Brad Raffensperger says early voting goes well, encourages Georgians to check registration

Nearly 30,000 people showed up for the first day of early voting on Tuesday, according to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

Raffensperger said that the 27,298 votes cast on the first day indicated a return to regular voting habits after two years of the pandemic.

"It looks like voters are enthused and we've had strong turnout," Raffensperger said on Wednesday. "And it's probably an indication that we're going back to our normal environment, which is when about 6% historically would vote absentee and everyone else would vote either early or in person on election day."

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Raffensperger says he thinks high turnout will continue through the general election, with four of the state's 7 million registered voters expected to turn out in the fall.

There have been some issues with new district lines drawn following the 2020 census in the Atlanta metro counties, Raffensperger said, but otherwise early voting has gone well.

"I would encourage all voters to check My Voter page on our website and see if anything has changed," he said.

Following redistricting, voters may be voting at new precincts, or may have been moved to new legislative districts. The My Voter page allows voters to check their status as well as their updated districts for local, state and federal elections.

This election is the first major election cycle to take place under SB 202, the 2021 law that significantly shifts how elections are administered.

One major change is that those who do choose to vote by absentee ballot will need to include a photo ID to verify their identity, such as a driver's license number.

"If you're going vote absentee you need to get your application in 11 days before election day," Raffensperger said. "Photo ID for absentee voting; if you don't have that look at your county election website or ours and it will list all the other acceptable forms of ID. If you have none of that, the state will provide you a free ID."

Other changes include a mandatory 17 days of early voting, ballot drop boxes — one per 100,000 residents, with a minimum one per county, and a process for reviewing local election administration.

The law sparked protests throughout the state and country when it was passed. Many said the law would make it more difficult to vote, pointing to caps on ballot drop boxes, the criminalization of third parties handing out food and water to voters waiting in lines, and other elements.

The only change to election administration passed in the 2022 legislative session was a bill to help the Georgia Bureau of Investigation look into potential election issues. That bill was signed into law in late April by Gov. Brian Kemp. Raffensperger said he supported the change.

To check on your voter registration status, visit https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/.

This article originally appeared on Augusta Chronicle: Early voting: GA Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger sees turnout