DeKalb County adds absentee ballot dropboxes

Andrew Walker, election logistics worker in Dekalb County, puts the last signs around the Voter Registration and Elections Office in Atlanta on Monday, March 2, 2020.

Credit: Miguel Martinez

Credit: Miguel Martinez

Andrew Walker, election logistics worker in Dekalb County, puts the last signs around the Voter Registration and Elections Office in Atlanta on Monday, March 2, 2020.

DeKalb County has installed a pair of absentee ballot dropboxes, giving voters a contact-free option for submitting their votes ahead of June’s primary election.

Both dropboxes are located outside the county’s complex at 4380 Memorial Drive in Decatur. One is near the entrance to the elections office and the other is near the main entrance to the adjacent vehicle registration and tag office, officials said.

Earlier this month, Georgia's State Elections Board authorized local governments to set up dropboxes for absentee ballots. The measure is aimed at enabling voters to submit their ballots without having to pay for postage or hand them directly to county election workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

Georgia’s twice-delayed primary elections are now scheduled for June 9.

In DeKalb, local races will include primaries for two county commission races, as well as for tax commissioner.

Two separate races for sheriff will also be included.

One is a special election that will fill the unexpired term of former Sheriff Jeffrey Mann, who retired late last year. The winner of that nonpartisan race will serve as sheriff until the end of 2020.

The second measure on the ballot will be a Democratic primary that will help decide who DeKalb’s next full-term sheriff will be. The primary winner will take on a lone Republican candidate in November’s general election.