Who will shape the laws that impact you and your family's lives?
The Georgia primary election runoff is Tuesday. Voters will be using Georgia's new voting machines and are encouraged to wear masks.
In Charlton County you'll be given one glove for your dominant hand. There will be sneeze guards and hand sanitizer and poll workers will be disinfecting surfaces and styluses.
Elections officials on the First Coast predict a low turnout. It's a small election with only a few races. However, these are people who will be in positions that can impact you and your family's lives; it's not a small election in terms of importance.
The big races on the First Coast are one congressional contest on the democrat ballot and one state senate race. Two commissioner seats, one in Glynn County and one in Camden County, are also up as well as the decision for sheriff in Pierce County.
Hodges encourages you to bring your mask to the ballot box and knowledge about what you're voting for.
"It breaks my heart, I see so many people walk in here and ask me, 'well what are we voting for?' and I tell them and they'll go to the machines and vote," Hodges said. "I'm like, 'you don't even know what you're voting for and you're gonna go vote?' But they do that. Go and find out for yourself and know what you're voting for! And be an informed voter but get out and vote."
Elections officials have also had to do some extra work assuring voters they want them to cast their ballots. Some of this may be because of the disaster the new voting machines created in a few Georgia counties farther north in June.
In June Georgia made headlines for new voting machines not working and making people wait long hours to vote in Fulton and DeKalb Counties. This made headlines again Thursday when a federal lawsuit was filed over this.
Hodges says fears over voter suppression are on people's minds. She helped a woman who called the voter protection hotline and it turns out she just didn't check the box to get a mail-in ballot.
"She informed me she was gonna get her vote," Hodges explained. "I said, 'I want you to vote. I want you to be able to vote.' I guess she thought it was gonna be a long, drawn-out thing because she asked me, 'well how long was that gonna take?' I said, 'well I'm working on it right now and I'll have it ready in about one minute.'"
Hodges says using the new voting machines went smoothly for them in Charlton County in June and people told her they liked the new system. She says they did have lines, which is unusual for the county, but that it was because people who signed up to do mail-in ballots showed up to the polls instead. That created more work on the poll workers' part.
Early voting is still going on in Florida and runs through at least Saturday in our First Coast Counties. The primary is August 18.