Georgia election officials extend use of ballot drop boxes

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s state election board has voted to extend a rule allowing counties to utilize absentee ballot drop boxes through elections in November.

The board voted unanimously Wednesday 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.

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