DPG Shares Party’s Emergency Measures to Protect Against COVID-19

ATLANTA – The Democratic Party of Georgia has taken emergency measures designed to protect Georgians health and combat the spread of COVID-19. These measures include: 

• Georgia’s Presidential Preference Primary has been postponed until Tuesday, May 19th. 
• DPG headquarters will be closed from March 13 onwards, with all staff working remotely, until further notice. 
• All DPG events scheduled from March 13th onwards are postponed until further notice. This includes fundraisers, community events, party meetings, and organizing events. 
• All organizing efforts, including direct voter contact, will shift from in-person work to virtual work, and we call on campaigns to do the same. 

Democratic Party of Georgia Chairwoman Nikema Williams released the following statement: 

“The Democratic Party of Georgia is putting public health and safety first, and we are doing everything we can to stop the spread of COVID-19 and protect Georgians. We have postponed all party events for the foreseeable future, and are transitioning our vital organizing and voter protection work to be done remotely in a safe manner to lower the risk of transmission. 

We know how important it is to keep up our work to protect the vote and reach out to voters in every corner of our state, and we are adapting our work to be done in a safe way. All campaigns, candidates, and local parties should join us in this effort, and transition organizing work to be done remotely for the time being. 

These are hard decisions to make, but we are dealing with unprecedented challenges that we will rise to meet together. Georgia Democrats will continue to do our part to keep Georgians safe, and continue to follow the guidance of public health officials as this crisis continues.” 

Below is a more detailed explanation of the changes adopted by the DPG. 

• Elections & Voter Protection
  • Georgia’s Presidential Preference Primary has been postponed to May 19th. All votes already cast in the primary election will be counted, and those voters will be able to cast their votes for down ballot candidates on May 19th. 
  • DPG’s Voter Protection program continues to help all Georgia voters with any questions about the voting process – all voters can get assistance by calling the Voter Protection Hotline at 888-730-5816. 
  • We are encouraging all Georgia voters to vote by mail for the foreseeable future, beginning with the May primary. 
• DPG Programming 
  • All DPG in-person events scheduled from March 13th onward are postponed until further notice. This includes fundraisers, community events, party meetings, and organizing events. 
  • The DPG is working with the DNC to evaluate options for a safe delegate selection process, and will release changes to the Delegate Selection Plan in the upcoming weeks in accordance with the new primary date. 
• Office Protocol
  • The DPG will shift all campaign organizing efforts, including direct voter contact, from in-person work to virtual work and we encourage campaigns to do the same. 
  • The DPG headquarters will be closed from March 13th onwards as we continue to monitor the situation. All DPG staff members are working remotely.

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