ATLANTA — The May 19 primary will not be happening as originally scheduled, according to a release from Brad Raffensperger's office.
It will now be happening on June 9.
Raffensperger says the decision was made after Kemp announced an extension of his public health emergency and because many of the early-voting dates were supposed to take place before the emergency declaration ends on May 13.
“Due to the Governor’s extension of the state of emergency through a time period that includes almost every day of in-person voting for an election on May 19, and after careful consideration, I am now comfortable exercising the authority vested in me by Georgia law to postpone the primary election until June 9,” said Secretary Raffensperger. “This decision allows our office and county election officials to continue to put in place contingency plans to ensure that voting can be safe and secure when in-person voting begins and prioritizes the health and safety of voters, county election officials, and poll workers.”
He says county election officials, particularly in southwest Georgia, told him they were unable to prepare for in-person voting to begin on April 27.
Currently, Georgia's projected peak worst date for the pandemic is expected to be April 24, as officials would be setting up for voters.
The voter registration deadline for the June 9 election will now be May 11. Early voting will begin on May 18.
Moving the primary election to June 9 also moves the primary runoff to August 11.
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