It is the last day to register to vote in November, and the first day counties may mail absentee ballots. One deadline closes a door. The other opens one.
Monday, October 5 is the voter registration deadline for Georgia's November 3 general election. It is also the first day county registrars may begin mailing out requested absentee ballots.
The two are unrelated in law and easy to confuse in practice, so it is worth separating them.
October 5 is twenty-nine days before Election Day, and it is the last day to register, or to update the registration you already have.
That second clause is the one people miss. If you moved — across town, across the county line, into a new apartment in the same building — and your registration still carries the old address, October 5 is your deadline to fix it. An address determines your precinct, and your precinct determines which ballot you get and where you go to cast it.
Checking takes about a minute at mvp.sos.ga.gov. Enter your name and county and the state tells you your registration status, your polling place, your districts, and your elected officials.
The same day, counties may start putting requested absentee ballots in the mail. If you requested one in August or September, October 5 is roughly when to start watching the mailbox — the Secretary of State's office says it can take up to two weeks to arrive.
Requesting a ballot and registering to vote are different actions. You must already be registered for a ballot request to mean anything.
Statewide, November 3 carries one of Georgia's two U.S. Senate seats and all fourteen U.S. House seats. It carries Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, and State School Superintendent.
Below that, the ballot changes by address: legislative seats, judicial races, county commission, school board, and any local questions your county or city has put to voters. This is the part nobody can tell you from a distance.
Your personalized sample ballot is on the same My Voter Page. Look at it before Election Day rather than in the booth. The offices at the top of the ballot get the coverage; the ones at the bottom decide zoning, school calendars, and property tax rates.
Dates and rules here come from the Georgia Secretary of State and georgia.gov. Deadlines can change. Confirm anything you are relying on at mvp.sos.ga.gov or with your county Board of Registrars before you act on it.