Ga. Secretary of State's office creates absentee ballot tracker

If you’ve filled out an absentee ballot or will be doing so for the November elections, you can keep track of what happens when you turn it in.

The Georgia Secretary of State’s office has created an absentee ballot tracker that lets you follow the status of that ballot.

The tracker was launched over the weekend, and you simply fill out your date of birth and ZIP Code (just like you do when you check your voter registration status), and you’ll be asked to register to receive e-mail or text message updates.

Those notifications will come when a ballot application is accepted, when the ballot is sent and if and when that ballot is accepted or rejected.

According to a statement from the Secretary of State’s office, “voters whose absentee ballots are rejected will be provided with the contact information to fix the issue so they can be assured their vote will be counted.”

Last week Cobb Elections officials added absentee ballot dropboxes, including the Gritters and Mountain View libraries, bringing to 16 the number of dropboxes around the county.

They also are at the East Cobb Government Service Center and the Sewell Mill Library.

The dropboxes are secured and have surveillance cameras installed, and will be collected daily by multiple Cobb Elections staffers.

Absentee ballots can be deposited there 24/7 up through 7 p.m. on the Nov. 3 election day.

Absentee ballot applications can be requested from Cobb Elections by clicking here, and you can also get a prompt to a customized application that will be mailed to you.

The deadline for registering to vote is Oct. 5, and you can do that and check your registration status, polling location and get sample ballots by clicking here. More information about registering can be found here.

Advance voting begins Oct. 12, and one location in the East Cobb area that had been designated for that purpose, Noonday Baptist Church on Canton Road, will be unavailable.

Cobb Elections said anyone who had been planning to vote early at Noonday can go to The Art Place-Mountain View (3330 Sandy Plains Road) from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Monday-Friday from Oct. 12-30 and from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 17 and 24.

Those same advance voting dates and times will take place at the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road).