Sure, going to the beach is great, but do you know what’s even better? Going to the polls so your voice can be heard in the upcoming primary election! That’s right, early voting and the mandatory Saturday voting (March 14) for the presidential primary will be happening in Georgia during UGA’s Spring Break! It doesn’t take long, and there’s nothing more American than voting. Rock the Vote has some great information about voting, how to register to vote in Georgia and how to check your status in case you’re not sure if you’re registered or not.
Now that you know if you’re registered, how do you know where to vote? Good question! You can log into the Georgia My Voter Page, enter some simple information and then locate your polling place and its hours of operation! Early voting begins March 2.
If you won’t be able to make it to the polls physically, you can register to receive an absentee ballot using this application. Once you’re approved, your absentee ballot will be mailed to you. Make sure to fill it out and mail it back so that it arrives before or on the day of the election, March 24!
So now that you know how to vote, how do you know who to vote for? I’d encourage you to do your own research and not simply base your vote off of your parents, friends or social media. If you have the time, go to each of the candidate’s pages to see their stances on what’s important to you. For the Democratic primary, you can also visit a site like Politico that compiles all of the information for you in one spot with an easy-to-navigate platform. For the Republican primary, Trump is currently the only one on the Georgia ballot (although Bill Weld is still running — read about it here).
In some cases, it’s not only the primary that you’ll get to vote for — any special elections occurring in your county will also be on this ballot. Make sure to get informed about those issues by looking at your ballot in advance on the Georgia My Voter Page and research the issues you’ll get a chance to vote on.
This Spring Break, make your voice count! Consider this a practice run for November.