Georgia election: Record number cast ballot on 1st day of early voting
ATLANTA - Georgia saw a record number of voters come out on the first day of early voting in the 2022 election primary, officials say.
In total, the Secretary of State's Office announced that 27,298 Georgians cast ballots during in-person voting Monday. That's three times the number that voted in the first day of the 2018 primary election and nearly double the June 2020 primary.
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Another 2,719 absentee ballots have been returned across the state as well.
According to statewide data, more than 14,700 of the voters were Republicans, over 12,300 were Democrats, and more than 260 were nonparisan.
Voters will narrow down candidates in several key state and federal races, including contested primaries for Georgia's governor, one U.S. Senate seat, Lt. Governor and Secretary of State.
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In Fulton County, Interim Director of Registration and Elections Nadine Williams said since its start, they’ve only seen minor issues at a few polling places out of the 30 precincts operating.
"We had some connectivity issues in a few locations with people’s emails…minor things and that’s pretty much all," she said.
She said county election officials believe the process will continue to run smoothly, which has historically had issues on election days.
This is the first primary since the Georgia Legislature passed the Republican-backed Election Integrity Act of 2021, which changed some operations for elections in the state.
Democrats were critical of the bill, arguing that it creates more hoops for voters to jump through before casting a ballot, however, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger argued the turnout numbers showed the rules still made it "easy to vote and hard to cheat."
"Record turnout on the first day of early voting is a testament to an elections system that ensures top-level security and ease of access," Raffensperger said in a statement. "Georgia voters statewide experienced short or nonexistent lines, and a smooth voting process. It remains easy to vote and hard to cheat in Georgia, further disproving the false narrative from Abrams and her allies about the Election Integrity Act of 2021."
"The election process itself is important, it affects you locally, so I would just recommend that you vote," Williams said.
Officials are also encouraging voters to research beforehand with the ballot being lengthy and take advantage of early voting over the next three weeks with polls also open on the weekends.
Early voting continues through May 20, leading up to the primary on May 24.
Where to vote early
The state's website provides available early voting locations.
Voters can find their specific polling place on their My Voter Page.
What you need to vote
Voters need a valid photo ID such as a driver's license, passport, or voter identification card.
If you can’t vote in person, you can request an absentee ballot to vote by mail.
To obtain an absentee ballot, a voter must send in a form with their information requesting a ballot. The deadline to request that an absentee ballot be mailed to a voter is May 13.