Early voting open for presidential primary

Published 12:00 pm Friday, March 6, 2020

The “get out and vote” drum is one we’ll be beating often in 2020.

By the end of March, we’ll have had two elections and a primary in Tift County so far this year, with at least two more to go.

But having more elections doesn’t take away from their importance.

Our democracy works best when we all make our individual voices heard, when we participate in choosing our elected officials.

The latest election is the presidential primary.

The primary will determine who gets the party nomination to run in the November presidential election. Primary voters can choose to vote on either the Republican ticket or the Democratic ticket.

The only person running on the Republican ticket in Georgia is current President Donald Trump.

The Democratic ticket for Georgia shows 12 candidates, but only three of them are still in the race.

Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders and Tulsi Gabbard are still in the race for the Democratic nomination.

Georgia has open primaries and no one is required to register as a member of either party.

Early voting started on Monday, Mar. 2 and will run through Friday, Mar. 20, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the Tift County Board of Elections office.

Early voting offers several benefits.

There’s no waiting in line.

There no risk of something coming up last minute on Election Day that keeps you from the polls.

There’s no one behind you waiting on you to finish.

You can take your time, do it at your own pace.

Those choosing to vote on Georgia primary day, Mar. 24, will need to go to their designated polling location.

Anyone wishing to see if they are registered to vote can go to registertovote.sos.ga.gov.

Georgia requires residents to show photo identification when voting in person, but not when voting absentee by mail.

To find registration status, sample ballots, elected official contact information, mail ballot status and election day polling place information visit the “My Voter Page” at www.sos.ga.gov/mvp.

Acceptable IDs include:

• any valid state or federal government issued photo ID.

• a Georgia driver’s license (even if expired).

• a valid employee photo ID from any branch, department, agency or entity of the US government, Georgia or any other county, municipality, board, authority or other entity of the state.

• a valid US passport ID.

• a valid US military ID.

• a valid tribal photo ID.

If you’re not registered to vote, it’s too late for the presidential primary, but you still have time to register for the other upcoming elections this year.