ATLANTA — February 19 marks the first day of early voting in Georgia and will run for the next three weeks.
Yet, as Georgians make their pick for the presidential primary, Emory University political science professor Dr. Andra Gillespie points to major questions lingering over the race.
"I think the big question that a lot of people are going to be asking is, will Nikki Haley stay in the race beyond South Carolina and definitely beyond Super Tuesday?," Gillespie said. "If she does end up dropping out of the race, that essentially leaves former President Trump with no real competition."
And regarding the democratic side, Gillespie said President Biden has performed well even in areas where he wasn't official on the ballot.
"He's lost one notable primary contender in Marianne Williamson," Gillespie said. "I think it's a question of whether or not Dean Phillips stays in the race, and so I expect that on the Democratic side, it's going to be a coronation as well."
Gillespie suspects that the narrow field of candidates for both parties could result in lower voter turnout for the primaries in the Peach State.
"The types of people who are going to show up are going to be the types of people who follow politics closely and are really interested in what's going on," she said. "Perhaps they are interested in, you know, endorsing one of the presumed nominees or in making a statement against one of those nominees in their voting. But, you know, I'm not expecting this to be a heavy turnout race."
But voters should keep a few things in mind as early voting gets underway.
In addition to confirming your voter registration and finding sample ballots on the Georgia Secretary of State's My Voter Page, elections officials remind you of changes that have taken effect over the past year, including the implementation of SB 129.
"So now with this law, voters are able to take up to two hours off from work to be able to go and participate in early voting, similar to our Election Day law," LaShandra Little, Voter Education and Outreach Manager for Fulton County explained. "Of course, you have to work it out with your employer, but you, by law, are now able to take up to two hours off to go vote."
Little added that Georgia is also an "open primary" state, meaning voters will have to select the party's ballot they wish to vote. But voters can't switch to another party if there is a primary runoff election.
"If there's a runoff, they have to continue with that same ballot," Little said.
Georgia voters should also keep in mind that the March primary will only include presidential candidates. Voters will return to the polls on May 21 for congressional primaries and other races.
"Presidential primaries don't run on the same cycle as primaries for other office, particularly, congress. So you have to remember to vote twice," Gillespie said. "These are different processes and different cycles, and so they're governed by a different timeline."