by Dave Williams | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – A record-smashing 4 million Georgians voted before Election Day this year, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office reported during the weekend.
The 3.76 million who cast their ballots in person and the 242,620 who voted absentee by mail combined to account for 55.3% of the electorate, leaving fewer than half of Georgia voters to cast their ballots at the polls on Election Day Tuesday.
“This was the most successful early-voting period in Georgia history because voters trust the process,” Raffensperger said. “Four years of progress brought us here. We’re battle-tested and ready.”
As of Saturday morning, an unprecedented 92 of Georgia’s 159 counties had exceeded 50% turnout.
This year’s early voting totals far surpassed the 2.7 million votes cast during the early voting period prior to the last presidential election in 2020.
Raffensperger said his office identified four individuals who may have violated state law by using various tactics to try to cast multiple ballots during the early voting period. If an investigation turns up violations of the law, the secretary of state’s office will refer those cases to local district attorneys.
The polls open across Georgia at 7 a.m. Tuesday and close at 7 p.m.
