Advanced voters may cast ballots at Lincoln Center

Advance voting in the Georgia General Primary will begin Monday, July 7, and continue through Friday, July 11, at the Lincoln County Elections and Registration Office, located in The Lincoln Center at 160 May Avenue.

Office hours are from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. each day. However, on Tuesday and Thursday, the hours for advance voting will be extended until 7 p.m.

The General Primary is set for Tuesday, July 15.

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 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.

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, July 11.

All absentee ballots must be returned to the elections and registration office by 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 15. An absentee ballot may be hand-delivered by a second party only if the voter is disabled.

Electors need to keep in mind that in the primary, they must vote a straight ticket, meaning they must choose either a Democratic or a Republican ballot. Voters may then cross party lines in the General/ Nonpartisan Election on November 4.

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