Candidates Can Qualify For State, County Offices Wednesday

Election season officially begins Wednesday when qualifying opens for July 31 elections. Note that didn't say campaign season–we've all seen the campaign started weeks or months ago by state and local candidates.

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp said qualifying will begin at 9 a.m. on Wednesday, May 23, and end at noon on Friday, May 25. The State Elections Division will conduct qualifying of candidates for nonpartisan state offices at its main location in Atlanta and at its South Georgia office in Tifton.

In partisan races, all General Assembly seats–in both the state House and Senate–are up for election. Since the last election, redistricting has changed the political landscape, and North Fulton has benefitted with additional representation in the state Capitol.

Alpharetta and Milton are now represented in House Districts 22, 47 and 49. Most of the two cities will be represented by Senate District 21, with a smaller portion by District 56.

North Fulton and parts of DeKalb and Cobb counties are in the Sixth Congressional District of Georgia for the U.S. House of Representatives.

The elections include general nonpartisan elections, party primaries and local elections. Nonpartisan state offices include offices of the Justice of the Supreme Court, Judge of Court of Appeals and Judge of Superior Court. 

Filing fees in Fulton County for county offices are:

• State Court Judge, $4,378.98
• Fulton County Solicitor, $4,387.17
• Fulton County Sheriff, $3,421.21
• Fulton County Judge of Probate Court, $3,282.77
• Fulton County Clerk of Superior Court, $3,282.77
• Fulton County Tax Commissioner, $3,282.77
• Fulton County School Board District 1, $555.00
• Fulton County School Board District 3, $555.00
• Fulton County School Board District 4, $555.00
• Fulton County Surveyor, $100

For more information on qualifying, visit the Secretary of State’s website. Or visit that office's My Voter Page for individual voter information. For additional information on political party qualifying, please contact the Georgia Republican Party, or the Democratic Party of Georgia.