COVINGTON, Ga. — More than 1,600 Newton residents cast ballots in-person during the first week of early voting in this year's General Primary Election.
And this coming Saturday and Sunday, May 14-15, will be the only full weekend that early voting will be available before this year's General Primary Election in Newton County.
Early voting this weekend is scheduled for Good Shepherd Episcopal Church at 4140 Clark St. SW in Covington, according to the Newton County Elections and Registration office.
The Saturday, May 14, hours will be 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., while the Sunday, May 15, hours will be 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., both days at Good Shepherd.
Voters also can participate in early voting Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., through May 20 at Prospect United Methodist Church at 6752 Highway 212; and during the same days and hours at Good Shepherd Episcopal.
A total of 1,660 voted in the first six days of the 18-day advance voting period before the May 24 election, according to information from the Elections and Registration office.
The total included 881 who voted in the Democratic Primary, 761 who voted in the Republican Primary and 18 who voted nonpartisan in the first week of the three-week advance voting period that began May 2 at Good Shepherd Episcopal and Prospect United Methodist churches.
Elections Director Angela Davis told the Newton County Board of Elections Monday that officials at each location have been able to move voters through without lines forming.
She said the Good Shepherd location on Clark Street is by far the busier of the two with 223 voting the first day and averaging about 200 per day.
"The Prospect location, as far as the daily count, they have not reached 100 (daily) yet," she said.
Meanwhile, the deadline for applying for an absentee ballot with the county elections office is Friday, May 13. Applications can be found by visiting https://www.mvp.sos.ga.gov/MVP/mvp.do.
Davis said her office spent a majority of its day Monday processing absentee ballot applications.
"The rule is mail them out in three days. We're pretty much mailing them out within 24 to 48 hours," Davis said.
She said many applicants are elderly or disabled voters who qualify to have absentee applications mailed to them throughout this year's election cycle. However, many seeking applications continue to be "non-elderly," Davis said.
Completed absentee ballots can be mailed to the office, or placed in a drop box inside the Elections and Registration office Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. through May 24.
The office is on the first floor of the Newton County Administration Building at 1113 Usher St. in Covington.
The mailing address is: Elections and Registration, Newton County Administration Building, 1113 Usher St., Suite 103, Covington, GA 30014.
Davis also said Newton County had a total of 85,896 registered voters on May 1 — an increase of 367 from 85,529 registered on Dec. 1, 2021. The May 1 totals include 78,455 active voters and 7,441 inactive voters.
