Georgia’s state election board voted last week to extend a rule allowing counties to utilize absentee ballot drop boxes through elections in November.

The board voted unanimously to extend that rule as well as another that lets counties begin processing but not tallying absentee ballots before election day.

Those rules were initially approved before the state’s June 9 primary elections in order to help counties deal with a wave of mail ballots as voters sought to avoid voting in person because of the coronavirus pandemic.

Last week’s decision extends the rules so they stay in effect for primary runoffs in August and the general election Nov. 3.

Chattooga County did not elect to use the absentee ballot “drop boxes” but did take advantage of the rule that lets counties begin processing absentee ballots early.  In Chattooga County’s case, the ballots were processed early on Election Day during the June 9th Primary.  Normally, those ballots are not processed until 7 PM on Election Day.