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Georgia Election Day 2024 | Everything to know for voters heading to the polls

It's been a hectic election cycle, but it's finally begun to wrap up. As you head to the polls or wait for results to come in, here's everything you'll need to know.

MACON, Ga. — Happy election day Central Georgia!

As of 7 a.m. on Tuesday, polls are now open until 7 p.m. 

Our team of reporters has been covering the election since candidates announced their campaigns. After a hectic election cycle, millions of Americans are making plans to vote on this Election Day, after already setting records during the early voting period. 

According to the Georgia Secretary of State's office, more than 55% of registered voters in Georgia already cast ballots. If you didn’t plan to vote early, you can only head to your assigned precinct. Find your polling place on your voter registration card or going online to Georgia's Secretary of State's My Voter page. We at 13WMAZ have a guide you can check out here. Bring a valid photo ID, which can be drivers license, passport, or other state issued ID. 

If interested for who may be on your ballot, you can check our voter guide here.

Not only do polls open at 7 a.m., it's also when election workers are allowed to start counting the thousand of early votes in Georgia. By 12 a.m., election superintendents must report and publicly post the total number of ballots cast. 

Every American’s ballot lists the candidate for the next president of the United States, but not every American’s ballot is cast or counted at the same time. Election results will likely be shared by midnight, according to Gabe Sterling, the Chief Operating Officer in the Office of the Georgia Secretary of State, “but it all depends on the margin,” he said. 

The Peach State was the center of attention in the last presidential election after questions were raise over election integrity. Sterling noted that he remembers the 2020 election controversy quite well.

“We're prayerful and knocking on wood and throwing salt over our shoulder and whatever else it'll take to hope that we get a margin big enough that it really can't be questioned by either side.”

There are three ways you can cast your vote as a Georgian. Early voters had a chance to visit any precinct in their registered county from Oct. 15 through Nov. 1.Some Americans have noted that they like to stick to tradition and vote on election day, which falls on Nov. 5.

If you requested an absentee ballot and it's filled out you can deliver it to your county's board of election office only by 7 o'clock tonight.

“When you are dropping off the ballot to vote, it just go to the county office. That's the only place they can accept it,” Sterling said. “If they're going to surrender it to vote in person, you have to go to your precinct.”

In Monday's news conference, the secretary of state said all votes cast by mail or during early voting must be counted within an hour of polls closing. Sterling explained that this is because of a new state law: SB189, which was passed in May. 

“That’s gonna be like 70-75% of the overall votes will be out there by eight o'clock in most cases.”

If the margin's 30,000 to 40,000 votes, Sterling said that we can expect to call races by midnight. However, if the margin's around 11,000 votes, Sterling said they'll have to look at those marginal votes and ensure everything's reconciled.

The secretary of state's chief operating officer says he feels "confident and positive" about counties efficiency and ensuring ballots are protected.

“You never know," Sterling said. "Who knows what crazy person will do what crazy thing, but we're not gonna allow anything to get in the way of us getting the correct results out of the people of Georgia.”

The reality following the results will vary, Sterling explained. 

“If Trump wins. The Harris campaign is going to sue us. If Harris wins, the Trump campaign is going to sue us.”

No matter which candidate you've backed, or party you support, Sterling had one request.

“Make a plan and get a friend and get out and vote”

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