Georgia has witnessed a record-breaking turnout on the first day of early voting for the upcoming US presidential election, indicating a high level of engagement in the crucial battleground state, Al Jazeera reports.
Election officials reported that over 251,000 voters had cast their ballots in person by Tuesday afternoon, surpassing the previous record set in 2020 by a significant margin. The state saw 133,000 residents vote early on the first day of in-person voting during that election cycle.
“As of 4pm [ET] we have crossed the quarter million mark with 251,899 votes cast. Spectacular turnout. We are running out of adjectives for this,” Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer for the Office of the Georgia Secretary of State, said on X (formerly Twitter).
This surge in early voting comes as Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, prepares to face off against her Republican rival, former President Donald Trump, in a high-stakes race for the White House.
Historically, large turnouts for early voting have favored Democrats, although both parties have been urging voters to go to the polls early in states where it is allowed.
Georgia, with its 16 Electoral College votes, is one of seven key “swing states” that could determine the outcome of the election. Other battleground states include Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada, and North Carolina.
The record-breaking turnout in Georgia is being interpreted as a sign of voter enthusiasm, particularly as the presidential race enters its final stretch. The final opportunity to cast a ballot is on November 5th.
Both Harris’s and Trump’s campaigns are focused on winning Georgia. Trump held a rally in Atlanta on Tuesday, while Harris is scheduled to hold her own event in the city on Saturday.
In 2020, President Joe Biden became the first Democrat to win Georgia since 1992, a victory largely attributed to a significant increase in Black voter turnout. Black residents make up about one-third of the state’s population.
However, Biden’s margin of victory was just 11,779 votes, making Georgia a crucial battleground in Trump’s campaign to overturn the election results.
Following the 2020 election, Trump infamously pressured Georgia’s top election official to “find” more votes and actively spread misinformation about alleged election fraud. He was subsequently indicted on state racketeering charges related to his alleged attempts to overturn the vote.
While the pending case, led by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, will not go to trial before the 2024 election, recent polls show Harris and Trump locked in a close race in Georgia.
Some Democrats fear that a potential decline in Black voter support for Harris could tip the scales in Trump’s favor. While Black residents overwhelmingly support Democratic candidates, a recent poll from The New York Times and Siena College showed Harris polling at lower levels than Biden did in 2020.
In turn, Trump’s campaign has been actively appealing to Black voters, a move that some critics argue suggests that Democrats have taken this voting bloc for granted.
