What is this?
a) That's a rude way to say hello.
b) It's a simple website that takes publicly available early voting information and organizes it in a way that's useful.
Who are you?
My name is Ryan. I live in Atlanta and do freelance marketing and analytics with fast-growing companies. I also post on Threads (first) and then also Twitter (reluctantly).
Who is paying for this?
So, exciting update on this! After doing this for 6 years I'm excited to announce that the Atlanta Journal-Constitution has licensed Georgia Votes data to help power their early voting reporting.
I'm working with the great data team there to take the data I'm crunching and turn it into more interesting stories and graphics.
Is this associated with the Secretary of State?
Nope. The only involvement that the GA SOS office has with this site is that the data I use is the data they make publicly available.
So this is basically just ... for fun?
Essentially, yes. If you like it that's cool. If you like it enough to want to work with me on something else that's even cooler!
How do you get this data
The Georgia Secretary of State makes absentee voter files available for free download. You can also download historical voter history files for free. Cue up a little scripting magic (I prefer Python) and you can cut everything up into a relational database. Go buy yourself the full voter list for $485, download the file (we're in the 2020s now, it's delivered digitally!), dust off some more Python scripts and you're set.
Can I see if my application has been processed?
You sure can! Just not on this site. Go to the My Voter Page that the state makes available, put in your information, and navigate to the ‘Click here for Absentee Ballot status’ link. You will get a pop up like the one below that tells you everything you need to know.
Why do this?
From time to time I like working on politics stuff.
Are there any more features coming?
Absolutely. I'm constantly looking for more feedback to make this site more usable and engaging for folks. So reach out if you have something else you'd like to see.
Do you do anything else fun?
If you like data and marketing stuff, I have a newsletter that goes out when I have something interesting to say.