Election Day is here. What Columbus voters need to know about casting votes Tuesday
When Columbus’ 25 neighborhood voting precincts open at 7 a.m. Tuesday for Election Day, about half of Muscogee County’s 131,000 voters already will have cast their ballots.
Columbus had a massive turnout from those voting early, either in-person at one of the county’s five early voting polls, or by mail-in absentee ballot returned through the postal service or one of the ballot drop boxes scattered around town.
The early rush could ease the crunch on what promises to be a historic Election Day that sets turnout records here in Columbus and across Georgia, spurred not only by a contentious presidential election but also two competitive U.S. Senate races.
When early voting polls closed at 7 p.m. Friday, 42,839 Columbus residents had cast ballots in person in advance, according to the elections office. Combined with 22,656 absentee by mail ballots that have come in, the total comes to 65,495, so far, nearly equaling half of Muscogee County’s 131,000 active, registered voters.
Across Georgia, 3.9 million have voted early, more than the total number of ballots cast in the 2016 presidential election, 2,381,416, according to the Georgia Secretary of State.
What do I do with my absentee ballot?
Those who’ve yet to vote have only Election Day left.
Voters still holding onto a mail-in absentee ballot should know those will likely not arrive on time, if mailed now.
That leaves two options:
- Fill the ballots out and deposit it in one of the drop boxes that will be emptied every day until 7 p.m. Tuesday, when the polls close.
- Vote in person on Election Day, and cancel the absentee ballot.
Those choosing to vote in person are urged to bring the mail-in ballot with them, so poll workers can cancel it. If the voter doesn’t bring the ballot, the poll worker may have to contact the elections office to have it canceled.
For those who choose to take their mail-in ballots to drop boxes, the locations are:
- The rear entrance to the City Service Center, off Macon Road at 3111 Citizens Way (walk up).
- The exit to the City Service Center parking garage (drive up).
- The Frank Chester Recreation Center, 1441 Benning Drive (drive up).
- The Columbus Health Department, 5601 Veterans Parkway (walk up).
- The Columbus Convention and Trade Center, 801 Front Ave. (walk up).
What’s allowed at the polls?
Columbus’ 25 neighborhood voting precincts open Tuesday at 7 a.m. and close at 7 p.m., but anyone in line at 7 p.m. will get to vote. A poll worker will stand at the end of the line and turn away any latecomers.
Voters unsure of their polling place can check it online through the Georgia Secretary of State’s “My Voter Page,” at www.mvp.sos.ga.gov/MVP, where they also can see sample ballots.
Nancy Boren, executive director of the Muscogee County Board of Elections and Registration, suggests voters decide ahead how they want to vote on two proposed constitutional amendments and a statewide referendum on the ballot, if they plan to.
This year’s contentious presidential race has raised fears of voter intimidation or violence at the voting polls, and prompted questions about what’s allowed and what’s not.
Here are some of the rules:
- Guns are not allowed in voting polls, under Georgia law, with a few exceptions: “No person except peace officers regularly employed by the federal, state, county, or municipal government or certified security guards shall be permitted to carry firearms within 150 feet of any polling place,” the law says.
- Campaign gear is not allowed in the polls, so don’t wear partisan emblems, T-shirts or hats. That’s regarded as campaigning, which is not allowed within 150 feet of the exterior wall of a building housing a voting poll. “You will be asked to remove your hat or turn your shirt inside-out,” Boren said.
- People without authority cannot appoint themselves “poll watchers” to monitor voting. Poll watchers are regulated by Georgia law, which requires they be registered, with a letter stating their authorization and a badge bearing their ID. Others posing as poll watchers will not be allowed to loiter in a voting precinct, where shooting photos and video of voters also is not permitted.
- Volunteers outside voting polls are allowed to give water or snacks to voters waiting in line, but because people are not to receive anything of benefit for voting, the refreshments should be offered to anyone, and not just to voters. Partisans working for a political campaign can’t offer food or drinks within 150 feet of a voting precinct, because that would constitute campaigning too close to the poll.
The Muscogee County Sheriff is responsible for securing the polls and ballots. Anyone who witnesses campaigning too close to a voting precinct should alert the precinct manager or call the elections office at 706-653-4392, Boren said.
Should a more serious issue arise, such as a brawl like two voters got into outside the City Services Center early voting poll on Oct. 13, it should be reported to 911, so law enforcement can respond.
Will results be available on election night?
Occasionally voters encounter last-minute problems, such as showing up the wrong precinct, forgetting to bring a photo ID, or not appearing on the voting rolls. They may be offered a provisional ballot, which may be counted once the issue is resolved.
The county elections board decides whether to count provisional ballots when it meets to certify the official results. The board tentatively has set that meeting for Nov. 12.
The final tally is expected to show a record turnout overall, topping the last record set in 2008, when around 74,000 of 118,000 registered voters cast ballots.
Election workers started counting mail-in absentee ballots on Oct. 19, and now only about 5,000 of those issued have yet to come in, Boren said.
Absent any Election Day holdups, she expects to have a tally of the local vote on election night, though nationwide the outcome may not be clear for days.
Boren said the new ballot-marking devices Georgia adopted this year don’t require downloading as many computer “memory cards” as the old voting machines.
“The plan is to have partial results of the absentees and early in-person voting by 8 p.m. election night,” Boren wrote in an email. “The tabulation should be faster because of the number of memory cards to be processed. The old system had a memory card for each voting device. The new system has a memory card for each scanner at the precinct.”
A list of voting precincts with maps and other information can be found at the local elections website, www.columbusga.gov/elections.
Georgia’s special election to fill U.S. Sen. Johnny Isakson’s seat, to which Gov. Brian Kemp appointed Kelly Loeffler, has 20 candidates, and could go to a runoff if no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote on Election Day.
If so, then this election will not end this year.
The runoff is set for Jan. 5, 2021.
This story was originally published November 2, 2020 at 11:07 AM.