MACON, Ga. — Due to the COVID-19 crisis, some Georgians are choosing to vote by mail this fall. Any registered voter in Georgia has the option to vote absentee.
Starting next week, rather than filling out an absentee ballot application and mailing or emailing it back, Georgia voters can apply through the online application portal. First, make sure you're registered to vote no later than October 5.
Statewide Voting Implementation Manager Gabriel Sterling said this will make voting smoother.
"Go online and just put in their first name, their last name, their date of birth, the driver's license or ID number, and their county and they can get through and identified as the voter and requests are valid, and then the county can then accept it and then mail the ballot immediately, so there's no mailing, there's no paper, there's no signature, none of that stuff," said Sterling.
He said you should request an absentee ballot as soon as possible.
"You're allowed to request one 180 days ahead of time. We are now at day 69 before the election, so go ahead and request it. When you receive it, don't put on the kitchen table or to the side, fill it out and get it back to the county as soon as you can," said Sterling.
Once you fill out your absentee ballot, you can mail it in or drop it off at one of your county's drop box locations.
"We're doing everything we can to make them safe, but if we can spread the voting out and get more of it done before Election Day, that's going to make life a lot easier for you, your neighbors and for your elections workers and poll workers," said Sterling.
Absentee ballots will be sent to Georgia voters beginning in September. You can verify that your ballot was accepted by visiting Georgia's My Voter Page.