SEC primary could be the deciding point for GOP, Democrats

When polls open at 7 a.m. Tuesday, Georgia voters will determine how the state’s 193 delegates get divvied up.

Polls close at 7 p.m. Tuesday, and there’s no early voting Monday. The state’s 21 days of early voting ended Friday, so it’s Tuesday or bust.

What to bring with you

Georgia requires voters to show photo identification when they vote in person. Approved forms of identification include a Georgia driver’s license, even if it’s expired; a state-issued voter identification card; a valid U.S. passport; and a valid U.S. military photo ID.

At the polls, pick one ballot

Because the state conducts an “open” primary, voters may vote on a ballot of any party — you make your choice at the polls. You cannot, however, vote in more than one party’s primary.

What to do before you go

Voters can see personalized sample ballots and verify their registration status on the secretary of state’s “My Voter Page” website.

Information about local elections and your “My Voter Page” can also be found on the state’s “GA Votes” mobile application. You can download the free app for both Apple and Android operating systems using either the iTunes app store for an iPhone or iPad or Google Play for Android.

Don’t make these mistakes

Sorry, no selfies allowed. That’s right, voting booths are just another of the many places in which you can’t bring your selfie stick or selfie arm.

Georgia code stipulates that “no elector shall use photographic or other electronic monitoring or recording devices or cellular telephones while such elector is within the enclosed space in a polling place.”

So basically, if you’re taking a photo of your ballot, a photo of you and your ballot, or just a selfie of you proudly performing your civic duty, then you’ll be breaking this law. So resist the urge to take a selfie and instead tell us #WhyIvoted after you vote.

Georgia law also prohibits display of political speech in a polling place. So no T-shirts, buttons or fliers featuring a candidate or position on a ballot question.

After you vote

Post the peach: What major issue is on your mind as you pick either a Democratic or Republican candidate or the party’s nominee? Let us know what brought you out to the polls via the hashtag #WhyIvoted. Post a photo to Instagram, to show us the reason you took to the polls. Or take to Twitter to tell us what brought you out Tuesday via the same hashtag.

Problem at the polls

If you see or experience problems, first contact your local elections office. If local officials can’t help, the secretary of state’s office has an online complaint form via the “elections” tab at www.sos.ga.gov.

Staff writer Kristina Torres contributed to this article.

Two Republican presidential candidates fired up metro Atlanta voters Saturday, kicking off the final weekend of campaigning for White House contenders seeking to win support before a large swath of the South hits the polls Tuesday.

Marco Rubio and Ted Cruz each staged rallies Saturday in hopes of winning over undecided Georgians and chipping away at front-runner Donald Trump’s sizable lead. The extent of that lead nationally was palpable Saturday at both events. Both candidates piled on against the billionaire, part of their full-court effort to prevent Trump from running away with the nomination.

Rubio borrowed from the sharp rhetoric he rolled out during the most recent Republican debate on Thursday, calling Trump a “con artist” who has bankrupted several business ventures and should not know the country’s nuclear codes.

Cruz called Trump “another Washington deal-maker” who’ll side with Democratic congressional leaders Sen. Harry Reid and Rep. Nancy Pelosi.

After four contests scattered in four very different states, voters in Georgia and a sweep of other states across the nation get their chance to cast ballots in what could be a decisive moment for the presidential campaign. Nearly half of the delegates needed to win the Republican nomination and one-third for the Democratic nod are at stake Tuesday.

The Super Tuesday votes — known in these parts as the "SEC primary" — could be the moment Republican Donald Trump begins to separate himself for good from a pack already struggling to slow him down. After three victories in a row in New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada, the billionaire now reigns as the undisputed GOP front-runner.

Democrat Hillary Clinton, too, has a chance to halt her top adversary’s advances with Saturday’s South Carolina primary win and the Tuesday votes that follow. She’s long seen the diverse Southern states that cast ballots this week as a bastion of support — and a bulwark against Vermont U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders.

Indeed, Sanders has shield away from many SEC states in recent days, focusing on his home state of Vermont and Minnesota, where he has a better chance of securing more of the vote.

This week could also be make or break for Texas Sen. Ted Cruz and Florida Sen. Marco Rubio. The two have tangled for second place in the recent nominating contests and both made campaign appearances in the Atlanta metro area Saturday.

Cruz faces renewed questions about his viability after finishing third in both South Carolina and Nevada. He’s put the South at the center of his campaign strategy. If the conservative can’t compete here, he’ll have trouble competing anywhere. A rally he held in at Liberty Plaza in downtown Atlanta on Saturday drew fewer than 1,000 attendees.

That comes in stark contrast to Rubio, who drew more than 5,000 to Mount Paran Christian School in Kennesaw.

Rubio, the runner-up to Trump in the past two voting contests, is trying to emerge as the alternative to Trump and Cruz. Yet he’s still searching for his first victory — Cruz won the Iowa caucus — and he still has competition for the hearts of mainstream voters. He does have some wind in his sails going into Tuesday after a strong performance in last week’s debate in which he put Trump on the defensive.

Cruz, Rubio target Trump in Atlanta

Rubio spent the first chunk of his rally in Kennesaw slamming Trump, with even more zeal than he did with Clinton. He promised to stay in the race “as long as it takes” to defeat Trump.

“It’s clear now that if we’re going to save the Republican Party from being taken over by a con-artist, we’re going to have to start making the case more aggressively and I’m more than happy to do it. The stakes are that high and that important,” Rubio told reporters.

At Liberty Plaza, across from the Georgia Capitol, Cruz was sharply critical of Trump. During a press conference prior to the rally, he cited a poll showing 65 percent of Republican voters don’t think Trump could beat Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton in the general election.

“All of these Republicans have concerns that Donald, head-to-head, would lose to Hillary,” Cruz said. “Here in Georgia, and all across the Super Tuesday states, we can beat Donald Trump. If you believe Donald Trump is not the right candidate to beat Hilliary, I ask you to stand with us and nominate a true conservative candidate.”

Cruz told his rally-goers, who were decked out in Cruz 2016 T-shirts and ball caps, he will waste little time, if elected, “rescind(ing) every single illegal executive action taken by Barack Obama.” He also vowed in his first day in office to get the Department of Justice to investigate Planned Parenthood; instruct the Department of Justice and Internal Revenue Service to halt “the persecution of religious liberty; “rip to shreds” the Iranian nuclear deal; and move the U.S. embassy in Israel to Jerusalem.

Rubio made similar pledges for his first day, vowing to repeal the Iran nuclear deal and beef up the U.S. military and support for Israel.

Some supporters attending the rallies lamented the vitriolic tone of the Republican presidential campaign so far.

“It’s not necessary. They should be talking about the issues,” said Dean Cromlish, a 68-year-old from Lilburn who attended the Cruz rally. “But comes a time when candidates have to stand up for themselves when the other candidates are ridiculing them.”

Rubio’s supporters said they were happy that he recently began hitting hard against Trump, even though many said one of their favorite qualities about the Florida senator was his positivity.

“He’s not a rabble-rouser. I think Rubio knows how to get things done with both parties,” said Bill Dunaway, the now-retired former mayor of Marietta.

Others plan Georgia events

Other Republican presidential candidates also planned to make last-minute stops in Georgia in the days ahead.

The campaign of Ben Carson announced the retired neurosurgeon would deliver a sermon Sunday at Rock Springs Church, a sprawling megachurch in Milner. Carson’s campaign support has steadily evaporated since a brief surge in the polls last year, but he has nonetheless vowed to stay in the race no matter what happens Tuesday.

Trump is returning to Georgia for a rally at Valdosta State University on Monday, while Rubio also announced an additional stop in Buckhead Monday with Arkansas Gov. Hutchinson.

Clinton and Ohio Gov. John Kasich made appearances in Georgia last week.

Kasich is not projected to win much support in the South. As the last of a gaggle of governors left standing in the race, he pitches himself as the upbeat, and experienced, contender for the White House. But he’s failed to capitalize on a second-place finish in New Hampshire and is lagging in the polls in Georgia and many other Super Tuesday states.

This isn’t the first time Georgia’s been part of an epic Super Tuesday contest. But in this year’s contest, Georgia is part of a grouping that clusters seven states south of the Mason-Dixon Line together as a regional bloc. Engineered by Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, the SEC primary was envisioned as a way for voters in the Peach State and their neighbors to shape the race.

The prize for candidates who are not in the lead is that delegates in the Super Tuesday states are mainly doled out proportionately, based on the percentage of the vote each person wins. Even if Trump takes home the majority of Georgia’s 76 delegates, a strong second place finish would not come without dividends.

“We feel very optimistic about the number of delegates we’re going to win. Which is what this race is about,” Rubio told reporters. “This is not a traditional race.”