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THURSDAY. MARCH 3. 2022 PICKENS COUNTY PROGRESS PAGE 9A
Georgia Voter Registration and 2022 Election Information
Submitted by Barbara Bal-
ducci
Pickens County Board of
Elections and Registration
Member
Georgia state election year
2022 is upon us. No doubt it
will be a busy and exciting
election year for all Geor
gians. This is the first of sev
eral informational articles to
advise eligible voters about
voter registration and elec
tion timelines.
Important information
about voter registration:
If you are a newly eligible
Georgia voter, you can re
quest an application from the
Georgia Secretary of State
website or your local county
Board of Elections and Reg
istration. You can also regis
ter to vote when applying for
a Georgia driver’s license. If
you have previously regis
tered or are newly registered
to vote, make sure that your
residential address and mail
ing address are correct in the
Georgia Secretary of State
voter registration system.
You can verify your voter in
formation by accessing
https://www.sos.ga.gov/MVP
Your residential address
(911 address) must be used
when registering to vote. If
your mailing address is dif
ferent than your residential
address, it is important to
make sure your mailing ad
dress is correct. You can
check your mailing address
by requesting a precinct card
be printed in
https://www.sos.ga.gov/MVP
The mailing address
maintained in Secretary of
State voter registration sys
tem will be on the front.
All questions pertaining to
your voter registration infor
mation can be answered as
follows:
For Pickens County resi
dents; Pickens County Board
of Elections and Registration,
83 Pioneer Blvd, Jasper, GA,
30143, phone number, 706-
253-8781, Monday through
Friday 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.
2022 Georgia Election and
Voter Registration Calendar:
March 7: Earliest day to
apply for an absentee ballot
for May primary election.
Absentee ballot requirements
and applications can be
found at
https://www.sos.ga.gov/MVP
or contact your local county
Board of Elections and Reg
istration.
April 5: Earliest day for a
registrar to mail an absentee
ballot for May primary. You
can verify your absentee bal
lot status at
https://www.sos.ga.gov/MVP
April 25: Voter registra
tion deadline for May 24th
primary election and June
21st state primary runoff (if
necessary). Verify that your
voter registration is current at
https://www.sos.ga.gov/MVP
or contact your local county
Board of Elections and Reg
istration.
May 13: Last day to sub
mit absentee ballot applica
tion for May 24th primary.
May 2-20: Advanced in-
person voting (and absentee
ballot drop boxes) for May
24th primary election. Satur
day voting will be May 7th
and May 14th. Voting for
Pickens county residents will
be held at the Pickens County
Community Center, 1329
Camp Rd, Jasper, GA30143.
Hours and dates for advanced
in-person voting will be ad
vertised at a later date.
May 23: The last day for
a person to register and be el
igible to vote in the general
primary election run-off (if
necessary) where there is a
federal candidate on the bal
lot.
May 24: Primary election.
In-person voting 7 a.m.-7
p.m. at your assigned local
precinct. Also last day for
mailed absentee ballots to
reach the county and count.
Must be received by 7:00
p.m.
Primary Election Runoff
Information (if required):
June 1-13: Advanced in-
person voting begins for the
June 21st primary. Hours and
dates for advanced in-person
voting will be advertised at a
later date.
June 10: Last day to sub
mit an absentee ballot appli
cation for June runoff.
June 21: Primary election
runoff, in-person voting 7
a.m. - 7 p.m. at your assigned
local precinct. Also last day
for mailed absentee ballots to
reach county and count, must
be received by 7 p.m.
Master Gardener tips for success with
heirloom and native plants
Into to heirloom
gardening
symposium to be
offered March 26
Dee Boggus
Pickens Master Gardener
As an experienced gar
dener I am often treated by
my family as a sort of rescue
hospice for ailing plants.
Sometimes my efforts bring
plants back to life but (sadly)
not always. I will be the first
to admit that not all of my
gardening attempts have
been successful. In this arti
cle I will identify and explain
common gardening mistakes
that prevent success in any
landscape.
Always start with a
healthy specimen. When
choosing a healthy plant, do
not just pick the first pot in a
row- take time to carefully
check out your options. Look
for bright, even leaf color and
new growth. If the foliage is
weak or wilted or the stem
seems loose where it meets
the soil, choose another. Your
plant choice should be com
pact rather than leggy as this
indicates growth struggle. If
roots are emerging from the
drainage holes in the pot’s
bottom, your plant may be
root bound. You need to
loosen the roots of a root
bound plant when installing
and this condition could in
terfere with plant develop
ment. If your plant pick is
blooming, choose one with
more closed buds than open
flowers so that the plant has
energy for growing rather
than flowering. You should
always check the plant tag to
be sure perennials are zoned
A fringe tree in bloom from the author’s yard. An exam
ple of being sure you have the right plant in the right place.
for your area.
Another reason gardening
endeavors do not succeed is a
lack of planning. The old
adage “chose the right plant
for the right place” is always
appropriate. To follow this
maxim, you must get to know
your garden. Visit the pro
posed planting site often until
you can answer the following
questions: Does the sun hit
the soil directly? How many
hours of direct sun? (Six
hours or more is required for
plants that are tagged full
sun.) Do you have clay soil
or rocky? Boggy soil or dry?
(Soil tests from your friendly
county extension office
would be handy here.) Is the
planting site windy? Does it
have the hot spots that often
occur on the south or west
sides of walls or pavement?
Check for dry spots under
roof eaves or evergreen trees.
If you can answer all of these
concerns and carefully match
plant with site, you will in
crease planting success.
Lastly, garden success
often starts with heirloom
and native plants. Oftentimes
newer hybrid plants are diffi
cult to grow but heirloom
plants that have been in cul
tivation for at least 50 years
do not have the same issues.
If you obtain your heirlooms
from neighbors or family
members then they will most
likely be a winner in your
landscape. Native plants are
indigenous to an area and in
clude plants that occur there
naturally. They have devel
oped in a particular location
or existed for years in an
area. As an added bonus, na-
Report from the Capitol
By State Representatiue Rick Jasperse
During this seventh week
of the 2022 legislative ses
sion, we saw a lot of action in
committees and voting on
legislation to send to the Sen
ate for their consideration. I
always try to give you some
insight on what is going on
under the Gold Dome each
week. As we approach what
we call Crossover Day in the
next few weeks, the pace in
our committees has really
picked up. On Wednesday I
had the opportunity to go to
14 different meetings. I made
it to 11; those others were for
a meeting with a group visit
ing the Capitol.
I am honored to be a
member of the leadership of
our Rules Committee. We
meet every day to hear mem
bers request for their bills to
be heard on the floor. The re
sponsibility of the Rules
Committee is to determine if
that bill will be heard on the
House Floor or should it be
sent back to committee for
further work or sometimes
not be moved forward at all.
This takes a lot of work on
our part, as we have to know
what each bill really does and
the effect it may have on you,
your family, or your pocket-
book.
One bill I know you may
have been interested in con
cerned our schools. These
days, many school systems
utilize virtual learning oppor
tunities, and the number of
students with school-issued
laptops or tablet devices has
dramatically increased so
children can learn from
home. To keep up with this
evolving learning environ
ment, the House passed
House Bill 1217, or the Stu
dent Technology Protection
Act, to promote the safe and
appropriate use of school-is
sued technology, whether
students are using these de
vices in the classroom or
while learning from home.
The Student Technology Pro
tection Act would require
each local board of education
and charter school governing
body to adopt an acceptable-
use policy this year that could
better prevent and prohibit
any school computer or net
work from accessing obscene
materials, child pornography,
or material that is deemed
harmful to minors.
Each school system would
also take necessary steps to
implement and enforce its
new acceptable-use policy, as
well as update school tech
nology to better block or fil
ter access to these explicit
materials online.
If the State Board of Edu
cation finds that a school has
five and heirloom plants are
more resistant to or recover
more easily from animal
browsing than newer vari
eties.
If you are interested in
learning more about heir
loom plants, the Pickens
Master Gardeners group is
offering a free educational
event entitled “Introduction
to Heirloom Gardening Sym
posium.” The symposium
will be a drop in event so that
you will be able to pick
which of the following topics
you wish to pursue- bees,
beneficial pollinators, soil re
quirements, seed starting,
planting modalities, heirloom
plants, and 12 principles of
garden design. The “Intro
duction to Heirloom Garden
ing Symposium” will be on
Saturday, March 26 from 1 to
3 p.m. at the Pickens County
Extension office (in the
Chamber of Commerce
building) at 502 Veterans
Memorial Blvd. in Jasper.
COVID safety protocol will
be followed (masks encour
aged but optional). Call 706-
253-8840 for more
information.
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do:
not followed its acceptable-
use policy, the board could
withhold a portion of state
funding allotted for that
school.
As technology continues
to evolve quickly, this bill
would ensure that Georgia’s
public schools have these
policies in place and are
equipped with the resources
they need to protect children
from harmful online content.
I do list other bills we took
action on, on my Facebook
page with links to the bills
and vote on the bills, as I
could take up the whole
paper. . . I have received a
number of calls about all
sorts of issues this week, and
I am glad you trust me to an
swer them. It has always
been one of my top priorities
to help my constituents and
to hear your feedback about
the work we are doing in At
lanta. I encourage you to
reach out if you have any
questions or concerns regard
ing legislation that has been
discussed or passed so far.
You can reach my Capitol of
fice at 404-656-7153, or you
can email me directly at
rick.jasperse@house.ga.gov.
As always, thank you for al
lowing me to serve as your
State Representative and leg
islative voice here at the
Capitol.
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