The voting season has just begun, and the next several months are full of special elections, primaries and runoffs.

Early voting for the 9th District U.S. House runoff ended Friday. Early voting for the July primary begins today, then voters go to the polls Tuesday for the runoff.

Confused yet?

“I think it’s really confusing,” said John Lees, 62, of Dahlonega. “I don’t really have an answer, but maybe there’s a better way to coordinate all the elections.”

One answer? Go to the polls anyway.

“I think some voters might get confused, but that’s why we’re here,” said Charlotte Sosebee, Hall County interim election supervisor.

“We’ll help them make sure they understand what they’re voting for and which race they came in to vote for.”

In Dawson County, the confusion is sometimes so frustrating that voters get angry, election supervisor Glenda Ferguson said.

“We had some really confused voters today who thought they were voting for the July election because we already sent out our ballots,” she said Friday. “When they get here, they realize. We knew that would probably happen, though, when you have elections so close together.”

Barbara Luth, Forsyth County’s election supervisor, is worried about a low turnout and hopes the many candidates and voting decisions won’t keep people from the polls.“I think there’s a little confusion because what’s happened is going to happen again,” she said.

“The special election candidates are the same who are going to be on the primary ballot, and voters may wonder why they’re worrying about it now rather than for the full term.”

The confusion is exacerbated when information about candidates, issues and election dates isn’t circulated as well for state and local races, Lees said.

“Up in Dahlonega, sometimes the publicity isn’t very good, and you won’t get the information if you’re not paying close attention,” he said. “When you have five candidates, it’s easier to read about the frontrunners who have the attention of the community or the press, but what about the others?”

Douglas Young, a political science professor at Gainesville State College, says the best solution to such a muddled election schedule is to keep voters energized.

“I give extra credit for my students who go vote, and I don’t vote early during the semester because I want to go to the polls and wear the sticker on my shirt to classes all day,” he said.

“I tell my students that if they don’t vote, they don’t count. Our self-esteem shouldn’t be so low that we’re willing to entrust important decisions to perfect strangers — we never let people choose our job, what classes we take or who we date.”