(The Center Square) – Just over two weeks after early voting first began in Georgia, 50% of all registered voters in the state have already cast their ballots.
These are historic numbers for the battleground state, which has 16 electoral votes and is considered pivotal to winning the White House.
Nearly every day of early voting has been a record-breaker for the state, reported Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
“We hit a milestone with 3 million voters during in-person early voting – an all-time first for the state,” Raffensperger posted to social media. “Huge thanks to our election officials, poll workers, and every voter who made this happen!”
Since then, 3.6 million of the state’s 7.2 million registered voters have already voted. In-person early voting has accounted for 3.4 million of the 3.6 million, with 224,000 coming from absentee by mail ballots. Another 118,000 absentee by mail ballots have not yet been returned.
This is all according to information from the state’s Election Data Hub, which is updated periodically every day.
Rural counties like Towns, Oconee and Rabun have the highest percentage of voters casting their ballots early.
So far, 58% of the voters have been white, while 45% have been Black. Both the youngest and the oldest voters are more likely to vote early or by mail.
Women have also been turning out in higher numbers, with 60% of all votes cast coming from women and 44% from men.
Georgia does not release party affiliation data or turnout numbers.
According to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis, 613,000 of those early voters are ones who did not participate in the 2020 election. While that number does include new residents and new voters, it also includes voters who sat out the 2020 election conducted during the COVID-19 era.
Initiatives from both Republicans and Democrats to “vote early” have likely played a role in those record-setting numbers.
“Young people are showing up and showing out. Turnout is the name of the game,” said Democratic U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams on social media.
Republicans are also encouraging early voting.
“Flood the polls,” posted the Georgia GOP on social media. “Make it too big to rig.”
Every vote will count, as the 2020 election proved.
In 2020, former President Donald Trump lost Georgia by just 11,000 votes. That was the first time a Democrat won the state since 1992.
Trump leads the polls in the state by a polling average of 1.9% as reported by Project 538.
With its 16 electoral votes, Georgia has long been considered one of seven consensus battleground states. There are no state level executive offices on the ballot, nor U.S. Senate seats, and all 14 congressional seats are forecast to remain with current parties in a 9-5 edge to the Grand Old Party.
Friday is the last day to early vote in the state.
