Inside the 2024 Georgia Primary

This story is a part of Canopy Atlanta’s Barriers and Bridges Election Project. Learn more about the series and the project here.

The Georgia primary election is coming up next week. Figuring out where to vote, how to vote, what you’re voting for, and why it’s worth showing up in the first place can be a challenge with every election. Here’s our guide to help you figure out the who, when and why of voting in Georgia.

Aunna Dennis is a mother and a Tri-Cities resident who grew up in the area. 

As the Executive Director of Common Cause, a non-profit, non-partisan advocacy organization that works to strengthen public participation in democracy, she shares her insight into Georgia’s upcoming election.

“Particularly in Georgia, it’s important to focus on primary elections, because of how our elections are tiered,” Dennis explains.

For nonpartisan elections, some of the most important votes take place in the primaries, not the general election. Especially for races without an opposition, “this is the election.”

“So this election is very high stakes because some of the seats are two-year seats, some of them are six-year seats. This may be the only time that [voters] will be able to have their voice heard at the ballot box,” she said.

Brian Miller is the Executive Director of Nonprofit VOTE, which helps nonprofits across the nation engage the communities they serve in voting and democracy. 

“In many communities, particularly districts that lean strongly toward one party or another, primary elections are where the real decisions are made. In such strongly Democratic or Republican districts, whoever wins the primary is almost certain to win the general election,” Miller said. “That’s one reason it’s important for voters to learn about the candidates running in the primary and vote for the candidate that aligns with their values and can effectively do the job.”

James Woo, the Communications Director at Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, says primary election engagement is a big priority for the organization.

“Participating in primary elections determines the candidates who will appear on the general election ballot,” Woo says. “We advocate for civic engagement as a means to create equitable and inclusive communities, urging individuals to exercise their right to vote to ensure their voices are heard in the democratic process.”

Races to Watch

One of the biggest races to watch is the Georgia State Supreme Court. 

For judges, John Barrow is opposing incumbent Justice Andrew Pinson who is going for a six-year term after being appointed to the court by Governor Brian Kemp in 2022. 

Only one of the nine current justices received their seat through election; the rest were appointed by Governor Nathan Deal or Governor Kemp. Dennis explains that either right before or after the historic race for Georgia governor between Stacey Abrams and Brian Kemp in 2018, many judges retired.

“For people who wanted to run for a judgeship, they [didn’t] have to do it because the governor got to appoint,” she says. “But once you’re an incumbent, people are gonna be like, ‘Oh, wow, they’re a Supreme Court judge. They must have credibility.’”

Another big race to watch is Cobb County commissioner since debate over redistricting is currently taking place there, after the Cobb County Commission’s decision to overrule state legislative redistricting.

This debate has risen to the state level over whether counties have the right to draw their own district lines or the state does, with a legal battle recently going to the Georgia Supreme Court. This decision could radically change how redistricting is decided — and therefore voting and elections — within Georgia moving forward.

“I attended [my local] community sessions to see what was going to happen to the redistribution of power and lines, because I was concerned about those things. In other places, they didn’t really hold countywide or city meetings around redistricting. They just allowed the legislature to create these bills to circumvent the will of the people and made it very inequitable for people to have access to it,” Dennis said.

For congressional races, six Republicans want their party’s nomination to succeed Ferguson in a district that runs along the Alabama border and east into the Atlanta suburbs. Two democrats, Incumbent U.S. House of Representatives members Lucy McBath and David Scott, face challenges from their own party in redrawn districts.

Two Fulton County races have been in the national spotlight because of the court case indicting former President Donald Trump related to efforts to overturn 2020 election results. Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, who is prosecuting the former president, and Fulton County Superior Court Judge Scott McAfee, who is the presiding judge in the case, are both being challenged.

Fulton County and Clayton County also have key races for sheriff. 

One race, for two of five seats on the Georgia Public Service Commission which was to be on the ballot on November 5 of this year, is no longer scheduled per a decision made in March. The office of the Georgia Secretary of State announced that the election would not be held due to an ongoing lawsuit challenging the structure of elections for this role.

Voter Guide

When, Where, and How Do I Vote?

• Before every election make sure you’re registered to vote. If you are not already registered to vote, it is too late to do so for the election on May 21.
• Check your voter registration status, mail-in ballot status, polling location, a sample ballot for the upcoming legislation, and more through the My Voter Page.
• Early voting for this election ends May 17, and to vote by mail (with an absentee ballot) 
• Your last opportunity to vote in person for the primary election is on May 21. Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. If you are in line by 7 p.m., you are allowed to vote. Bring your photo ID to the polls.
• If you encounter a problem at the polls, contact your County Board of Registrar’s Office or the Georgia Secretary of State. You can call the Secretary of State at 404-656-2817 (in metro Atlanta) or 877-725-9797 (elsewhere in Georgia) to report an issue. You can also submit a complaint online to the Secretary of State Elections Division.
• After you vote, check for future elections through the official election calendar.

Who’s up for Election?

For a full list of candidates up for election, click here. Access a sample ballot for your area here.

• Federal
  • National House of Representatives: The U.S. House of Representatives makes and passes federal laws. The House is one of Congress’s two chambers (the other is the U.S. Senate). At least one Democrat and one Republican are contesting each of Georgia’s 14 congressional districts.

• State

• • Georgia State Senate: With 56 members elected every two years, the Georgia Senate meets over a non-consecutive 40-day period starting in mid-January. They set the state’s annual operating budget and create and amend laws on everything from healthcare and public safety to taxes and education. Senators represent the entire state.
  • Georgia State House of Representatives: Similar to the senate, they create and amend laws. However, they represent individual districts (as opposed to the entire state). In Georgia, there are 180 districts, with one representative for each.
  • Georgia Court of Appeals: Decisions made by the state’s lower trial courts in civil and criminal cases sometimes make their way to the Court of Appeals if there is disagreement about the verdict. Georgia has 15 judges that serve in five divisions.
  • Georgia Supreme Court: Sometimes after the Court of Appeals, if a petition is made and granted the case can go to the Supreme Court for an additional decision. On top of this, this court rules on important questions, especially those with heavy debate, like the constitutionality of state statutes, election contests, and criminal cases in which the death sentence was or could have been imposed. Georgia has nine justices that hear oral arguments for cases three to four times a month.

• Local 

• • Fulton County: District Attorney, Tax Commissioner, Solicitor General, three Board of Education seats, three Commission seats, Probate Judge, and seven State Court judge seats, ten Georgia Senate seats, 22 Georgia House of Representative seats, three U.S. House of Representative seats, and more
  • DeKalb County: Sheriff, four seats on the Board of Education, Tax Commissioner, four Commissioner seats, Chief Executive Officer, Clerk for Superior Court, and multiple judge seats
  • Clayton County: Sheriff, Tax Commissioner, five Board of Education seats, two Board of Commissioner seats, District Attorney, Probate Judge, Clerk of Superior Court, Chief Magistrate, Solicitor General, three Superior Court judge seats, four Georgia Supreme Court judge seats, three seats in the Georgia Senate, six seats in the Georgia House of Representatives, and two seats in the U.S. House of Representatives
  • Gwinnett County: Sheriff, Tax Commissioner, District Attorney, Clerk of Gwinnett Superior Court, three Board of Education seats, two Board of Commissioners seats, District Attorney, Clerk of the Superior Court, six Superior Court judge seats, five State Court judge seats, Chief Magistrate, four Georgia Supreme Court justice seats, seven Georgia Appeals Court judge seats, eight seats in the Georgia Senate, 20 seats in the Georgia House of Representatives, and four seats in the U.S. House of Representatives
  • Cobb County: Sheriff, two Board of Commissioners seats, Clerk of State Court, Clerk of Superior Court, District Attorney, Probate Judge, Chief Magistrate, four Georgia Supreme Court seats, seven Georgia Appeals Court judge seats, six seats in the Georgia Senate, 16 seats in the Georgia House of Representatives, and three seats in the U.S. House of Representatives

Editors: Stephanie Toone and Kamille Whittaker

Fact Checker: Julianna Bragg

Canopy Atlanta Reader: Heather Buckner