Georgia breaks runoff voting record. Check here to see if your ballot was accepted
More than 2.8 million Georgians have voted early in the Jan. 5 election, smashing the previous record for most ballots cast in a runoff in the state.
As of Dec. 30, 2,812,994 million votes have been cast, according to data from the U.S. Election Project. The previous record was 2.1 million voters in the 2008 runoff election between former Republican U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Democrat Jim Martin.
Early, in-person voting ended Dec. 31. All absentee ballots must arrive at county election offices on Election Day by 7 p.m. Absentee ballots from overseas and military voters must be postmarked by Election Day and arrive within three days after the election.
Here’s how you can check on the status of your absentee ballot:
- Visit the My Voter Page on the Georgia Secretary of State’s website
- Under the MVP login, type your first name, your last name, select the county where you live, and type in your date of birth
- Under “Absentee Ballot Information,” click on the link that says “Click here for Absentee Ballot/Early Voting status”
- The date your ballot was requested, issued and received. The status of your ballot will also be displayed.
Early in-person voting is also considered voting absentee. If your ballot status reads accepted, you have nothing else to do. However, if your ballot was rejected, the Georgia Secretary of State’s office recommends you contact your county’s registrar office.
Under Georgia law, county election officials are supposed to contact you by email, phone and mail within three business days to allow you to correct issues with your ballot. Voters must be contacted the next business day if their absentee ballot is invalidated 11 days before Election day. You do have the option to vote on Election Day, but you should tell poll workers about your situation so your absentee ballot is canceled.
Georgia’s Jan. 5 runoffs will decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate as Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler face Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
This story was originally published December 31, 2020 at 11:56 AM.