Georgia breaks first-day early voting record, nearly doubles figure from last midterms

Turnout from Georgia’s first day of early voting set a new state record for a midterm election, nearly doubling the figure from the same time period in the previous midterms, state election officials said Tuesday.

More than 131,000 Georgia voters cast ballots since early voting began Monday, according to the office of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. The figure represents an 85% boost over the 2018 midterms, when nearly 71,000 early votes were cast on Day One, the office said.

Georgia’s latest tally is also nearly as large as the state’s first day of early voting in the 2020 presidential election — 136,739 in that contest versus 131,318 in the current cycle, Raffensperger’s office said. Turnout tends to be much higher when the presidency is on the ballot.