Early voting surges in Georgia with more than 600,000 ballots cast
Early voting in Georgia is off to a strong start, with over 10% of the expected turnout already casting ballots.
By Wednesday evening, more than 600,000 Georgians had voted, with 310,000 voting in person on Tuesday, the first day of early voting, and another 260,000 casting their ballots on Wednesday.
Additionally, 33,000 mail-in ballots had been accepted.
These numbers compare to the record 5 million votes cast in the 2020 presidential election.
Voters in Georgia are choosing between Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, Republican Donald Trump, Libertarian Chase Oliver, and Green Party candidate Jill Stein.
Although independent candidates Cornel West and Claudia De la Cruz of the Party for Socialism and Liberation appear on the ballot, their votes won’t be counted due to a state Supreme Court ruling that they didn’t properly qualify.
Many voters had already made up their minds ahead of Election Day. Anthony Engleton, a retiree from Sandy Springs, expressed his enthusiasm for voting against Trump, describing him as a "con artist."
Meanwhile, Karen Hall, voting in Berkeley Lake, shared her support for Trump, citing concerns about immigration and calling the 2024 election "the most important in our lifetime."
Both parties are focused on getting their most dedicated supporters to vote early, allowing them to concentrate on less reliable voters as the election approaches.
Trump held two events in Georgia on Tuesday, while Democratic surrogates have been urging voters to cast their ballots early.
Georgia has seen changes to its voting process since the 2020 election. New rules require voters to physically sign absentee ballot applications, and the number of drop boxes has been reduced, leading to a decrease in mail ballot requests compared to the pandemic-affected 2020 election.
Notable early voters include former President Jimmy Carter, who cast his mail-in ballot on Wednesday. According to his son, Chip Carter, the former president, who recently celebrated his 100th birthday, joked that he was "trying to live to vote for Kamala Harris." Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver also voted early, describing the surreal experience of selecting his own name on the ballot. Oliver is positioning himself as a third-party alternative for voters dissatisfied with the major party candidates.
Previously, a Georgia judge struck down a series of controversial election rule changes passed by a Republican-controlled state board, marking a significant defeat for allies of former President Donald Trump.
The ruling comes just weeks before the November 5 US presidential election, where Georgia is expected to play a pivotal role.
Judge Thomas Cox ruled on Wednesday that the new rules, which had been passed in August, contradicted provisions of Georgia’s Election Code and exceeded the state election board’s legal authority.
Among the blocked rules was one allowing local election officials to investigate discrepancies between ballots cast and voter rolls before certifying results, a move Democrats argued could delay or prevent certification of the election outcome.
The ruling is the third legal setback in two days for Trump allies in Georgia, who have been pushing for changes they claim are necessary for election security.
Critics, including Democratic leaders, have characterized these efforts as attempts to undermine the certification of votes in a state crucial to the presidential race between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump.
Georgia has been at the center of election controversy since Trump lost the state to President Joe Biden in 2020, leading Trump and his supporters to make unproven claims of widespread voter fraud.
Despite these claims, Georgia’s election results were certified after multiple recounts and audits.
In the latest case, the conservative group Eternal Vigilance Action filed a lawsuit against the Georgia State Election Board, arguing that the rule changes exceeded the board's legal powers.
The group, typically aligned with Republicans, opposed the changes on constitutional grounds, marking a rare bipartisan critique of the board's actions.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s top election official and a Republican, also voiced opposition to the new rules, calling them "11th-hour" changes that would confuse voters and burden election workers.
Raffensperger, who played a key role in defending Georgia’s election integrity in 2020, said the changes would damage public confidence in the electoral process.
The now-overturned rules were passed by the board in a 3-2 vote, powered by three pro-Trump allies.
The rules included measures that would allow county election boards to scrutinize election-related documents and discrepancies before certifying results, which Democrats feared could be used to delay certification or search for irregularities where none existed.
In a separate ongoing case, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) also challenged the rules, arguing that the state election board sought to turn the certification process into a means to block or delay results.
The DNC pointed out that certification is a mandatory process under Georgia law, with other legal avenues available for contesting disputed election outcomes.
Earlier this week, a different judge blocked another rule passed by the Georgia election board that would have required poll workers to hand count ballots on election night, a practice uncommon in US elections.
Critics warned that such a rule could introduce human error and slow down the vote tabulation process.
Georgia, which began early voting this week with record turnout, remains one of the key battleground states in the 2024 election.
With both parties focused on securing the state’s electoral votes, the court's ruling adds a new layer of complexity to an already contentious election cycle.
As legal battles continue, the court’s decision emphasizes the ongoing tension between election security efforts and the integrity of the certification process, a debate that is sure to play out in other closely contested states as Election Day approaches.