COLUMBUS, Ga. - The votes from Nov. 3 are counted, and the weeks after a big election are the easiest time to fix a voter registration before the next one. A new address, a new last name or a move across the Chattahoochee River can leave a voter with the wrong precinct or no usable record. Georgia and Alabama both let voters check their records online, and both set cutoffs that arrive weeks before an election.

The rules below come from the state's voter pages on Georgia.gov, the Muscogee County Elections and Registration Office and the Alabama Secretary of State. They apply to voters in Muscogee and Harris counties in Georgia and Russell County in Alabama. Military and overseas voters have separate procedures that are not covered here.

Georgia: start with My Voter Page

Georgia's lookup tool is My Voter Page, at mvp.sos.ga.gov. The state says voters can use it to check their registration status, find voter ID requirements and locate their polling place. The Muscogee County elections office adds that the page shows a voter's sample ballot and the advance voting dates and times for an upcoming election.

Georgia Public Broadcasting, in a 2022 guide, called the page a one-stop shop for registration information, polling place, sample ballots, districts and voter participation history. That last item can show whether a ballot cast this fall was credited. Voters without internet access can call the Muscogee office at 706-653-4392, its website says.

The 5 things to check

• Status: whether the record is there at all, and under the right name.
• Address: whether the street address matches where you sleep now.
• Polling place: the Election Day precinct, which Muscogee's office says is the only place you may vote that day.
• Districts: the local, state and congressional districts tied to the address.
• History: whether your most recent ballot shows up in your participation record.

On Election Day a Georgia voter must use the assigned precinct, but during early voting any open site in the county will do, the Muscogee office says. That is why an outdated address matters. A voter who moved and never updated the record is still assigned to the old polling place.

How to fix a Georgia record

Georgia.gov says a voter who moves must file a notice of the new address in writing with the county Board of Registrars' office or submit a new voter registration application. The Muscogee office breaks that into two cases. A voter who moved within Muscogee County can fill out the form on the back of the precinct card and mail it to the Voter Registration Office, P.O. Box 1340, Columbus, GA 31902-1340.

A voter who moved into Muscogee County from another county or state, or whose legal name changed, must complete a new voter registration application, the office says. The state offers two ways to do that: its online voter registration system or a postage-paid paper application mailed to the Secretary of State. Georgia.gov says a new precinct card should arrive afterward, and that a voter who has not received one within three to four weeks should call the county office.

To register in Georgia, a person must be a U.S. citizen and a legal resident of the county, according to Georgia.gov. The person must be at least 17 1/2 years old to register and 18 to vote, must not be serving a sentence for a felony involving moral turpitude and must not have been found mentally incompetent by a judge. Muscogee's office says a person with a felony conviction can vote again once every part of the sentence is complete, including probation, restitution and fines.

The deadlines

Muscogee County's office states the Georgia rule in one line: a voter must be registered by the fifth Monday before an election to vote in it. The office also says a change of address must be submitted at least 30 days before an election. Both cutoffs fall before early voting begins, so a voter who waits until then has missed them.

Georgia.gov lists Dec. 1 as the date for any general election runoff, with polls open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and says anyone registered to vote in Georgia can vote in a runoff. Counting back five Mondays from Dec. 1 lands on Nov. 2, which has already passed. As of Monday, Nov. 9, the notices on the Muscogee County elections website did not include one for a Dec. 1 runoff.

Harris County voters

Harris County voters use the same state website and the same deadlines. The county's Board of Elections and Registration is at 757 Carver Circle in Hamilton, and its phone number is 706-628-5210, according to the county website. Commissioners hired a new elections supervisor, Salenthia Thomas, in August, county minutes show.

Alabama: one form does both jobs

Across the river, the Alabama Secretary of State says its voter registration application can be used either to register or to update a record. Voters can submit it electronically, download and mail it to the county Board of Registrars, or ask the state to mail a form by calling 1-800-274-8683. To check a record, the state's Alabama Votes site links to a lookup at myinfo.alabamavotes.gov that shows registration status and political districts.

Alabama closes registration during the 14 days before an election and on election day, according to the Secretary of State's question-and-answer page. The same page warns that registration does not follow a voter from one county to another, so a move across a county line means registering again. It also notes that turning in an application is not proof of registration until the registrars send an acknowledgment, usually a voter ID card.

The Russell County Board of Registrars is at 1000 Broad St. in Phenix City, and its phone number is 334-298-1443, according to the state's list of county registrars. Its mailing address is P.O. Box 700, Phenix City, AL 36868-0700. A voter who moves from Columbus to Phenix City has to register in Alabama, whose form, the Secretary of State notes, is for Alabama residents only.

Where to go in person

The Muscogee County Elections and Registration Office is at 3111 Citizens Way in Columbus and lists hours of 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, closed on holidays. Its general email is [email protected]. The office also takes poll worker applicants, who must be at least 16, at [email protected].