Turnout was light and there were no lines Monday as three weeks of early voting began for Georgia’s presidential primary.
The slow start to early voting arrived amid largely uncompetitive races so far, with Republican Donald Trump winning four other states’ GOP primaries or caucuses and Democrat Joe Biden facing little opposition from his own party. Republican Nikki Haley is trying to overcome Trump’s initial advantage.
Voting locations opened across Georgia on Monday, leading up to election day March 12 — a week after 16 states vote on Super Tuesday. Before votes are counted in Georgia’s primary, both party’s nominees could be all but decided.
Voters who came out on the first day said the election is crucial to the future of the country, but some expressed dissatisfaction with each party’s candidates.
“Trump is scary and Biden is too old,” Alvin Williams of Decatur, a U.S. Navy veteran, said after casting his vote for Biden at the DeKalb County election office. “To pick one is like throwing your hands up. You’ve got to pick the least worst.”
John Spink
John Spink
Dennis Andrich of Woodruff said he wanted to vote early for Trump because he has presidential experience, but he would also support Haley if she were the Republican nominee.
“I’d be happy with either one,” Andrich said after voting in Cherokee County. But he was motivated to back Trump to “get him back in and the country back where it belongs.”
At the High Museum in Atlanta, just a handful of voters had shown up Monday morning, a day off for some workers on Presidents Day, which is a federal holiday. Election workers said turnout might pick up Tuesday.
Miguel Martinez/AJC
Miguel Martinez/AJC
The last presidential primary got off to a faster start four years ago.
Through Sunday, over 19,000 Georgia voters had requested absentee ballots, according to state election data. Before early voting began in March 2020, at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, 38,000 voters had requested absentee ballots.
Turnout in the 2020 presidential primary exceeded 2 million Georgia voters. Then in the November 2020 election, 5 million voters participated.
All Georgia voters are eligible to participate in the presidential primary, and state law allows them to choose either party’s ballot regardless of their political affiliations or beliefs.
There are 11 candidates on the Republican Party ballot, including Haley, Trump and several contenders who have dropped out of the race since the ballot was set last year. Other candidates include Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy and South Carolina U.S. Sen. Tim Scott.
The three candidates on the Democratic Party ballot are Biden, Minnesota U.S. Rep. Dean Phillips and self-help author Marianne Williamson.
Voters can find early voting locations, voting hours, sample ballots and registration information on Georgia’s My Voter Page at mvp.sos.ga.gov. Early voting locations are often different from election-day precincts.
Early voting is available for at least 17 days over three weeks across Georgia, including two Saturdays. Some counties are also opening voting sites on Sundays.
