Georgia officials urge voters to use drop boxes instead of mailing absentee ballots

Gabe Sterling speaks at a podium at the Georgia State Capitol. Brad Raffensperger and Blake Evans stand next to him.
Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer of the Georgia Secretary of State's Office, speaks at a Wednesday press conference next to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Elections Director Blake Evans. (Rahul Bali/WABE)

This story was updated on Thursday, Oct. 31 at 12:39 p.m.

Georgia election officials are telling voters to put their absentee ballots in drop boxes at designated locations in their counties rather than mailing them at this point in the race.

On Monday, the U.S. Postal Service told Georgia voters to mail their absentee ballots a week before Election Day to ensure that election officials will receive their ballots by the closing of polls on Tuesday, Nov. 5. There is now less than a week until then.