JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – As the election cycle comes to a head on the national stage, attention is shifting towards local races. Voters in Georgia can cast ballots as early as Monday in the May 24th primary.
The in-person early voting period leading up to election day includes a mandatory Saturday voting opportunity, which will be on May 14.
Georgia voters can also vote by mail. They are advised to request absentee ballots before May 20, in order to vote by mail in the primary election.
Republican Johnny Isakson is running for a third term in the U.S. senate, but has opposition both from two members of his own party and from three Democrats. There are also multiple candidates running in a statewide Public Service Commission race.
Also on the ballot in this month's primary are candidates running in sheriff, judicial posts, coroner, county commission, school board and other local races.
News4Jax political analyst, Jennifer Carroll, said the Georgia primary -- held three months before Florida voters face local primaries, could feel the Trump effect.
Like him or not, Donald Trump’s run for president of the United States has created a craze among voters at the national level.
“It’ll be telling to see what the effect of Donald Trump has had in the presidential primary and then to have that as a benchmark to this voter turnout in primary elections without Donald Trump,” Carroll said.
She says Georgia’s local primary will tell if Hillary Clinton's call for voters will carry over to the local level.
"This will be the first primary, major primary that we’re seeing of all the races -- Republicans and Democrats in major tickets from senatorial races down -- that if the voter turnout in Georgia, which Georgia had a very good voter turnout, increased voter turnout in the presidential primary, (to see) if that number takes a nosedive,” Carroll said.
Georgia has an open primary, which means any registered voter can cast a ballot in whichever party they choose. Since there are many more contested races on the Republican ballot, Democrat and independent voters could select that ballot to make their voices heard.
To see if you are qualified, where to vote and the races that will appear on your ballot, visit mvp.sos.ga.gov.