Absentee voting by mail for the March 6 presidential primary begins Saturday, and advance in-person voting begins next month.
A majority of Georgians chose to vote early in the 2008 general election, said Matt Carrothers, spokesman for Georgia Secretary of State Brian P. Kemp. Fifty-three percent of Georgians walked in early to vote or mailed their ballots in.
Any Georgian can request an absentee ballot before March 2 by filling out a form obtained from county election offices or the secretary of state's web site, www.sos.ga.gov. After receiving the ballot and marking a vote, it can be walked or mailed into a local elections office but it must reach the elections office by election day.
Georgians serving overseas in the military can request a ballot or obtain one electronically from the secretary of state's web site, mark their vote then mail it to their local election office. It must be postmarked by March 6. The secretary of state's web site has video instructions.
The 21-day early voting period begins Tuesday, March 13, and must include at least one Saturday. Georgia's polls used to open 45 days before an election, but the General Assembly voted in 2010 to shorten the period. Local governments were for shortening the time, saying the longer period cost them money. Advocates wanted to keep the period open to 45 days, saying it expanded opportunities to vote.
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