Voting Procedures

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Frequently Asked Questions About Voting Procedures

Clayton County residents, please:

Where and When Do I Vote?
How Do I Vote?
When is the Best Time to Vote?
Am I Required to Show Identification When I Vote?
What Happens if I Don't Have Any Identification with Me When I Vote?
How Do I Cast My Vote?
How Can I Receive Assistance Voting?
What do I do if I Make a Mistake of I am Unsure of How to Operate a Voting Machine?
Can I Take My Child to the Polls With Me?
Can I Wear a Campaign Button into the Polling Place?

• Register to vote as soon as you move to Clayton County;
• Notify us as soon as you move or change your name;

Voter registration applications are available from the Secretary of State's Web site. You may also contact our office for an application.

Voter registration applications may not be faxed. After completion of the application, you may mail it or personally deliver it to the Board of Elections and Registration office.

 

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Where and when do I vote?
Each voter must vote at the polling place designated for the precinct in which the voter lives. The location of your polling place is located on your precinct card. If you have misplaced your card or do not know where your precinct is located, you may use the poll locator or you may contact our office at (770) 477-3372. For a list of Clayton County precincts, click here.

Polling hours for Clayton County are from 7:00 am until 7:00 pm on the day of election. However, any voter who is waiting in line to vote at 7:00 PM will be allowed to vote.

How do I vote?
When you arrive at your polling place, you will complete a voter's certificate which asks for your name and residence address. You will then present the certificate and proper identification to the poll officials who will verify that you are a registered voter in that precinct by checking the voters list for that precinct. If your name is found on the list, you will be issued a voter access card and admitted into a voting booth to cast your vote. You will then cast your ballot using an electronic voting unit. After you cast your ballot the machine will automatically eject the voter access card and you will return the card to a poll official. Instructions on how to operate the electronic voting unit are posted at each polling place and you may ask a poll official for assistance.

You may also vote by absentee ballot. For absentee voting requirements and application deadline, click here.

When is the best time to vote?
Peak voting hours appear to be from 7:00 am until 9:30 am, 4:30 PM until 7:00 PM and during the midday lunch hour. Between the hours of 9:30 am - 4:30 PM, voters 75 or older, or disabled and requiring assistance in voting shall be given the next available voting machine.

Am I required to show identification when I vote?
Voters are required to present identification at their polling place prior to voting.

Proper identification shall consist of any one of the following:

1. A current or expired Georgia driver's license (or Department of Driver Services identification card);
2. A valid United States military photo identification card;
3. A valid photo identification card issued by any branch, department, agency, or entity of the United States, Georgia, or any other state authorized by law to issue personal identification including a FREE Georgia Voter Identification Card;
4. A valid employee photo identification card issued by any branch, department, agency, or entity of the United States, Georgia, or any county, municipality, board, authority or other entity of Georgia;
5. A valid United States passport; or
6. A valid tribal photo identification card.

NOTE: If a person votes BY MAIL, they DO NOT need to provide a photo ID. The photo ID rules ONLY APPLY to IN-PERSON voting by absentee, advance voting or at the polling place on Election Day.

If the voter does not have a Georgia driver's license, or other qualified ID, they can obtain either a FREE Georgia Identification Card from the Department of Driver Services or a FREE Georgia Voter Identification Card at their county registrar's office.

In order to get a FREE Georgia Voter Identification Card, a voter will need to provide the following:

1. A photo identity document, or a non-photo identity document (must include voter's full legal name and date of birth); and
2. Documentation showing voter's date of birth; and
3. Evidence that voter is registered to vote in Georgia; and
4. Documentation showing voter's name and address of principal resident.

If the elector does not have any of the forms of identification listed, they may vote a provisional ballot upon swearing or affirming that the elector is the person identified in the elector's voter certificate. Such provisional ballot shall only be counted if the registrars are able to verify current and valid identification of the elector within the time period for verifying provisional ballots.

What happens if I don't have any identification with me when I vote?
If you are unable to produce any of the items listed above, you may sign a statement under oath swearing or affirming that you are the person identified on the elector's voter certificate. Falsely swearing or affirming such statement under oath is punishable as a felony.

Notice: If you are registered for the first-time by mail and you have not yet provided identification to the the Board of Elections and Registration and are unable to produce acceptable identification at the polling place, you will be required to cast a provisional ballot. You are not allowed to sign the affidavit in place of acceptable identification. Pursuant to O.C.G.A. 21-2-417, the provisional ballot shall only be counted if the registrar is able to verify the identification and registration of the elector within the time period for verifying provisional ballots.

How do I cast my vote?
Instructions on how to operate a voting machine are posted at each polling place. In addition, you may ask a poll officer for assistance at any time. For more information visit the Secretary of States Web site. They offer instructions for using electronic voting machines here.

How can I receive assistance voting?
A voter may receive assistance at the polls if they are unable to read the English language or if he or she has a physical disability that renders them unable to see or mark the ballot, operate the voting equipment, or enter the voting booth. In order to do so, everyone, except those that are blind, must take an oath showing the reason they need assistance. The person providing the assistance to the voter must sign on the oath. When there is a federal candidate on the ballot, the voter can select anyone they want to assist them in voting, except for the voter's employer, an agent of that employer, or an officer or agent of the voter's union. When there is no federal candidate on the ballot, the voter can select any other resident of the precinct or a parent, sibling, spouse or child to assist them inside the voting booth. No person may assist more than ten voters in a primary, election, or runoff.

Note: Between the hours of 9:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. on the day of an election, voters who are 75 years of age or older or who are physically disabled may, upon request to a poll officer, vote immediately without waiting in line.

What do I do if I make a mistake I am unsure of how to operate a voting machine?
Poll officers of the precinct will be available to answer any questions voters may have concerning voting their ballot or operating a voting machine.

Can I take my child to the polls with me?
The child of a voter 17 years of age and under is permitted to accompany his/her parent(s) into the voting booth while voting; any child 12 and under may accompany a voter who is not his/her parent(s) into the voting booth while voting. Children ARE NOT allowed to handle voter access cards or to operate voting machines.

Can I wear a campaign button into the polling place?
No person may campaign; distribute literature of written or printed matter of any kind; wear campaign buttons, signs, pins, stickers, T-shirts, etc.; circulate petitions; or perform similar activities within 150 feet of the building in which a polling place is located.