Special to the Beacon ATLANTA – Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced Wednesday his office is continuing to coordinate directly with election offices in Georgia’s 159 counties ensuring election operations remain on schedule and that counties have the needed resources for a swift recovery.
As it stands, Secretary Raffensperger can speak to Georgians of the physical infrastructure needed to conduct an election will be fully operational before the early in-person voting period begins.
“Election workers across Georgia had begun the pre-election testing processes of equipment and facilities to be used in the 2024 election,” Raffensperger said last week. “My office is working hard to make sure election workers in the affected counties are safe, that their equipment is undamaged and secure, and their early voting locations will be functional by the time early voting starts.”
Poor road conditions and ongoing power outages scattered across the southern, central and eastern portions of Georgia were slowing evaluation procedures in some areas hardest hit by the storm.
“Georgia’s Emergency Management Agency (GEMA), linemen from Georgia Power and other utilities, local first responders and legions of citizen volunteers and faithbased organizations are doing a great job at getting people fed, housed and back on their feet,” said Raffensperger. “But this was a massive and deadly storm and recovery is likely to take a while. We applaud Governor (Brian) Kemp for prioritizing the response.” Raffensperger added any counties having to relocate early voting locations will notify voters through the My Voter Page portal and local radio, television and social media outlets.
“We have to let the first responders finish doing their jobs, but as power is restored and voting locations can be assessed, we will make sure the upcoming election is safe, secure and convenient for all Georgia voters,” he said.
Georgians will have three weeks of in person early voting as well as election day to cast their vote. Any voter whose absentee ballot has not been accepted by the county elections office may still vote in person.
