Voters in Georgia turned out in record numbers on the first day of early voting.
More than 131,000 Georgians turned out to vote in-person on Monday nearly doubling the 70,840 ballots that were cast in person on day one of early voting in the 2018 midterms, according to the office of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Monday’s tally is close to the 136,739 ballots cast on the first day of early voting in the 2020 presidential election.
Additionally, 11,759 absentee ballots were submitted bringing Georgia’s total turnout so far to 143,077, Raffensperger’s office said.
Georgia has some of the most closely watched races this midterm cycle. The Senate race between incumbent Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker could determine which party controls the upper chamber in 2023.
There’s also the contest between right-wing conspiracy theorist Rep. Marjorie Taylor-Greene and her Democratic challenger Marcus Flowers. At the state level, there’s a rematch between incumbent governor Brian Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams. Abrams has been credited with helping President Joe Biden defeat Donald Trump in the state in 2020. She narrowly lost to Kemp in the 2018 midterms.
