ATLANTA (WRBL) — The Secretary of State for Georgia, Brad Raffensperger, has announced that the State’s presidential preference primary will take place on March 12, 2024.

This date falls one week after the “Super Tuesday” of states such as Texas, California, and North Carolina, and one week before other significant states like Arizona, Florida, and Ohio.

Unlike other partisan primaries, the presidential primaries in Georgia utilize different formulas and requirements to award delegates to candidates, in accordance with rules governed by the Democratic National Committee and Republican National Committee.

Earlier this year, the DNC voted to move Georgia to the early window of states, with South Carolina leading on Feb. 3, followed by New Hampshire and Nevada on Feb. 6, then Georgia on Feb. 13 and Michigan two weeks later, instead of starting with Iowa.

However, Raffensperger’s office has confirmed that Georgia will not hold presidential primaries on two separate days because Republican delegate rules would penalize Georgia or any other state that encroaches on the early window.

March 12 falls later than Georgia’s “SEC primary” of mainly Southern states, which voted on March 1 in 2016, and earlier than the March 24 plan for 2020, which was delayed twice by the coronavirus pandemic but could play a crucial role in a contested Republican primary.

Under RNC rules, any presidential primary, caucus, convention, or other delegate selection process held prior to March 15 must use proportional allocation instead of a winner-takes-all scenario. This means that candidates who perform well in different congressional districts would split the state’s estimated 59 delegates.