This is an installment in the League of Women Voters of Georgia’s “How Georgia Votes” series. To read previous installments in the “How Georgia Votes” series, follow this link.
By Jackie Killings, President, League of Women Voters of Georgia
A mail ballot in Georgia is never just dropped in a pile. From the moment you request one to the moment it is counted, it is checked, logged, and tracked, and you can watch most of that journey yourself.
This week in “How Georgia Votes,” our series on how Georgia elections work, I want to follow a mail ballot from application to count.
The journey starts with your application, which county election staff verify against your voter registration using your driver’s license or state ID number, or the last four digits of your Social Security number. Counties begin mailing ballots on Monday, October 5.
When yours arrives, you mark it, seal it in the return envelope, and sign the oath printed there, providing the same ID information again. That envelope is the ballot’s passport.
When it comes back to your county election office, staff confirm the ID information and signature requirements are met before the envelope is ever opened.
Georgia also builds in a safety net. If something is wrong, a missing signature, an ID number that doesn’t match, your county contacts you and gives you the chance to fix it, a process called curing, with up to three days after the election to complete it.
A problem with the envelope is not the end of your vote. It is the beginning of a phone call.
Voters sometimes worry that a mail ballot goes into the unknown. In Georgia, the opposite is true. Your ballot is verified when you request it, verified again when it comes back, and you can sign up on the Secretary of State’s website to get an update at every step, from Macon to Ellijay. Few things in the mail are watched as closely as your ballot.
Mail ballot applications are open now through Friday, October 23, and completed ballots must reach your county election office by 7 p.m. on November 3.
Request yours, track it, and if your plans change, you can still vote in person after canceling the mail ballot with a poll worker.
Next in our “How Georgia Votes” series: what to do if the name on your ID doesn’t match your registration, and when to ask for a provisional ballot.
Jackie Killings is president of the League of Women Voters of Georgia, a nonpartisan organization that encourages informed and active participation in government and never supports or opposes any candidate or political party. Learn more at lwvga.org and Vote411.org.
Monica Granderson is the President of the League of Women Voters of Marietta-Cobb County. To see information about activities of the local league, along with Cobb-specific voting and elections information, visit lwvmariettacobbga.com.