The second week of early voting for the May primary is underway in Bartow County, and voters are taking advantage of the opportunity. On Wednesday afternoon, Bartow County Elections Supervisor Joseph Kirk told WBHF that early turnout has exceeded his expectations and previous years’ tallies.
“We’ve had – as of about 1:30 p.m. today – almost 1600 voters vote in person, and we’ve already received almost 200 ballots back in through the mail,” he said. “[Turnout is] much higher than what I expected, much higher than we’ve seen in previous years. I’m glad to see the community show up to vote. I will say that everyone who votes during the advanced voting period takes some pressure off us for election day and I really appreciate it. The more folks who vote early, the easier our election day will be.”
Thus far, Kirk’s office at 1300 Joe Frank Harris Parkway in Cartersville has been the only available site for early voting, but next week Bartow residents will have more choices of where to cast their ballots.
“Additional opportunities are from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. this week through Saturday at my office,” Kirk said. “And then next week we’ll open up […] the Cartersville Civic Center, Manning Mill Gym in Adairsville, and Allatoona Resource Center from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Friday marks the last day to turn in mail-in applications.
“We have to receive their application no later than the close of business this Friday, which is the 13th,” Kirk emphasized. “So please be very careful to get those applications in to us. You can drop them off, you can email them to absentee@bartowcountyga.gov, [or] we can take a good crisp picture of it via email if that’s easier for you to get it in.”
This weekend will be the last opportunity to vote for the primary on a Saturday. You can direct questions towards the Bartow County Board of Elections and Voter Registration at (770) 387-5098. The primary election will take place on May 24.