Georgia sees record-breaking early voting numbers ahead of Tuesday’s primary election

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Georgia’s May primary has seen a record-breaking turnout from voters heading to the polls before Tuesday.

According to data from the Secretary of State’s office, over 1 million people cast their ballot early in the primary – 14% of the total active voters in the state .

With the turnout, Georgia elections officials saw significantly more Democrats cast their ballots early and by mail-in vote. The data showed that Democratic turnout has been much higher than their Republican counterparts, with about 580,000 voters for the former compared to 430,000 for the latter. That’s a reversal from the last midterm, which saw higher Republican turnout during the early voting period.

Numbers from the Secretary of State’s Office show a jump in voters who are turning out and voting in the Democratic primary the day after Gov. Brian Kemp called for a special session to look into redistricting Georgia’s electoral map.

Leaders in the Georgia Democratic Party have been outspoken in their disapproval of redistricting, calling it voter suppression.

“So turnout was high at the end of last week, and on Friday, the last day of eligibility, was over 200,000 people turning out to vote. So, you know, I do think that could be some people responding to the news,” Emory University Professor of Political Science Zachary Peskowitz said. “I think part of it is also just, you know, the early in-person deadline was on Friday, so if you wanted to do it, then you had to do it.”

With Kemp term-limited, Democrats are hoping the surge in voters could help them take the top spot at the Governor’s Mansion for the first time in decades.

Peskowitz said fewer Republicans have turned out to the polls so far because of President Trump’s criticisms of mail-in and early voting.

“I think part of this might be about the candidates as well,” he said. “There are competitive races in all the republican primaries. Perhaps some voters are more or less enthusiastic about this.”

So which side of the aisle will win tomorrow’s race? Peskowitz says the numbers we see now aren’t a good indicator.

He also believes voters in both parties should be prepared for several runoffs.