Voter registration deadline for presidential primary is Monday

Anyone who intends to vote in Georgia’s presidential primary has until Monday, Feb. 24, to sign up to vote.

Shannon Bunch, deputy registrar of the Gordon County Board of Elections and Voter Registration, said residents are welcome to stop by the elections office in Government Plaza, 101 S. Piedmont St., or sign up through the Georgia Secretary of State’s website at www.mvp.sos.ga.gov. No identification is required to register, but a picture ID will be necessary to cast a vote.

Bunch said the Gordon County election office has seen a significant uptick in people signing up to vote recently.

Election Day will be March 24, but voters can cast their ballot through mail now until March 20, and in-person early voting will run March 2-20. The Saturday voting day will be March 14.

There will be two ballots available to Georgia primary voters, one for each of the two major political parties. The Republican ballot will only include President Donald Trump, but the Democratic ballot will have 12 candidates to choose from, including some that will have already or will have likely dropped from the race by March 24.

The candidates on the Democratic ballot include: Colorado Sen. Michael Bennet, former Vice President Joe Biden, former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Pete Buttigieg, former U.S. Rep. John Delaney, Hawaii Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, former Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, Tom Steyer, Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren and Andrew Yang.

Among those, Bennet, Delaney, Patrick and Yang had already dropped out as of Thursday. More are expected to remove themselves from the race following the results of Super Tuesday, when 14 states will hold their primaries on March 3.

“They will still be on the ballot if they chose to drop out between now and then,” said Bunch. “But we’ll post notices letting voters know who is still in the race. Technically, they could still vote for someone who dropped out though.”

Anyone not already registered to vote in Georgia, or who has changed addresses since the last election, must register to vote by Monday to participate in the Georgia presidential primary. Voters can register to vote online at registertovote.sos.ga.gov if they already have a Georgia driver’s license number or a state-issued ID number.

A paper voter registration application can be printed out from the Georgia Secretary of State’s website, or picked up at post offices, libraries and county election offices. Paper registration applications must be returned or postmarked by Monday.

Photo identification is required to vote. The state’s photo ID law allows registered voters to show:

♦ A state driver’s license — even if it’s expired

♦ Any valid state or federal government-issued photo ID (including a free ID card issued by your county registrar’s office or the Georgia Department of Driver Services)

♦ A valid U.S. passport

♦ A photo employee ID from any branch, department, agency, or entity of the federal government, state government or any county, municipality, board, authority or other entity of this state

♦ A valid U.S. military photo ID

♦ A valid tribal photo ID. Additionally, the state of Georgia offers a free ID card which can be issued at any county registrar’s office or Department of Driver Services.

To obtain a free voter identification card, the voter must provide a photo identity document or approved non-photo identity document which includes full legal name and date of birth; documentation which shows the voters date of birth; evidence that the applicant is a registered voter; and documentation showing the applicant’s name and residential address.

The next deadline for voter registration will be April 20, which is the deadline to sign up in order to vote in the May 19 General Primary Election.