Voters can’t vote in person after sending in absentee ballot; can vote in person if they haven’t returned the ballot

Published 8:00 am Friday, October 2, 2020

Vote by mail or vote in person?

That’s a question voters across the nation are grappling with. Many have already voted by mail in the Nov. 3 presidential election, and local elections officials say some of those voters are contacting them, saying they have changed their mind and want to vote in person.

“It”s not a whole lot but we always get some who change their mind,” said Whitfield County Registrar Mary Hammontree.

But once a voter has returned his or her ballot by mail, he or she can’t change vote in person.

“Once they have returned their ballot, and it is in our system, they have voted,” said Murray County Election Supervisor Larry Sampson.

He said he’s gotten a few phone calls from people who’ve cast their ballot by mail seeking to vote in person. He said they’ve all been understanding when told they can’t.

Both officials say they’ve gotten more calls from people who have received an absentee ballot but not returned it, asking if they can vote in person. They can. But they must bring their absentee ballot to be canceled.

They can bring it with them when they vote. But Sampson said it would be better if they return it to the elections office before Nov. 3.

“It will save the voter time on Election Day, and it will save the people in line behind them time,” he said.

Hammontree agrees.

“It saves a phone call to our office on Election Day,” she said. “If the voter doesn’t have the ballot with them, the poll pad will alert the poll worker that a ballot has been mailed to the voter, and a phone call to our office will have to be made to make sure the ballot has not reached us that day, and we have so many phone calls coming in to our office, that sometimes the poll manager has to keep calling to finally reach them.”

The Whitfield County elections office is in the county courthouse, 205 N. Selvidge St., Suite K, in Dalton. The phone number is (706) 278-7183.

The Murray County elections office is in the county courthouse annex, 121 N. Fourth Ave. in Chatsworth. The phone number is (706) 517-1400, ext. 1232.