By Elliott Brack
Editor and publisher
MAY 7, 2024 | Some thoughts today that might help you when voting in the May 21 General Primary in Georgia, if you haven’t already early-voted.
You may be overwhelmed if you look at the Gwinnett sample ballots, which you can access to the right of this column. There are so many names on the sample ballot, and the ballot is long.
Here’s one reason why it’s long: the sample ballot lists all 30 Gwinnett delegation races. However, each voter will only vote in two of these races, that for those running in their area for the House of Representative and for the Senate. So what you see in the voting booth will be more simple than the sample, with you only voting in two legislative races.
Another reason for the long sample ballot is that there are a lot of judicial races on the primary ballot. These candidates will be elected to office in the primary voting, not in the general election. (Note that GwinnettForum deplores electing judges, or other non-partisan candidates at the date of the primary, when the fewest number of people vote. That’s why “Move statewide non-partisan judge and school board elections to the General Election” is among our Continuing Objectives for Gwinnett.)
Altogether, there are 24 judicial races in Gwinnett to be decided. But, there are only six contested races. Four races are for Georgia Supreme Court judges, with only one race contested. For the state Court of Appeals, there are seven contested seats, but only two with opposing candidates.
On the local level, for Gwinnett Superior Court, there are six judgehips on the ballot, and two races have opponents. For Gwinnett State Court, five races are on tap, with only one with two candidates.
We also will elect a Probate Judge and Chief Magistrate judge, but neither current offices are opposed.
Boundaries of voting districts change from time to time. But that can surely cause confusion for the individual. Even the most astute voter can be confused about voting districts.
We now have a way to check out who each of us will be voting on prior to going to the polls. Using the internet for this service, you simply put in your address, and whether you want to vote in either the Democratic, Republican or non-partisan election.
What will pop up are all the names you will face on the ballot, including their photos. Use this before you go to the polls, and write down who you want to vote for. It’ll make it easier, and quicker, to vote this way.
But a word of caution: The way this internet site is constructed, remember that the name of the office comes first, then the candidates follow on the list. As you look at the last name on each race list, immediately after that person’s photo is ANOTHER race listed. It is somewhat confusing.
- To see who the candidates on your ballot will be, input your address here and scroll down to “Let’s find what will be on your ballot.” This is a service provided by the website Rough Draft Atlanta.
GwinnettForum endorsed candidates: back several weeks ago, GwinnettForum endorsed candidates in all races in Gwinnett County. To refresh yourself on who these candidates are, go to Endorsed Candidate at the right of this column. Or click here.
If you have not already voted, be sure to go to the polls on Tuesday, May 21.
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