VALDOSTA, Ga. (WTXL) — Early voting is now underway in Georgia.
Polling locations opened at all 159 locations on time Tuesday morning.
An achievement Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger calls a double celebration.
“When you think about where we were two and a half weeks ago, for us it’s also a double celebration. Because so many people said what’s going to happen. There’s no way you’ll have elections starting on time,” says Raffensperger.
Raffensperger refers to the devastation left behind by Hurricane Helene.
That storm hit Georgia on September 26th after making landfall along the Florida Big Bend.
https://www.wtxl.com/news/local-news/in-your-neighborhood/hurricane-helene-does-damage-in-georgia
EARLY VOTING BY THE NUMBERS:
As of 10:29am, 71,054 people voted early across Georgia.
Raffensperger called this record-breaking for the first day of early voting in the state.
Last week absentee ballots were mailed out as scheduled
According to Raffensperger, there were just over 200,000 voters who requested absentee ballots.
He expects that number to rise by next week.
VOTER REGISTRATION BY THE NUMBERS
MAKE A PLAN ON HOW TO VOTE:
If you plan on voting by Absentee, you can track the status of your ballot by using Ballot Scout.
WHAT DOES IT DO?
- Where you are in the application
- Has the ballot been mailed back to you
- When you mail it back
- Has it been received
- Has it been accepted
EARLY VOTING GUIDE
Click HERE link to find your polling location.
“We have a great story to tell here in Georgia.”
Raffensperger is referring to being recognized by the National Bipartisan Policy Center for election integrity.
“Everything we have done since 2019 has [been] to improve the process to build trust and to build your confidence in the election cycle,” Raffensperger says.
WATCH THE VIDEO TO HEAR THE IMPROVEMENTS
