Just under 10K absentee requests
♦ Floyd County elections officials firm up weekend voting plans as early voting is set to begin Oct. 12.
Just a month away from the Nov. 3 election, the Floyd County Elections and Registration office has received just under 10,000 absentee ballot applications as of Thursday evening.
Runbeck Elections Services started sending out batches of ballots on Sept. 21, according to Chief Clerk of Elections Robert Brady. Since then, the office has received around 800 ballots.
Brady said he’s expecting a heavy turnout of absentee ballots, but also said it’s too early to tell how fast they’re coming in.
The office itself won’t be sending out absentee ballots until the last week of October, as stated in their contract with Runbeck and the Georgia Secretary of State’s office.
Voters can apply for ballots through Oct. 30 and any ballots postmarked for Election
Day will be counted. A federal appeals court on Friday resinstated Georgia’s Election Day deadline for the receipt of mail-in ballots. Brady recommends voters to send their applications in by Oct. 26 or 27 to make sure they get their ballot in time before the election.
The county elections office staff and Brady are still debating on exactly when they’ll begin opening and scanning ballots, but right now, Brady is looking at starting on the 26th.
This could change depending on how many ballots they receive over the next few weeks and they may start earlier, he said. Ballots won’t be officially tallied until after the polls close on election night.
To track your absentee ballot, go to https://georgia.ballottrax.net/voter/.
Once you receive your ballot and fill it out, you can either mail it to the elections office at 12 E. Fourth Ave. using the United States Postal Service or drop it off at one of the two ballot boxes outside the elections office and the Rome-Floyd County Library at 205 Riverside Parkway.
Early in-person voting
In- person voting starts on Oct. 12 and runs through Oct. 30. Voters can cast their ballots at either the Floyd
County Administration Building Community Room at 12 E. Fourth Ave. or Garden Lakes Baptist Church at 2200 Redmond Circle, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For the week of Oct. 1923, the Floyd County Health Department located at 16 E. 12th St. will also be available for voters. For the week of Oct. 26-30, the Rome Civic Center at 400 Civic Center Drive will be open for early voting.
They’ve also solidified plans for weekend voting options.
The county administration building and Garden Lakes Baptist Church will be available to voters the weekends of Oct. 17 to Oct. 18 and Oct. 24 to Oct. 25 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. both days.
However, for the Garden Lakes early voting location, the polls will only be open from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, while on Sunday, the polls won’t open until 1 p.m. and close at 4 p.m.