What to know about Georgia 2020 elections: The issues, key dates, what’s on the ballot
Coming off the highly contested outcome of the 2018 Georgia governor’s race, and despite new voting machines and a still-evolving situation regarding the purging of 100,000 inactive voters from county rosters, Georgia will be an interesting state to watch in the 2020 election season.
Along with voting on president and vice president in March’s primary election and November’s general election, Georgia voters will see races for U.S. Senate, the U.S. House and the Georgia General Assembly, as well as races for county offices and school board seats.
We’ve compiled a few tips about how to determine your voter registration status, election dates to watch and which local offices you’ll see on the ballot this year.
Are you registered to vote?
The Georgia Secretary of State’s office makes it easy to figure out if you’re registered to vote.
To find out if you’re registered to vote in Georgia, check your status on the Secretary of State’s website under the My Voter Page. You can also register to vote and update your information on the website.
The first voter registration deadline is Feb. 24, which is also the last day to register for the March 24 presidential primary.
Other registration deadlines and candidate qualifying deadlines can be found on the Secretary of State’s website.
Key election dates
The presidential preference primary and special election will be held on March 24.
The Muscogee County School District is also scheduled to hold an Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax referendum on the same day. It’s expected to raise $189 million over five years to fund capital projects for the school system.
The general primary election and nonpartisan general election will be held May 19, with a runoff set for July 21.
The general election will be Nov. 3, with a runoff date of Dec. 1.
Also on the general election ballot, Columbus Council is expecting to hold a special purpose local option sales tax referendum, which could raise $350 million over a 10-year-period for capital projects including a new Government Center.
If both this tax and the ESPLOST are approved, taxpayers would see a 9% sales tax starting in April 2021, the highest ever for Columbus and one of the highest rates in the state.
Who you’ll see on the ballot
This will be a big year for federal elections as President Donald Trump seeks his second term in office. In Georgia, there will be campaigns for the seat currently held by U.S. Senator David Perdue, while U.S. Congressmen Sanford Bishop of the 2nd District and Drew Ferguson of the 3rd District will also be up for re-election.
Former two-term Columbus mayor Teresa Tomlinson announced her bid for the U.S. Senate seat as a Democrat earlier this year, challenging incumbent Perdue, a Republican.
State offices up for re-election include:
Sen. Ed Harbison (D), 15th District
Sen. Randy Robertson (R), 29th District
Rep. Vance Smith (R), District 133
Rep. Richard Smith (R), District 134
Rep. Calvin Smyre (D), District 135
Rep. Carolyn Hugley (D), District 136
Rep. Debbie Buckner (D), District 137
Several local offices will have contests on the nonpartisan ballot this year:
Muscogee County School District board members whose terms are up this year include Pat Hugley Green (District 1); Vanessa Jackson (District 3); Laurie McRae (District 5); and Cathy Williams (District 7).
Columbus City Councilors whose terms end in 2020 include Glenn Davis (District 2); Valerie A. Thompson (District 4); Mayor Pro Tem Gary Allen (District 6); Walker Garrett (District 8) and John House (District 10 At-large).
Other key local officials will be on the ballot this year including the sheriff, a seat currently held by first-term Sheriff Donna Tompkins. She has already declared her intention to run for the seat, as have two other contenders including Greg Countryman, the current Muscogee County marshal.
Columbus Council has asked state legislators to consolidate the offices of the sheriff and marshal, as Countryman’s bid for the sheriff seat would leave no incumbent in the marshal’s office.
Other local offices up for election include marshal, district attorney, coroner, tax commissioner and Superior Court, State Court and Probate Court judges and clerks.
The Muscogee elections office is online at www.columbusga.org/elections. Call 706-653-4392 for more information regarding election dates and times and voter registration questions.
This story was originally published January 2, 2020 at 4:00 AM.