Early voting is in full swing for Georgia's midterm elections, and with eight days still to go, it may end up being one of the highest turnouts for a midterm cycle to date.
More than a million people have already cast their vote in Georgia across all 159 counties, becoming one of the leading states in the nation.
The first day of in-person early voting already set a record. A total of 190,394 ballots were cast in person on Tuesday, Oct. 13, smashing the previous record set during the 2022 midterms by more than 50,000 votes. It was a 40% increase overall compared to 2022, and more than double the first day early voting turnout of the 2018 midterms.
Georgia voters, Democrats and Republicans alike, are energized by the elections up and down the ballot
this year, from a crucial U.S. Senate seat to the new Secretary of State who will oversee the 2028 election.
Here's how Georgia compares to the rest of the country.
Georgia among top states for early voting, tracker shows
Georgia is one of the highest turnout states for early voting this year, according to the University of Florida Election Lab.
A total of 1,330,455 ballots have been cast of of 8 a.m. on Oct. 22, the tracker shows. The number includes in-person votes and mail-in ballots that have been approved.
The Peach State was leading the nation at the beginning of early voting, but has now fallen behind some of the other states.
More than 1.9 million ballots have been cast in California, more than 1.6 million in Florida and more than 1.7 million in Texas. Georgia then comes in fourth in the U.S., followed by North Carolina at 1.1 million early votes and Michigan at more than 861,000.
Vote tracking in Georgia reports a voter's age, gender, race and location, but does not report party.
Voters over the age of 65 make up the largest chunk of those voting early, 44%, followed closely by those between the ages of 40 and 65, 40.8%. Only 10.8% of early voters are between the ages of 26 and 40, and less than 5% of voters under the age of 25 have cast a ballot so far.
Female voters are outperforming male voters with just over a week left, accounting for 55% of the early vote compared to 44.2% of male voters.
White voters make up 52% of the early vote, while Black voters make up another 33.5% and Hispanic voters and Asian voters are about tied at 2.8% and 2.4%, respectively. Another 8.1% of voters were listed under a multiple or unknown ethnicity.
The Atlanta metro area counties were also carrying the bulk of the early vote. Cobb County has submitted more than 110,000 votes, DeKalb County cast more than 113,000 votes, Fulton cast more than 163,000 votes and Gwinnett accounted for more than 105,000 votes. Rural counties across the state are much further behind, with some counties submitting fewer than 1,000 early votes over the first 10 days.
The lowest early vote count was in Echols County, where only 221 votes have been cast.
What statewide races are on the ballot in Georgia?
Here are thestatewide races on the ballot this midterm cycle:
U.S. Senate
- Mike Collins (R) vs Jon Ossoff (D-Incumbent)
Governor
- Rick Jackson (R) vs Keisha Lance Bottoms (D)
Lieutenant Governor
- Greg Dolezal (R) vs Josh McLaurin (D)
Secretary of State
- Tim Fleming (R) vs Penny Brown Reynolds (D)
Attorney General
- Brian Strickland (R) vs Tanya Miller (D)
Commissioner of Agriculture
- Tyler Harper (R-Incumbent) vs Katherine E. Juhan-Arnold (D)
Commissioner of Insurance
- John King (R-Incumbent) vs Keisha Sean Waites (D)
Commissioner of Labor
- Bárbara Rivera Holmes (R-Incumbent) vs Nikki Porcher (D)
State School Superintendent
- Richard Woods (R-Incumbent) vs Lydia Powell (D)
Public Service Commissioner District 3
- Fitz Johnson (R) vs Peter Hubbard (D-Incumbent)
Public Service Commissioner District 5
- Josh Tolbert (R) vs Shelia Edwards (D)
When is early voting and election day?
Early voting is currently underway and will continue until Oct. 30. Check the GA My Voter Page for your specific polling location and that location's polling hours.
Election day is on Nov. 3. All polling locations will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
If a race is called for a runoff, the runoff election will be held on Dec. 1, with polling times to be announced.
Irene Wright covers midterm races in Georgia as the Atlanta Connect reporter with USA Today’s Deep South Connect team. Find her on X @IreneEWright or email her at ismith@usatodayco.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Georgia among states leading early voting. How many votes are cast?
