Georgia voters: What you need to know about Tuesday’s primary election

Georgia voters will head to the polls Tuesday for the primary election in what is shaping up to be a hotly contested midterm in the Peach State.

Highlighting this year’s primary are Republican and Democratic contests for governor, as Republican incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp is term-limited and can’t run again. Another statewide race drawing a lot of attention is the Republican primary for the U.S. Senate, with the winner facing off against the Democratic incumbent, Sen. Jon Ossoff, in November.

Georgia voters had three weeks to cast an early, in-person ballot, with early voting wrapping up Friday across southeast Georgia. According to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, as of Saturday afternoon, a little more than 1 million ballots had already been cast statewide, for a voter turnout of 13.9% so far. Elections officials said that the first week of early voting set records for a midterm primary, with more than 214,000 ballots being cast, compared to 167,000 in the same timeframe in 2022.

READ MORE: Georgia voters: What’s on your 2026 ballot? | Georgia candidates jockey as sprint begins to primaries for US Senate, governor

In order to vote in the May 19 primary, Georgia voters must have been registered by April 20. Georgia voters do not need to be registered with a particular political party in order to vote in that party’s primary. In fact, party affiliation is not part of the registration process in the state. The state has open primaries, meaning voters can choose which party’s primary ballot they want, when they vote.

On Election Day, polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. You must vote at your assigned precinct, and show one of the following forms of identification:

• Any valid state or federal government-issued photo ID, including a free ID card issued by your county registrar’s office or the Georgia Department of Driver Services. 
• A Georgia driver’s license, even if expired
• Student ID from a Georgia public College or University
• Valid employee photo ID from any branch, department, agency, or entity of the U.S. Government, Georgia, or any county, municipality, board, authority or other entity of this state 
• Valid U.S. passport ID 
• Valid U.S. military photo ID containing a photograph of the voter
• Valid tribal photo ID containing a photograph of the voter

In order to win a primary in Georgia, a candidate must receive more than 50% of the vote. If no candidate reaches that mark, the top two vote-getters will advance to a primary runoff, which will be held on June 16 this year.

News4JAX has compiled information about all of the races on the primary ballot in our 2026 Georgia Voter’s Guide.