Georgians head to the polls to usher in early voting into election season • Georgia Recorder

Voters in Georgia return to the polls on Tuesday to kick off 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 voters in Georgia are expected to cast their ballots in an election that includes the presidential race, congressional races and all 236 seats in the state legislature. Early voting begins in Georgia the same week several Georgia courts are considering ongoing legal challenges over election rules issued by Trump-loyal members of the State Election Board.

Early voting runs through November 1st. Georgians who want to vote in person at one of the 2,400 polling locations on Election Day must be in line by November 5 at 7 p.m.

Georgia now has 7.17 million active registered voters. In 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 through the country’s online registration portal, while 19% were made on paper.

So far, about 260,000 Georgians have requested absentee ballots in the 2024 general election before the Oct. 25 deadline for requesting absentee ballots.

Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer of the State Department, said early voting is a good option for voters, especially since some mail-in ballots sent through the U.S. Postal Service could experience delays in delivery.

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

Voters in Georgia can use the Georgia My Voter page to search for early voting sites and find their assigned precinct online. To vote in person, Georgians must have a valid state or federal ID. If you are interested in receiving a mail-in ballot, you can read how to request and return one here https://georgia.gov/vote-absentee-ballot.

Georgia’s county election offices were spared significant damage However, as Hurricane Helene moved through the state in late September, at least one polling location in Richmond, Columbia and Lowndes counties will be unavailable on November 5th.

Any changes to polling locations on Election Day will be posted 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 changes to voting locations.