ATLANTA — The early vote count in Georgia is in: more than 2.5 million ballots cast through Friday, a record high for a midterm election.
Many Georgians turned out on the last day of early voting, with over 231,000 in-person voters Friday, according to state election data. That’s the third-busiest day of early voting in Georgia history, trailing only the last day of early voting in the 2016 and 2018 elections.
With a strong showing on Election Day Tuesday, total turnout in Georgia could exceed the nearly 4 million voters who cast ballots in the last midterm four years ago. About 1.8 million people voted on Election Day in 2018.
“Georgia is the state where voters show up early, and our county election directors have created that infrastructure to make it a resounding success,” said Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Many registered voters haven’t yet participated in this year’s election.
Of the 5 million voters in the 2020 presidential election, about 2.7 million of them have yet to cast a ballot this year, according to an analysis of turnout data by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
Bishop Reginald Jackson, who leads more than 500 African Methodist Episcopal churches in Georgia, said he was pleased with the high turnout so far, especially among Black voters. Election data show Black voters account for 29% of early voters, and Jackson said they also likely make up a significant portion of the 9% of voters whose race is unknown.
“We need to make sure we get out our vote,” Jackson said. “We have to have our eyes, attention and energy focused on Tuesday.”
Over 2,500 voting precincts will be open across Georgia from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday. No results will be released until polls close.
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