Absentee voting begins

Georgians wishing to cast their votes early may do so starting Monday, marking the start of in-person absentee voting ahead of the July 31 primary election.

In-person absentee voting is open to any registered voter in Georgia. Voters must use their county or municipality's designated early voting site. Voting locations and times are controlled by local elections officials and also can be found on the Georgia secretary of state's website (www.sos.ga.gov).

Most eyes in the primary will be on a proposed 1-cent sales tax for transportation, a binding vote with billions of dollars worth of regional transportation projects at stake across Georgia. Voters in each of the state's 12 regions will decide whether to approve the sales tax to pay for the projects. In the metro Atlanta region, the tax is projected to raise an estimated $7.2 billion over 10 years.

Republicans and Democrats, however, both have several other nonbinding questions to ask of voters. Five questions will appear on the Republican ballot, including ones on ethics, abortion and gambling. Four questions will appear on Democrats' ballots, including ethics, charter schools and taxes.