Early voting for Georgia residents begins on Monday, and the state has some of the most hotly contested races in the country -- from the rematch between Gov. Brian Kemp and Stacey Abrams to a Senate race that could tip the balance of power in Washington.
As voters prepare to head to the polls, election officials hope to clear up some confusion.
After the state’s elections director sent out a bulletin this week that suggested people could challenge another voter’s eligibility in person at the time of voting, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger sent out a clarification Thursday night saying that’s not the case.
Instead, any challenge must be made in writing and must be filed with the board of registrars. From there, the board will review the challenge.
So far this year, the group Fair Fight Action estimates that 80,000 voters have been challenged.
The group says challenges have disproportionately implicated people of color in at least one suburban county.
Most of those challenges have been dismissed; however, about 3,000 of them have been upheld.
Those have led to either the registrations being canceled or voters being placed in a “challenged” status, which means their ballots are going to be reviewed to determine if they will count or not.
There is one other change to be aware of heading into early voting.
Cellphones are not allowed to be out inside polling places in Georgia. The devices can’t be seen and voters cannot take any pictures of their ballots.