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Georgia Early Voting Opens With Record Turnout as GOP Races Intensify

Heavy spending plus sharp intraparty attacks could steer crowded fields toward runoffs.

Overview

  • Georgia’s early voting, which opened Monday, runs through May 15 ahead of the May 19 primary.
  • The Secretary of State reported a record first-day turnout Tuesday with 35,352 in-person ballots, a 29% jump over 2022, which Brad Raffensperger said shows voter trust in the process.
  • Following televised debates over the weekend and Monday, GOP gubernatorial rivals Rick Jackson and Burt Jones traded barbs over attack ads, immigration, and ethics in a race marked by big spending.
  • An InsiderAdvantage poll of likely Republican voters last week showed Jackson leading the governor field at 32% to Jones’s 25%, while the Senate primary remains a toss-up between Mike Collins and Buddy Carter with many voters undecided, making runoffs possible under Georgia’s majority rule.
  • Ballots are lengthy this cycle, so officials urge voters to print a sample ballot from the state’s My Voter Page, check county early voting hours, and bring a photo ID to sites that generally operate 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.