DALLAS, Ga. — Georgia is just one month away from the May 21st General Primary, but as mail delivery problems persist across the state, there’s growing concern about whether absentee ballots will get to voters in time.
11Alive spoke with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger about the delays ahead of his speech Friday at a Paulding County roundtable.
“Make sure you get your application done early,” he emphasized. “Follow it through Ballottrax to see where the tracking is and if it has been sent.”
Floyd County Government issued a Facebook post warning residents of the potential problems with absentee ballots in the upcoming Georgia primary.
The urging comes as Georgia mail delays are in the national spotlight. This follows a U.S. Senate hearing Tuesday that centered on the Postal Service’s implementation of the “Delivering for America” plan and subsequent disruptions in the Georgia area. During that hearing, Postmaster General Louis DeJoy said delivery times should significantly improve in Georgia within 60 days, but senators on both sides of the aisle were concerned about the coming elections and potential impacts.
“Ballots are going to be fine,” Postmaster General DeJoy told 11Alive’s Liza Lucas in an interview. “[Palmetto] should be stabilized by then. For election mail, we pull out all the stops.”
Meanwhile, in Georgia, some counties are not taking chances, reminding voters they can also place completed ballots in an official drop box during advance voting instead of using USPS.
Secretary of State Raffensperger echoed that option.
“You can always deliver it back to the county,” he said. “It’s in a secure drop box under the visual surveillance of an election official.”
Raffensperger also said that some county election directors he’s spoken with are proactively in touch with local post offices. He stated election directors are working on keeping absentee ballot applications and ballots within the county instead of sending them to the new processing facility in Palmetto.
If successful, absentee ballots could move within three to five days. Beyond that, he recommended reaching out to federal lawmakers at the top for continued delays.
“All I can tell you on the Postal Service is call your congressmen and call the President,” Raffensperger added. “Because that’s way above what we can do in Georgia. We understand it’s a situation that they need to fix.”
To learn how to track your Georgia absentee ballot, visit here.