Read about races in North Georgia at AccessWDUN's 2020 Voter Guide.
A special weekend day of early voting will be held Saturday across Georgia, including Hall County, which is opening three new early voting precincts.
Saturday voting will be held from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. at Gainesville Exploration Academy, the North Hall Community Center, the East Hall Community Center and the Spouts Springs Library.
All four of the early voting locations will also be open next week for the final week of early voting. Polls hours will remain 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Voters can expect short delays at in-person polling places as poll workers clean and sanitize voting machines between voters. Voters will be asked to maintain six feet of distance from poll workers and other voters. Masks are encouraged, but not required.
In-person voting will be available at all the county's precincts on primary election day, June 9. The presidential preference primary will be held that day, as will races for the U.S. Senate and the U.S.House. Voters will also decide races for county commissions, school boards, sheriff, tax commissioner, clerks of courts and more. Some counties have ballot questions. In Hall County, for instance, voters in the county and the cities of Gainesville and Buford will vote on the extension of a one-penny education sales tax and a bond referendum.
Voters can also continue to request absentee ballots, Lori Wurtz, the director of elections, said.
"We are also reminding voters that voting absentee is a great option in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic," Wurtz said. "Absentee ballot applications are available online and may be returned to us by mail, email, or fax. Voters can mail in their completed ballot or drop them off at the drop box outside the Hall County Government Center on Browns Bridge Road to prevent them from even having to find a parking spot or coming into our building."
The absentee ballot drop box can be found directly across from the government center's front doors and is accessible from the driver's side window of your car.
The Hall County Elections Office will accept absentee ballot applications until 5 p.m. on June 5. But Wurtz said voters are encouraged to submit their applications sooner than that so the application to be processed and the ballot issued, mailed and then filled out and returned by the voter.
Absentee ballots must be in the Hall County Elections Office by 7 p.m. on June 9 to be counted. Ballots should not be left at the polling place on Election Day.
Wurtz said voters who requested an absentee ballot but choose not to submit it and vote in person instead may experience a slight wait as poll workers cancel the voter's absentee ballot before issuing a new, in-person ballot.
