GEORGIA, USA — With only 20 days left until Election Day, consider the options for how, where and when you want to vote.
In addition to early voting kicking off today, thousands of Georgians requested mail-in ballots.
If you can't make it to the polls on Election Day, or want to be a proactive citizen and get it done ahead of time, you can vote early now until the Friday before on Nov. 1.
You can also request a mail-in ballot.
But if you do that, Election Supervisor Tom Gillon said get it done "As soon as possible."
Your ballot must be delivered at your precinct by 7 o'clock on Election Night.
If election officials have it in hand before polls close, they can count your vote.
To ensure your vote is counted, do not mail your ballot on election day because mail delivery is spotty.
The United States Postal Service recommends you send in your ballot at least a week before the Nov. 5 deadline. That would be Oct. 29, which is two weeks away from today.
"They'll get there, hopefully as soon as possible, but you want to get them back to us as soon as possible too," Gillon said.
He said the Macon-Bibb Board of Elections Office "will have a dropbox here at the office that you can bring the ballot in, and bring it in person, thus bypassing the mail." He said any voters in Macon-Bibb voting by mail can drop it off at that location only.
You have 10 days from the first day of Early Voting to request an absentee ballot.
"The last day to request one is October the 25th, but I wouldn't wait that long," Gillon said. "If possible, I would get your request in sooner than that."
In addition to key information you need to know ahead of voting, the Secretary of State's MyVoterPage allows you to request your ballot.
"If it has any issues there, you can email that ballot application into us and call down to the office and we'll give you the email address," Gillon said. The phone number for the Macon-Bibb BOE office is (478) 621-6622.
"Just make sure all the form is properly filled out correctly, and hopefully there'll be no snags," Gillon said.
Gillon added, while they need everyone's mail-in ballot by 7 p.m. on Nov. 5, no one's ballot is counted before polls close.
Have election questions you want answered? Email us at news@13wmaz.com or reach out on social media.
Our Verify the Vote team will answer those questions and could even bring you along to take a peek behind the process.