The short version
Georgia uses partisan primaries. Party candidates get on the ballot by qualifying with their party and paying a qualifying fee during the qualifying period; independent and political-body candidates instead gather nomination-petition signatures to reach the general-election ballot.
- Offices you can run for
- Federal (U.S. House and Senate); statewide offices (Governor and other constitutional officers, Public Service Commission); the State Senate and House; county and municipal offices; and (nonpartisan) judicial seats.
- How to get on the ballot
- Party candidates file during the qualifying window and pay a qualifying fee set as a percentage of the office's salary. Independents and political bodies instead file nomination petitions with the required signatures from voters in the district (statewide petitions are large; district counts are smaller). The Elections Division publishes a qualifying FAQ and fee schedule each cycle.
- Who runs candidate filing
- Georgia Secretary of State — Elections Division(404) 656-2871
This is a plain-language overview, not legal advice. Filing deadlines and fees change every election cycle and vary by office — the official Georgia resources below are the final word. When in doubt, the elections authority is right and we're wrong.
Official Georgia candidate resources
Start here for the exact deadlines, fees, forms, and signature counts for your office and cycle.
Once you're on the ballot, Motion51 runs your field game.
Get your district's voter file loaded, cut into walkable turf, and onto an app your volunteers use at the door. Georgia is fully available — see how to get your voter file.
Talk to us about your Georgia race
Tell us what you're running for and we'll help you go from "qualified" to "knocking doors" — voter file loaded, turf cut, volunteers set up.