Georgia Is Already Breaking Early-Voting Records

Georgia election workers say that the first day of early voting turnout for the November midterms has surpassed their midterm record set in the 2018 elections. Reports that over 125,000 Georgians casting their ballot just one day into early voting bolster national treads predicting massive turnout for the midterms, and reaffirm the results of widespread voter registration efforts.

According to the University of Florida’s U.S. Elections Project, more than 2.5 million ballots have already been cast nationwide. In Georgia, where major contests for the governorship and Senate are taking place, the increase in first-day turnout smashed the 2018 midterm record of 71,000 with an 85-percent increase, and approached the 136,739 day-one votes of the 2020 presidential election.

Georgia’s elections have been the subject of national interest since 2018, when then Secretary of State Brian Kemp defeated Georgia House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams in the race for governor. Four years later, Abrams is hoping that her statewide voting rights and registration campaign Fair Fight Action will translate to victory for herself in her rematch against Kemp and Democrats throughout the state.

The boost in early voting is a welcome sign for Democrats, whose constituency tends to take advantage of early voting and mail-in ballot access to a greater extent than Republican voters. With control of the Senate currently hinging on Vice President Kamala Harris’s tie breaking vote, any one Senate race could decide the balance of power in the upper chamber.

In Georgia, the contest between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker for Warnock’s Senate seat  has been defined less by policy than by a seemingly endless parade of gaffes and scandals by the former NFL star, who is trailing in polls by a slim margin. Most recently, Walker, who has advocated for a stringent anti-choice position thay includes the possibility of criminal prosecution for women who seek abortions, was revealed to have paid for multiple abortions for his previous partners.

In a debate Friday, Walker whipped out a prop police badge during a debate against opponent Raphael Warnock after Warnock challenged him on his history of falsely claiming to be a law enforcement agent.

On Tuesday, Kemp and Abrams met for their first debate. Kemp touted his record as Georgia’s governor and defended his tenure as secretary of state, while Abrams attacked Kemp’s record on criminal justice, voting rights, and highlighted his intentions to roll back reproductive rights should he serve a second term.

Turnout in the midterms may once again reach the historic levels set in 2018. According to the Morning Consult, the percentage of eligible voters who intend to cast a ballot in 2022 is equal to that of four years ago, and certain groups, including men and independents, have seen a significant increase in voter enthusiasm.

That enthusiasm promises to turn the Nov. 8 election into a nail biter. Democrats maintain the slimmest of margins in a generic ballot, but forecasts predict that the party is unlikely to hold onto their control of both chambers in Congress. Georgia could be the difference.

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