For absentee voters in Georgia, the presidential election has started.
The first day voters are allowed to request a vote-by-mail ballot in Georgia is Monday, 78 days before Election Day on Nov. 5.
All registered voters in Georgia are eligible to request and cast an absentee ballot for any reason, according to state law. Georgia is one of 36 states that offer no-excuse absentee voting.
Voters will still have to wait several weeks before absentee ballots are mailed to them. By then the Democratic Party will officially have a presidential nominee after this week’s convention in Chicago.
Under Georgia’s 2021 voting law, absentee ballots can’t be sent to voters until 29 days before Election Day, which will be Oct. 7.
About 6% of all Georgia voters returned absentee ballots in the midterm election two years ago, down from 26% of people who voted by mail during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
In-person early voting is the most popular voting method in Georgia, drawing 58% of voters in the 2022 midterms. About 36% of voters cast ballots on Election Day.
To request an absentee ballot, voters can fill out a form online at securemyabsenteeballot.sos.ga.gov, and they’re then required to print, sign and return it. Blank absentee request forms are also available. Absentee ballot application forms can be mailed or emailed to county election offices.
Completed absentee ballots must be received by election offices by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
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