Candidate qualifying for the July primary and non-partisan elections began Wednesday morning at 9 a.m. and will continue until noon on Friday.

Locally, qualifying for non-partisan elections will take place at the Decatur County Board of Elections office, located in the Courthouse Annex on Water Street in downtown Bainbridge.

The Democratic Committee of Decatur County will conduct qualifying for candidates planning to run as Democrats in local partisan elections. It will set up in the back lobby of the County Administration Building at 203 W. Broughton St.

The Republican Party of Decatur County will conduct qualifying for Republican candidates at the office of Attorney Ryan Cleveland, across from the county courthouse at 113 W. Water St.

Both the Board of Elections, Democratic Committee and Republican Party will conduct qualifying between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. on Wednesday and Thursday, and between 9 a.m. and noon on Friday.

Qualifying for political parties for state offices will be conducted at the parties’ respective headquarters in Atlanta. Some of those offices include U.S. Representative, Public Service Commissioner, State Senator, State Representative and District Attorney.

The elections of July 31 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.

Local nonpartisan elections include three Board of Education seats, Probate Judge, Chief Magistrate Judge and State Court Judge.

Local partisan elections include three County Board of Commissioners seats, Sheriff, Clerk of Court, Coroner, Treasurer and Tax Commissioner.

For more information on qualifying, please visit the Secretary of State’s website at www.sos.ga.gov. For additional information on political party qualifying, please contact the Georgia Republican Party at www.gagop.org, or the Democratic Party of Georgia at www.democraticpartyofgeorgia.org.

The Decatur County Board of Elections’ phone number is (229) 243-2087.