On Tuesday, a record number of early votes were cast in Georgia as the state grapples with the aftermath of Hurricane Helene and controversial election administration changes.
Gatekeepers Newsr reports that more than 328,000 ballots were cast, breaking the previous first-day record of 136,000 in 2020.
Georgia is a critical battleground state, closely watched in this election as former President Donald Trump seeks to reclaim it after losing to President Joe Biden by a small margin four years ago.
Efforts to overturn Trump’s defeat have led to legal challenges due to new changes in how the state conducts elections.
Some of these changes include tightened rules for absentee ballots and reduced availability of drop boxes, which may make the option less appealing than early in-person voting.
Despite these changes, Georgia law now mandates two Saturdays of early voting and allows for two Sundays of early voting if a county desires.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger assured the public that safeguards are in place for a safe election, including audits of every race and random audits of voting equipment.
Raffensperger previously re-certified the results of the 2020 election after a statewide machine recount confirmed Biden’s victory over Trump by just 11,779 votes out of nearly 5 million ballots cast.
