Georgians urged to sign up to vote on National Voter Registration Day
It's National Voter Registration Day, a 7-year-old event trying to make sure people can vote in upcoming elections.
Georgians can sign up online or mail a paper application. They can also register at county election offices, public libraries and public assistance offices.
The number of registered voters in Georgia climbed to a record high of 7 million last year.
Georgia's registration numbers were boosted by its three-year-old automatic voter registration program, which enrolls people to vote when they get their driver's licenses. More than 681,000 new voters have been registered through automatic voter registration since September 2016.
To be eligible to register to vote in Georgia, you must be a citizen, legal resident and more than 17 1/2 years old. In addition, you can’t be serving a sentence for conviction of a felony or found mentally incompetent by a judge.
A Georgia Senate study committee is reviewing whether some nonviolent felons should be allowed to vote while they're still serving parole or paying off fines.
You can check your registration status online at www.mvp.sos.ga.gov.
During National Voter Registration Day, volunteers will reach out to voters who missed registration deadlines, didn't update their registrations or weren't sure how to register.
About the Author
Mark Niesse is an enterprise reporter and covers elections and Georgia government for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is considered an expert on elections and voting. Before joining the AJC, he worked for The Associated Press in Atlanta, Honolulu and Montgomery, Alabama. He also reported for The Daily Report and The Santiago Times in Chile.
