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Crisp County Elections Supervisor Becky Perkins has installed a secure drop box at the Government Center located at 210 S. 7^th St. where voters can safely deposit absentee ballots for the June 9 primary election.

Perkins said the drop box, located near the center’s main entrance, is under 24-hour video surveillance, the footage of which will be maintained for 30 days after the election to ensure ballot integrity.

Perkins and her staff have already received approximately 400 absentee ballots for the primary election in Crisp County. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger mailed absentee ballot request forms to every Georgia voter in late March in an effort to minimize the spread of the novel coronavirus, the cause of a worldwide COVID-19 pandemic that has so far claimed the lives of 1,111 Georgians.

Perkins said the absentee balloting push will likely ease the strain on the public health system that has been stressed to the breaking point in many communities. The majority of poll workers are retirees, and state and federal health experts have widely noted that COVID-19 tends to hit older people harder.

“We’re going to try to run this election as safely as possible and practice proper social distancing so we don’t spread the coronavirus,” Perkins said.

“Our goal was to keep voters safe and take the pressure off of our in-person voting locations,” Raffensperger said Thursday in a Capitol news conference. “We have more than achieved that goal.”

Early voting for the June 9 primary begins on May 18. The final day to register to vote in the primary is May 11. Check future editions of the Dispatch for information on local candidates and races, and visit mvp.sos.ga.gov/ for more information from the secretary of state’s elections department.