ATLANTA, Ga. — Georgia passed 1 million ballots cast for the Nov. 3 general election early Tuesday, putting turnout slightly ahead of where it stood at this point four years ago.
By 6:22 a.m., 1,027,037 people had voted, according to a running count built from state data. That total breaks down into 980,408 in-person early votes and 46,629 mail ballots. Four years ago the tally stood at 998,971 at this stage, so this year is running about 3% higher. The secretary of state’s own turnout dashboard showed nearly the same number, 1,027,099, as of 5:31 a.m., and the state labels those figures unofficial until counties finish recording voter credit after Election Day.
Most of the people voting so far also voted early last time. About 74.6% of them also voted early in 2022, 9.8% voted on Election Day that year, and 15.6%, or 159,979 people, skipped that midterm entirely.
The early electorate skews older and female. Voters 65 and up account for 46.8% of ballots cast, and those 50 to 64 add another 28.8%. Women make up 55%. White voters make up 52.1% of the early electorate in the state voter file, Black voters 34.8%, with Hispanic voters at 2.8% and Asian voters at 2.4%. Georgia does not register voters by party, so the numbers say nothing about who anyone picked.
Demand has strained some locations. Several early voting sites in Henry County opened late last week, which led to lines lasting hours. The county elections board met Monday afternoon and decided against opening two additional sites a week ahead of schedule, keeping their start for next week.
Voters this fall are choosing a new governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general and secretary of state, along with a U.S. Senate seat. Early voting runs through Oct. 30.
Section: More Atlanta GA politics news
Filed under: Atlanta GA Politics News
