Early voting begins across Georgia
May 2—Early voting is underway in Baldwin County and across Georgia for the May 24 primary elections.
Some of the first local voters cast their ballots Monday morning.
Seven voters had cast their ballots as of about 9:30 a.m. Monday, according to Baldwin County Chief Deputy Registrar Randy Morrow.
"It's taking about eight to 10 minutes for a person to vote," Morrow said, based on what he and his staff observed Monday morning. "There are 15 questions on the ballots between two parties. They are straw poll questions."
Aside from the lengthy straw poll questions being asked of voters requesting Republican and Democratic ballots, voters are also confronted with choosing between multiple candidates.
That, coupled with the questions, is resulting in it taking more time for voters to cast their ballots, Morrow said.
Ten voting machines are set up at the Baldwin County Voter Registrar's Office at the county government complex on North Columbia Street.
With 16 more days of early voting ahead, including two full-days of Saturday voting, Morrow said he is looking for several early voters to stream through the voter registrar's office in the coming days.
There are 27,530 eligible registered voters in the county, but only 25,315 are considered active voters, Morrow said.
"About 1,500 of the 27,530 registered voters are voters who have not been active for several years," Morrow said. "They could have moved out of the county or out of the state."
Persons not registered to vote in the upcoming election had through April 25, to register to be eligible to cast a ballot in the general primary election.
"This is the only election where voters must pick a political party," Morrow said. "I think it should be mentioned that whatever party you pick in the primary, you don't have to vote that way in the November general election."
The last big election was in 2020. Since then there has only been one other local election, the Milledgeville mayor and city council election, which only included eligible voters living within the city limits.
One of the big things Morrow said he noticed regarding the Tuesday, May 24 primaries is there have been far fewer requests for absentee ballot applications.
"We've only had 122 absentee ballot requests," Morrow said. "Out of that number, I think we've only received back 25 of them. It's certainly not as prevalent as it was back in 2020."
During the 2020 election, more than 8,000 requests for absentee ballots were made, he pointed out, although that was also during the peak of the pandemic.
Early voting runs through May 20. Saturday voting is slated for May 7 and 14.
Voters can cast their ballot Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. and during Saturday voting during the same hours.
Candidates vying for a variety of elected officers. On the Republican side, the following candidates are seeking seats:
United States Senate
Gary W. Black, Josh Clark, Kelvin King, Jonathan "Jon" McColumn, Lathham Saddler and Herschel Junior Walker
Governor
Catherine Davis, Brian Kemp, David A. Perdue, Kandis Taylor and Tom Williams
Lt. Governor
Burt Jones, Mack McGregor, Butch Miller and Jeanne Seaver
Secretary of State
David C. Belle Isle, Jody Hice, T.J. Hudson and Brad Raffensperger
Attorney General
Chris Carr and John Gordon
Commissioner of Agriculture
Tyler Harper
Commissioner of Insurance
Ben Coward, John King and Patrick Witt
State School Superintendent
John D. Barge, and Richard Woods
Commissioner of Labor
Kartik Bhatt, Mike Coan and Bruce Thompson
Public Service Commissioner District 2
Tim Echols
Public Service Commissioner District 3
Fitz Johnson
U.S. House of Rep. District 8
Austin Scott
State Senate District 25
Rick Jeffares, Leland "Jake: Olinger II, Daniela Sullivan-Marzahl Ricky "Rick" Williams
State House of Representatives District 133
Kenneth Vance
A number of Democratic candidates also are seeking office. They include:
US Senate
Tamera Johnson-Shealey and Raphael Warnock
Governor
Stacey Abrams
Lt. Governor
Erick E. Allen, Charlie Bailey, Tyrone Brooks Jr., Tony Brown, Kwanza Hall, Jason T. Hayes, Derrick L. Jackson, R. Malik and Renitta Shannon
Secretary of State
Dee Dawkins-Haigler, John Eaves, Floyd Griffin, Bee Nguyen, and Michael Owens
Attorney General
Jennifer "Jen" Jordan and Christian Wise Smith
Commissioner of Agriculture
Winfred Dukes, Nakita Hemingway and Fred Swann
Commissioner of Insurance
Raphael Baker, Janice Laws Robinson and Matthew Wilson
State School Superintendent
Currey Hutchens, Jaha V. Howard, James Morrow Jr. and Alisha Thomas Searcy
Commission of Labor
William "Will" Boddie Jr., Thomas Dean, Nicole Horn, Lester G. Jackson III and Nadia Surrency
Public Service Commissioner District 2
Patty Durand and Russell Edwards
Public Service Commissioner District 3
Shelia Edwards, Chandra Farley and Missy Moore
US House of Rep. District 8
Darrius Butler
State Senate District 25
Valerie Rodgers
State House of Representatives District 128
Mack Jackson
State House of Representatives District 133
Hoganne Harrison-Walton.
