Georgia has opened early voting with a record first day. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced that 188,667 in-person ballots were cast on Tuesday, October 13, describing the turnout as extraordinary enthusiasm across the battleground state. The figure beat the previous opening-day record of 134,962 set in 2022 by 53,705 votes — an increase of nearly 40 percent — and stood far above the 70,849 in-person votes cast on the opening day in 2018. Officials also reported 10,267 accepted absentee ballots, showing participation beyond the in-person lines, and Raffensperger presented the surge as a sign of voter confidence in Georgia’s election system and its 159 county election officials.
The article itself urges caution about what the numbers mean. Ballots remain secret until they are tabulated, so high turnout alone cannot establish which party benefits, and both well-funded Republican and Democratic campaigns are competing intensely. The marquee contest is the Senate race, where Republican Congressman Mike Collins is challenging Democratic Senator Jon Ossoff in one of the nation’s most closely watched races — a Republican win would be a significant pickup, but Ossoff has led some recent polling, so any suggestion of an inevitable result is premature. For context, Donald Trump carried Georgia in 2024 by about two percentage points, and the governor’s race is an open seat, with Republican businessman Rick Jackson facing former Democratic Atlanta Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms after Governor Brian Kemp reached his term limit.
The rush was visible at the local level too. In Cobb County, 16,392 voters cast ballots across 13 early voting locations on opening day, with county officials reporting generally very short waits — averaging about one minute and sixteen seconds to process — and the busiest location, First Baptist Church of Smyrna, processing 808 voters, with voting described as orderly despite the heavy demand. Georgia has more than 7.5 million active voters, and by October 15 the statewide totals had already approached 365,000 in-person votes plus more than 16,000 accepted absentee ballots, showing the surge continued well beyond the first day, though the final turnout rate cannot yet be predicted.
Raffensperger expects overall turnout to challenge the previous midterm benchmark, when nearly four million Georgians voted. Early voting runs through October 30, with Saturday voting on October 17 and October 24 and optional Sunday voting in some counties, an absentee ballot request deadline of October 23, and the general election on November 3. A new check-in requirement also directs poll workers to record voter names manually after electronic verification. The numbers confirm a record-breaking start — but not yet a winner.