In Georgia, early voting has surpassed the 1 million mark with just two weeks ahead of the midterms, setting a record for early voter turnout in the "Peach State," reports Yahoo.
On Tuesday, 1,123,329 Georgians had already cast ballots, 1,017,743 in person, and 105,586 by absentee ballot, according to Georgia Votes. Of those votes, 33% were Black and Hispanic and 57% were white. This year’s turnout shattered the previous record eight-day totals in 2018 by more than 50%
Last week, a majority of voters cast their ballots in person across the state. Notably, mail-in-ballot requests have fallen drastically when compared to past election cycles.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger lauded the state’s early voting process at a press conference on Tuesday.
“We need to encourage everyone to go out to vote and not discourage them,” he said. “We need to let them know their vote will be counted and counted accurately, not that their vote will be stolen.”
“Every voter—Republican, Democrat and independent—understands that their vote is extremely valuable in this state,” added Gabriel Sterling, a top official in the secretary of state’s office. “Don’t worry about them saying, ‘You’re behind’ or ‘Your party is ahead.’ Get out and vote.”
Georgia is in the national spotlight with several hotly contested races on the ballot this year including the Senate race between Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock and his Republican challenger, Herschel Walker. Also, the gubernatorial battle between Republican incumbent Gov. Brian Kemp and Stacey Abrams, his Democratic opponent, is a key race for both parties.
