status, You want to go under the "Absentee Ballot Request Information" section and go to the link that says "Click here for Absentee Ballot Status."
**It's also important to note that if you are looking for an early voting location (also called in-person absentee voting), be sure to click the link that indicates that. It's listed under the polling location.
3. When you click the box to see your Absentee Ballot Status, you can check where your ballot stands in the process.
For example, this voter requested an absentee ballot, and it lists the date it was issued and received. Under status - you see accepted. This indicates that this voter's absentee ballot has been received and was accepted.
Below is an example of a voter who requested the absentee ballot that has been issued by the state, but not yet received by the voter.
And here is an example of what a voter saw who has not requested an absentee ballot. The link where it says "Click here for Absentee Ballot status" is gray and cannot be selected.
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