Early voting continues in Barrow County

So far, 301 people have voted as of Feb. 13 when early voting began in Georgia, Franklin said Wednesday. Of those, 285 voted in the Republican primary and 16 voted in the Democratic primary. Absentee ballots started 45 days ago, beginning on Jan. 20. The elections office sent out 93 Republican ballots and 15 Democrat ballots, according to Franklin. So far, 44 Republican ballots have returned and eight democrat ballots have come back, she said.

The Republican ballot in Georgia consists of Former U.S. House speaker Newt Gingrich (Georgia), Congressman Ron Paul (Texas), Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney (California) and Former US Senator Rick Santorum (Pennsylvania).

U.S. President Barack Obama is uncontested in the race.

Early voting continues through March 2 at the Barrow County Administrative Building at 233 East Broad Street in Winder. March 2 is also the last day the county can receive or mail out a ballot. To request an application for a ballot by mail, call 770-307-3110, or log onto the Secretary of State’s website and print one. The address is http://www.sos.ga.gov/MVP.

The Barrow County elections office can accept the applications either, in person, by mail, by email to evote@barrowga.org or fax to 770.307.1054. Any voter registered in Georgia can vote absentee by mail. Just complete and sign the application. Then, mail, fax, email (as an attachment), or drop the application off at the county registrar's office.

County election officials urge voters to request a mail-in ballot and get it back to the county registrar's office as soon as possible. Mail-in ballots can be requested no earlier than 180 days prior to the election and must be received by your county registrar no later than close of the polls on Election Day.

The 2012 election cycle will also introduce Saturday voting. Voters can come to the Administration Building and vote early on Saturday 25 from 9 a.m. – 4 p.m. for the Presidential Preference Primary, Saturday, July 21 for the General Primary Election and Saturday, Oct. 27, for the General Election.

Here’s the calendar of elections for 2012:

March 6: Presidential Preference Primary and special election (if needed)
May 23-25: Qualifying period for General Primary Election
July 31: General Primary Election
Aug. 21: General Primary Runoff Election
Sept. 18: Special election date (if needed)
Oct. 16: Runoff date for special election (if needed)
Nov. 6: General Election
Dec. 4: General Election Runoff (if needed)
Voter Registration Deadlines
Feb. 6: Presidential Preference Primary
July 2: General Primary Elections
Aug. 20: Special election/runoff
Oct. 8: General Election