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'What issues are important to you?': Central Georgia voters face nonbinding questions in primary

Those questions are chosen by the statewide parties and they're different depending on which ballot you choose.

MACON, Ga. — If you went out to the polls, you probably saw a series of questions on both the Republican and Democratic ballots. Those questions are chosen by the statewide parties and they're different depending on which ballot you choose.

Republican voters face questions like one about building a border wall with Mexico, and eliminating absentee-ballot drop boxes. The Democrats' questions include legalizing marijuana and expanding Medicaid.

Jenett Clark Simmons, a Bibb County voter, says she has done early voting for as long as it's been around.

"All the questions are important because these are the views of the citizens in our district, in our state in our city," Simmons continues to say, "We elect people to represent our district, and they should be aware of what the people want in that district."

Claire Sanders, a professor of political science at Georgia College, says those questions just give the two parties a feel for the mood of the voters.

"They use this as an opportunity to survey their voters, not just in terms of who the nominees are, but also in terms of, 'OK, what issues are important to you?'" Sanders said.

They also give people a chance to say how they feel on certain issues. The questions are not binding -- they won't become laws and nothing happens if they pass.

"I like the questions because I want my party to know what I'm thinking so they can represent me accurately," voter Christopher Westbrook said. 

Westbrook says he enjoys voting in the early elections and is proud to be a voting Georgia citizen.

 "It tells me that the lawmakers and that the people that make the ballots are listening to the people, and I like having a say-so," Westbrook said. 

Sanders says the primaries are a party function where their voters decide who will be the nominees in the general election, but they also use them to get the voters' take on the big issues.

There are some binding ballot questions in Central Georgia counties. They include an education SPLOST in Wilkinson County, and a transportation SPLOST in Laurens County.

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