Georgia breaks early voting record amid signs that nationwide turnout is up, expert says
Georgia voters showed up in record numbers on the first day of early voting for the midterm election, according to state officials, reflecting a broader trend of above average turnout so far for the midterms, according to one expert.
On Monday, Oct. 17, the first day of Georgia’s early voting period, over 131,000 people cast their ballots in statewide elections, up from 70,849 on the first day of early voting in the 2018 midterms, according to a release from Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state who is running for reelection. This represents an 85% increase from four years earlier.
Monday’s turnout was very close to the numbers seen on the first day of early voting in 2020, a presidential election year when turnout is historically higher.
Early voting in Georgia will remain open until the Friday before Election Day, which is Nov. 8, and turnout is expected to tick up in the last week of early voting, according to the release.
Among statewide elections, the race for the governor’s mansion, which features a return of the candidates from 2018, and the race for one of the state’s Senate seats have received national attention.
Republican Gov. Brian Kemp is facing off against Democratic candidate Stacey Abrams and is heavily favored to win as of Oct. 18, according to projections from FiveThirtyEight, a poll analysis site. The pair squared off in their first debate of 2022 on Oct. 17, where crime and COVID-19 were discussed.
For the Senate race, Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock holds a small lead in the polls over his opponent, Republican Herschel Walker, a former football player, according to FiveThirtyEight.
In addition to the Peach State, all but four U.S. states allow all voters access to in-person early voting, according to a 2022 analysis from the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Among the other states that allow early voting, turnout also appears elevated, according to an analysis from the University of Florida’s U.S. Elections Project.
“It’s clear that we are above the 2018 midterm at the same point in time in states where we have comparable data to look at,” University of Florida Professor Michael McDonald, who manages the project, told ABC News.
As of Oct. 18, more than 3 million ballots have already been cast across the country for the upcoming midterms elections, of which 733,065 were cast in Florida, the state leading the way in early voting, according to the Elections Project.
On Oct. 14, McDonald told NBC’s Chuck Todd that early turnout so far drew parallels to the large segment of Americans who chose to vote early in 2020, according to NBC News.
“We’re passing the 1 million mark at an earlier point that we could typically see for a midterm election,” McDonald said.
It’s possible voter enthusiasm has contributed to early turnout. A September NBC poll found that voter enthusiasm ahead of the midterms was at an all-time high, with 64% of respondents expressing “high interest.”
Among the 14 states with party registration data available to analyze, nearly twice as many Democrats, 826,839, have already voted compared with Republicans, 481,479, according to the Elections Project.
If the trend holds, it would mirror another aspect of the 2020 election where Democrats outstripped Republicans in early voting, according to NPR.
Over 97 million votes, a record number, were cast before Nov. 3, 2020, according to ABC News.
This story was originally published October 18, 2022 at 5:27 PM with the headline "Georgia breaks early voting record amid signs that nationwide turnout is up, expert says."