(The Hill) – Georgia voters took to the polls in record numbers Tuesday, casting more than 300,000 ballots on the first day of early voting, according to officials.
Gabe Sterling, the chief operating officer in Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s (R) office shared in a post on social platform X that the Peach State had shattered its record.
“With the record-breaking 1st day of early voting and accepted absentees we have had over 328,000 total votes cast so far,” Sterling wrote, noting that the previous record was set in 2020 when 136,000 people opted to vote early.
“Over 300,000 votes cast today,” Sterling wrote in a separate post. “That’s 123% higher than the old record for the 1st day. Great job counties & voters.”
In 2020, President Biden won the Peach State over former President Trump by a razor-thin margin.
Vice President Harris and Trump are currently locked in a tight race in Georgia, considered a battleground in the current election cycle, with the former president leading Harris 48.3 percent to 47 percent, according to The Hill/Decision Desk HQ’s polling aggregate.
Raffensperger had predicted the record turn-out early Tuesday, noting that the state had worked “overtime” to ensure early voting could begin and absentee ballots would be delivered as planned.
His comments came as Georgia and North Carolina were still in recovery from Hurricane Helene, which left devastation throughout the swing states, threatening to disrupt the voting process.
“When you think back to where we were two and a half weeks ago, this is a cause for celebration. So many people said, ‘What’s going to happen? There’s no way you’ll have elections starting in Georgia on time,’” Raffensberger said during a press conference, adding that early voting started on time in all 159 counties in the state.
A judge in the state also ruled late Tuesday that a rule requiring a hand count of ballots on election night will not take effect before November’s contest.
