Primary election postpone to June

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Georgia's primary election that had been set for May 19 has been delayed until June 9 because of the coronavirus pandemic, the secretary of state’s office announced April 9. The presidential preference primary, originally slated for March 24, has also been moved to June 9 after initially being bumped to May 19 over concerns about the health and safety of voters and poll workers.

“This decision allows our office and county election officials to continue to put in place contingency plans to ensure that voting can be safe and secure when in-person voting begins and prioritizes the health and safety of voters, county election officials, and poll workers,” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a release.

Since postponing the March election, Raffensperger had faced calls from about a dozen legislators — including House Speaker Dvid Ralston — to move the May election too as COVID-19 numbers have risen in Georgia.

Raffensperger responded that he couldn’t legally move the election without the governor taking more action. Gov. Brian Kemp made that move April 8 when he extended the state of emergency through May 13 and the shelter-in-place order until April 30, which would have overlapped with early voting.

“Due to the governor’s extension of the state of emergency through a time period that includes almost every day of in-person voting for an election on May 19, and after careful consideration, I am now comfortable exercising the authority vested in me by Georgia law to postpone the primary election until June 9,” Raffensperger said. 

With early voting set to begin April 27, county election officials were bringing up mounting challenges, especially in southwest Georgia, which has the second highest concentration of cases outside of metro Atlanta. One model also shows the pandemic peaking in Georgia around the same time as early voting, according to the release. The deadline to register to vote in the election is now May 11 and early voting will begin May 18. 

Moving the election by three weeks gives election officials more time to recruit and train poll workers, work out contingency plans and gather supplies that may be needed to clean equipment and protect workers, Raffensperger’s office said.

“I certainly realize that every difficulty will not be completely solved by the time in-person voting begins for the June 9 election, but elections must happen even in less than ideal circumstances,” Raffensperger said. “… Our county election officials and poll workers are undertaking work critical to our democracy, and they will continue to do this critical work with all the challenges that the current crisis has brought forth.”

Because of the changes, the state elections office also mailed forms to request an absentee ballot to all registered voters. Those applications can still be used and returned, even though the date says May 19. Completed forms can be mailed or emailed to the elections office at DDFelix@co.camden.ga.us. For more information, visit camdencountyga.gov/vote or call (912) 576-3245. Voters can also check their information at mvp.sos.ga.gov.