Across the state, voters have been turning out in droves to cast ballots ahead of Georgia’s December 6 Senate runoff.
Five days of state-mandated early voting ends at 7 p.m. Friday, December 2. As of the close of polls on Thursday, December 1, state election officials reported 1,472,515 of the state’s 7,006,998 active registered voters had already cast ballots.
That’s a statewide voter turnout of 21%.
Many counties across the state are outpacing that turnout, considered extremely high for a runoff election. In fact, this runoff has shattered Georgia’s previous early voting records, far exceeding turnout in runoffs in 2018 and 2016, state election officials say.
“While some counties are seeing more voter turnout than they anticipated, most have found a way to manage voter wait times,” says Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. “I appreciate the election officials and workers across Georgia who are doing their level best to accommodate our record turnout.”
In Northeast Georgia, Rabun County and Towns currently have the highest turnout rates at 33.9% and 32.8%, respectively. Habersham is the next closest in the region, at 28.4%.
Habersham County election officials report that from November 28 to December 1, 8,111 of the county’s 28,534 active registered voters had cast early in-person and mail-in ballots. They began processing the absentee mail-in ballots Friday morning. They will continue “day to day until complete,” a notice from the Habersham County Elections Board states.
Early processing of ballots is allowed under State Election Board rules, but the ballots can not be tabulated until election day. Habersham County Election Supervisor Laurel Ellison says her office will begin tabulating the ballots at 1 p.m. on December 6, but they will not release any reports until after the polls close at 7 p.m. that day.
Ballot processing and counting will take place at the Habersham County Elections Office in the county administration building in Clarkesville. The public is welcome to observe.
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