According to the AJC, Georgia’s election officials can begin opening absentee ballots eight days before the June 9 primary. This comes about because of the large amount of mailed-in ballots during the coronavirus pandemic.
The State Election Board voted unanimously to pass the emergency rule, which will help election officials handle record numbers of absentee ballots. In previous elections, absentee ballots couldn’t be processed until election day.
Although ballots can be opened in advance, election results in some races might not be known for several days after the primary because of the time needed to count absentee ballots.
