Advance voting in the Presidential Preference Primary will begin Monday, January 28, and continue through Friday, February 1, at the Lincoln County Elections and Registration Office located in The Lincoln Center at 160 May Avenue.

The election is set for Tuesday, February 5.

Designed to meet the needs of today's busy Georgians, advance voting allows any registered voter to cast a ballot in person at the county voter registration office during normal business hours the week prior to an election.

All the voter has to do is fill out an advance voting application and provide the poll official with one of the permitted forms of identification. The elector will then be issued a ballot to cast right there in the county office.

Georgia law now requires voters to provide one of the six forms of photo identification listed below:

.. A Georgia driver's license, even if it has expired.

.. Any valid state or federal government issued photo ID, including a free voter ID card, issued by the Georgia Department of Driver Services or the Lincoln County Board of Elections and Registration.

.. A valid United States passport.

.. A valid employee photo ID from any branch, department, agency, or entity of the United States Government, Georgia, or any county, municipality, board, authority, or other entity of this state.

.. A valid United States military photo ID.

.. A valid tribal photo ID.

Photo identification, for the purpose of voting only, may be obtained at the elections and registration office during regular business hours. The office is open from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.

Along with advance voting, the elections office is likewise accepting applications for absentee ballots. The deadline for requesting that an absentee ballot be mailed to one's residence is Friday, February 1.

All absentee ballots should be returned to the elections and registration office by 5 p.m. Monday, February 4. An absentee ballot may be hand-delivered by a second party only if the voter is disabled.

In addition to voting absentee by mail, citizens may also cast absentee ballots in person at the elections office. However, in order to do so, the elector must provide one of the following reasons:

.. He will be absent from his precinct from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Election Day.

.. He is 75 years of age or older.

.. He has a physical disability which prevents him from voting in person or he is a constant caregiver to a person with a disability.

• He is an election official.

• He is observing a religious holiday that prevents him from voting in person.

.. He is required to remain on duty in his precinct for the protection of life, health, or the safety of the public.

Electors need to keep in mind that since Georgia does not register voters by party, the primary is "open," and voters must choose either a Democratic or a Republican ballot.

Presidential candidates appearing on the Democratic ticket are Joe Biden, Hillary Clinton, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Mike Gravel, Dennis J. Kucinich, Barack Obama, and Bill Richardson.

The Republican ballot is comprised of Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, Alan Keyes, John McCain, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Tom Tancredo, and Fred Thompson.

For more information about the election process, contact the elections and registration office at 706-359- 6126.