For those individuals participating in the upcoming 2016 election cycle across Georgia, there are a multitude of important election law and campaign finance deadlines worthy of attention.  In order to highlight those key dates for your convenience, the Dentons Political Law team has prepared the following summary calendar.

RED events are campaign disclosure deadlines and BLUE events are election-related dates.

Please click this link if you would like to have the following dates downloaded into your Outlook calendar.

  • February 5, 2016 – January 31, 2016 Campaign Contribution Disclosure Report due (for period covering July 1, 2015 – January 31, 2016).
  • March 1, 2016 – Presidential Primary Election Day (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-191).
  • March 7, 2016 (9:00 a.m.) – March 11, 2016 (12:00 p.m./noon) – Qualifying week for partisan and certain non-partisan elections

    • By state law, qualifying week for partisan elections must be three to five consecutive days and begin at 9:00 a.m. on the Monday of the thirty-fifth week immediately prior to the election and end at 12:00 p.m. (noon) on the following Friday (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-132(d)(1) – O.C.G.A. § 21-2-132(d)(3)).
    • By state law, qualifying week for judicial elections must be three to five consecutive days and begin at 9:00 a.m. on the Monday of the eleventh week immediately prior to the election and end at 12:00 p.m. (noon) on the following Friday (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-132(c)(1) – O.C.G.A. § 21-2-132(c)(3)).
    • Qualifying for certain municipal non-partisan elections will occur beginning on August 29, 2016.
    • Note – A Financial Disclosure Statement covering the period of the preceding calendar year must be filed no later than the fifteenth day following the date of qualifying as a candidate. Candidates for statewide office file not later than seven days after qualifying for office.
  • April 7, 2016 – March 31, 2016 Campaign Contribution Disclosure Report due (for period covering February 1, 2016 – March 31, 2016).

    Note – Contributions of $1,000 or more that are received between April 1 through May 24, 2016 must be reported within two business days of receipt (O.C.G.A. § 21-5-34(c)(2)(C)).
  • April 26, 2016 – Last day for a person to register and be eligible to vote in the General Primary/Non-Partisan/Special Election and Runoff Election (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-224(a)).
  • May 2, 2016 – Advanced (Absentee In-Person) Voting begins for the General Primary/Non-Partisan/Special Election (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-385(d)(1)).
  • May 14, 2016 – Mandatory Saturday Voting for the General Primary/Non-Partisan/Special Election (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-385(d)(1)).
  • May 24, 2016General Primary Election Day (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-150) and Judicial Election Day (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-138).
  • July 1, 2016 – Deadline to file State Personal Financial Disclosure form for incumbents.
  • July 8, 2016 – June 30, 2016 Campaign Contribution Disclosure Report due (for period covering April 1, 2016 – June 30, 2016).
  • July 26, 2016 – General Primary Runoff, Nonpartisan General Runoff Election and Special Runoff Election.
  • October 7, 2016 – September 30, 2016 Campaign Contribution Disclosure Report due (for period covering July 1, 2016 – September 30, 2016).
  • November 1, 2016 – October 25, 2016 Campaign Contribution Disclosure Report due (for period covering October 1, 2016 – October 25, 2016).

    Note – Contributions of $1,000 or more that are received between October 26 through November 8, 2016 must be reported within two business days of receipt (O.C.G.A. § 21-5-34(c)(2)(C)).
  • November 8, 2016 – General Election Day (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-9(c)).
  • December 6, 2016 – Non-federal General Election Runoff (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-501(a)(4)).
  • January 6, 2017 – December 31, 2016 Campaign Contribution Disclosure Report due (for period covering October 26, 2016 – December 31, 2016).
  • January 10, 2017 – Federal General Election Runoff (O.C.G.A. § 21-2-501(a)(3)).

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The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.