Georgia voters continued their record-breaking turnout on the first mandatory Saturday of early voting. Nearly 80,000 ballots were cast statewide on October 22, marking the end of the first full week of early voting.
Saturday’s early voter turnout was 159% higher than day six of early voting in the 2018 midterm and 20% higher than day six of the 2020 presidential election.
Georgia has recorded record turnout since early voting began on October 17.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who is running for reelection following a tumultuous 2020 presidential election, attributes the state’s early voting turnout to voter registration.
“Every eligible Georgian who wants to be registered to vote is registered to vote. Georgians have taken advantage of Automatic Voter Registration at the DDS, online, and kept up with their status on My Voter Page,” Raffensperger says.
There have been reports of lines at precincts, particularly in the metro areas, but long wait times have been rare, state elections officials say. No substantial delays were reported during Saturday voting.
There’s one more day of mandatory Saturday voting in Georgia on October 29.
Since early voting began on October 17, 816,862 Georgians – or 12% of the state’s active registered voters – have cast ballots. Of those, 90% voted in person while the remainder cast absentee ballots by mail.
There are still around 170,000 mail-in ballots that were issued that have not yet been returned.
Long lines and wait times are expected at the polls on election day, but Georgians can still avoid the worst of it by voting early during the next two weeks. Early/Advance voting ends on November 4.
