Georgia Republicans are expressing confidence in the state's record-setting early voting turnout for the upcoming 2024 presidential election. Lt. Gov. Burt Jones highlighted the unprecedented voter enthusiasm and momentum, particularly favoring former President Trump.
In the 2020 election, Trump lost Georgia by less than 1%, prompting Republicans to invest significant time and resources to reclaim the state on Nov. 5. A key part of their strategy has been encouraging early voting, a method traditionally more popular among Democrats.
During the early voting period from Oct. 15 to Nov. 1, nearly 4 million Georgians cast their ballots either in person or via absentee voting, representing over half of the state's active voters. Notably, over 700,000 individuals who voted early in 2024 did not participate in the 2020 election.
Furthermore, rural counties that supported Trump in 2020 are among the top three areas with high voter turnout rates, indicating a positive sign for the former president's supporters.
According to Georgia Votes, a significant portion of early voters in 2024 who did not vote in 2020 are Hispanic, Asian, Black, and White voters. Hispanic voters accounted for the largest share at 37.6%, followed by Asian voters at 33.7%, Black voters at 19.1%, and White voters at 17.7%.
While 72% of individuals who voted early in 2024 also did so in 2020, approximately 8.3% (over 305,000 people) opted for early voting in 2024 after voting on Election Day in 2020.
Despite the optimism among Georgia Republicans, the full impact of their early voting strategy will only be known after Election Day. Jones speculated that some of Trump's base may not have turned out in 2020 due to a false sense of security regarding the election outcome.
Overall, the early voting trends in Georgia suggest a potentially significant shift in voter behavior and preferences, setting the stage for a closely watched and highly anticipated election in 2024.
