If you plan to head to the polls in person for next Tuesday’s GOP primary runoff election, things might look slightly out of the ordinary as poll workers carry out social distancing precautions aimed at preventing the spread of COVID-19. The basic rules, though, won’t change: Just show up at your polling place, being sure to bring along a valid form of photo ID.

But if you’d prefer to social distance and keep your public contact to a minimum, you’ll need to act sooner. Thursday, July 9 is the last date that a voter can request an absentee ballot under Alabama Secretary of State John Merrill’s one-time-only special rule to accommodate COVID-19 distancing measures.

If you’re among the absentee voters who’ll be using that rule to keep your distance from polling places, the surest way to be certain your vote will beat the July 14 deadline is to visit the Cullman County Circuit Clerk’s office in person and conduct the entire process on site.

By law, absentee ballots can be requested in person, online, or by mail; and can be returned either in person or via mail. But as the days count down to next week’s runoff, visiting the clerk’s office to cast an in-person absentee ballot is the safest way to assure your vote will be registered by July 14, since it eliminates the time-consuming mail-in part of the process.

“If you come to the clerk’s office to vote absentee in person, you can come and conduct that whole process in one visit — so long as you bring that form of valid ID,” Circuit Clerk Lisa McSwain explained Tuesday.

Expired driver’s licenses that have not been renewed, owing to a backlog of local renewal appointments to honor social distancing, will not affect a voter’s eligibility to vote absentee — so long as the address on the license matches what the state has on file. “Just be sure you have a driver’s license or other valid form of voter ID that shows a home address that matches what’s recorded on the voter rolls,” said McSwain.

While being physically present to cast an absentee ballot seems to defeat the purpose of absentee voting, Merrill carved out a one-time statewide exception for the July 14 runoff early in the pandemic, in order to offer an alternative to voters concerned about social distancing.

In April, The Secretary of State moved to open an absentee voting provision; one normally reserved for those with a mobility-limiting illness, to apply to any eligible voter who wishes to avoid the crowds at their polling place. Once voters have received an absentee application, there’s a two-question section near the top of the page that offers two options for applicants to mark. The one to pick, according to the secretary of state’s office, is the box alongside the text that reads “I have a physical illness or infirmity which prevents my attendance at the polls. [ID REQUIRED]”

The July 14 runoff features a choice between Jeff Sessions and Tommy Tuberville in the U.S. Republican Senate race, and, locally, between incumbent Kenneth Walker and challenger Jeff “Clem” Clemons for chair of the Cullman County Commission.