Where are early voting sites, absentee drop boxes in Columbus? What voters need to know
More than a thousand Columbus voters cast ballots in the first few hours as early voting began Monday for Georgia’s Jan. 5 U.S. Senate and Public Service Commission runoffs.
Columbus added an extra poll at Columbus Technical College for those who want to vote in person before Election Day, expanding the list of early voting locations to these sites:
- The Columbus Tech Student Center, 928 Manchester Expressway.
- The City Services Center, 3111 Citizens Way.
- The Columbus Trade Center, 801 Front Ave.
- The Psalmond Road Recreation Center, 6500 Psalmond Road.
- The Shirley B Winston Recreation Center, 5025 Steam Mill Road.
By 10:20 a.m. Monday, 1,030 ballots had been cast here, said Nancy Boren, Muscogee County’s elections director. By 3 p.m., that number had more than doubled to 2,854, she said, giving this breakdown by location:
- 1,106 at the City Services Center.
- 533 at the Trade Center.
- 647 at Shirley Winston.
- 392 at Psalmond Road.
- 176 at Columbus Tech.
At 4:30 a.m. Monday, hours before the doors opened, people were lined up outside in the rain to vote at the City Services Center, Boren said.
The early voting schedule at all five polls will be 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day, including weekends, from Dec. 14 through Dec. 23, and from Dec. 28 through Dec. 30. The hours for the last day of early voting, Dec. 31, will be 7 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Voting by mail
Voters who don’t want to wait until Election Day also have the option of requesting an absentee by mail ballot. Here’s how to do that:
- Online at ballotrequest.sos.ga.gov.
- Call the local elections office at 706-653-4392.
- Fax a request to the office at 706-225-4394.
- Email muscogeeelectionsandregistration@columbusga.gov.
They also may mail an absentee ballot application to Elections, P.O. Box 1340, Columbus, Georgia, 31902. Application forms can be found online under “Voter Information” at the county elections office website, www.columbusga.gov/elections.
As of Monday afternoon, Muscogee County had issued 2,188 mail-in ballots, Boren said.
While voters typically have until the Friday before Election Day to request an absentee ballot, that will be Jan. 1, a holiday, so the deadline would be Dec. 31.
People who are elderly, disabled or serving in the armed forces may have absentee mail-in ballots sent to them automatically, and they do not have to request runoff ballots if they already asked for that service for the Nov. 3 election.
Election officials urge residents voting absentee by mail to be sure they sign the yellow oath envelope that comes with the ballot. They may be notified to correct the oversight if they fail to do that, but if they don’t correct it, their ballot will be voided.
They also are advised to mail those ballots in promptly, else they may not be delivered in time to be counted.
For those who’d prefer not to use the postal service, Columbus will have ballot drop boxes at the same sites as the General Election. Some are placed so voters can drive right up to them.
Those locations are:
- The rear entrance to the Citizens Service Center, off Macon Road at 3111 Citizens Way (walk up).
- The exit to the Citizens 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).
This story was originally published December 14, 2020 at 10:33 AM.