MOULTRIE, Ga. — Early voting held a smaller turnout than expected, according to Probate Judge Wes Lewis, but absentee voting blew the expectations out of the park. The Georgia primaries will be a wild card on election day Tuesday, he said. 

At the end of early voting on June 5, 829 Colquitt Countians had cast ballots in person at the courthouse annex.

Registrar Paula McCullough said they were hoping for more voters, but recognized she already knew the factors going against it.

“There were a couple of weeks we were only open from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. and that cut it shorter,” she said.

COVID-19 was also a factor against it, but it happened to help absentee voting see a surge. Lewis said 2,931 absentee ballots were mailed in.

People really took advantage of that option, he said.

“This is just an expansion of the voting system, the fact that we, because of COVID-19, sent out all the voters an absentee ballot application,” he said. “In our own county, we saw 4,679 [ballots sent out], so those numbers are unlike anything I’ve ever seen even in a presidential election.”

Lewis said the wild card will be how those ballots will affect the analysis.

With 1,748 absentee ballots left to come in, the poll workers are looking to see them either turned in at the dropbox at the courthouse annex, turned in to the registrar or canceled in favor of voting in person by 7 p.m. Tuesday. 

This doesn’t even count voters who didn’t ask for an absentee ballot.

Voting primaries usually generate a 20-40 percent output in ballots — the reliable/active voters, Lewis said. 

The stage moved to mailing absentee ballots more so this year, so the question asked is if precincts will see higher turnout or is this indication that the votes will be spread out.

“Of course, we’ll know tomorrow night,” Lewis said on Monday. “We’ve had good numbers. We’ve had the 829 early voting [numbers] which is a little lower. Generally, you have less absentee.”

But that is not the case this year. Another thing that went under the radar, according to Lewis, was the unveiling of the new voting system. 

“We were planning to do it in March and now [we’re] finally able to do it,” he said. “This is the new system of the secure paper ballots, so we’re excited about that.”

The Georgia primaries be held Tuesday, June 9, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.. If you haven’t registered to vote already, you will not be able to vote in the primaries. Make sure to bring a valid photo ID which includes the following:

• A state driver’s license (in-term or expired).

• A valid U.S. passport.

• A valid tribal photo ID.

• A valid U.S. military photo ID.

• A valid state or federal government issued photo ID.

• A photo employee ID from a city, county, state or federal government, or any other entity of within.

The Moultrie Observer will cover the June 9 election on its website, www.moultrieobserver.com. We plan multiple updates as results come in.

Due to production scheduling, however, those results will not be available in the June 10 print edition of the newspaper.

Due to long lines and coronavirus prevention measures, plus an overwhelming number of absentee ballots, we expect results to come in late the night of June 9. Check back frequently at www.moultrieobserver.com.