In-person early voting for the 2026 Midterm General Election concludes this Friday, Oct. 30, inside the Union County Voting Center at 33 Roscoe Collins Drive in Blairsville. The big story of this election – until the results are known, of course – is the record-breaking turnout.
On Tuesday, Oct. 20, the Secretary of State’s Office announced that Georgia had surpassed 1 million in-person early votes: “At this point in 2022, 894,412 Georgians had voted early, in-person, marking a 12% increase this year.”
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And the statewide turnout had flown past 1.6 million votes by the time polls had closed on Saturday, Oct. 24.
The high turnout trend is evident here as well. By the end of Week 2 early voting, 6,610 local voters had cast ballots, giving the Union County electorate the fifth-highest voter turnout rate in Georgia at about 30% – a significant improvement over Union’s ninth-place finish for Week 1.
Midterm General Election ballots feature one federal race for U.S. Senate and multiple state offices up for grabs, such as governor, lieutenant governor and secretary of state, as well as Georgia Senate and House of Representatives seats.
Voters are also deciding three referendums as part of the county-specific Special Election: the question of Sole Commissioner versus Five-Member Commission; the Education-SPLOST renewal by Union County Schools; and SPLOST continuation by Union County Government.
Prior to casting their ballots, voters will want to study three proposed amendments to the Georgia Constitution:
1) “Shall the Constitution of Georgia, for the purpose of protecting family farmland, be amended so as to increase the maximum acreage to qualify for assessment and taxation as a bona fide conservation use property from 2,000 acres to 4,000 acres?”
2) “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to require that all probate court judges be elected in nonpartisan elections?”
3) “Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to authorize the General Assembly to dedicate certain existing revenues, including revenues reallocated by law, to a nonlapsing fund to be used exclusively for the expansion, maintenance, and operation of emergency 9-1-1 systems in this state?”
In-person early voting is being held at the Voting Center from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. now through Friday.
Voters who decide to wait until Election Day will need to head to their predetermined voting precincts between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 3.
Union County has 11 precincts: Blairsville, Jones Creek, Choestoe, Owltown, Coosa, Pat Colwell, Dooley, Suches, Gum Log, Trackrock and Ivy Log. Remember, the Blairsville and Trackrock precincts have permanently changed to the Multipurpose Gym next to the Voting Center.
Oct. 23 was the deadline to request absentee-by-mail ballots, which can be returned using the official Voting Center drop box during early voting hours; mailed back in plenty of time to be counted after polls close on Election Day; or dropped off at the Voting Center through 7 p.m. Election Day.
Voters may visit https://mvp.sos.ga.gov for mail-in ballot status, poll location, registration information on file with the county, sample ballots for upcoming elections, provisional ballot status and more.
Anyone with questions about early voting may call the Board of Registrars at 706-439-6016.
Monday, Oct. 5, was the voter registration deadline to participate in this election.
