Georgians head to polls to kick off election season early voting

Voters in Georgia will return to the polls on Tuesday for the start of a three-week early voting period ahead of the Nov. 5 election that could help settle the presidential race showdown between Republican nominee Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris.

Several million Georgia voters are expected to cast ballots in an election featuring the presidential contest, congressional races and all 236 seats in the state Legislature. Early voting begins in Georgia during the same week that several Georgia courts are considering ongoing legal challenges over election rules enacted by members of the State Election Board loyal to Trump.

Early voting runs through Nov. 1.

Georgians who intend to vote in person at one of the 2,400 polling locations on Election Day must be in line by 7 p.m. on Nov. 5.

Georgia now has 7.17 million active registered voters. During the 2020 presidential election Georgia had 7.2 million registered voters, an increase of 1.79 million voters since 2016 and 805,000 voters since the 2018 gubernatorial election between Republican Brian Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams.

According to Georgia Elections Director Blake Evans, about 70% of voter registration applications come through the Georgia Department of Driver Services. About 12% of registration applications were submitted via the state’s online registration portal, and 19% are made with paper applications.

So far in the 2024 general election, about 260,000 Georgia have requested absentee ballots ahead of the Oct. 25 deadline to request mail-in ballots. 

Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer for the secretary of state’s office, said that early voting is a strong option for voters, especially since there may be  delivery delays for some absentee ballots mailed through the U.S. Postal Service.

“One thing you can do, which is what most Georgians do, is show up and vote in person early,” Sterling said. “That is the best way because you can plan your vote. If you’re in a major metro area, they have wait times on their websites to show you how long the waits are, so you don’t have to go on day one and wait in line for three hours.”

Georgia voters can search for early voting sites and find their designated Election Day precinct online on the Georgia My Voter Page. In order to vote in person, Georgians must have a valid state or federal identification card. If you are interested in receiving an absentee ballot, you may review how to apply and return it at https://georgia.gov/vote-absentee-ballot.

Georgia’s county election offices were spared significant damage when Hurricane Helene passed through the state in late September, however, at least one polling place on Nov. 5 will not be available in Richmond, Columbia and Lowndes counties. 

Any changes to Election Day polling places will be announced on the Secretary of State’s My Voter Page at https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/. County election officials also plan to use local media and social media to announce any changes to voting locations.

This story was originally published by the Georgia Recorder