Georgia Logs More Than 4 Million Votes as Early Voting Period Ends

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The Georgia secretary of state reported 4,004,588 ballots had been returned as the early voting period ended on Nov. 1.

The Georgia secretary of state’s office recorded more than 4 million votes cast during the state’s early voting period, which concluded on Nov. 1.

In all, the office logged 4,004,588 ballots cast, including 3,761,968 in-person votes and 242,620 mail-in absentee ballots.

“As of Saturday morning, 92 Georgia counties have exceeded 50 percent turnout. This is unprecedented in Georgia history,” the secretary of state’s office said in a Nov. 2 press statement.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said the early vote period in this election cycle has been the “most successful” in Georgia’s history.

“Four years of progress brought us here. We’re battle-tested and ready, regardless of what the critics say. And we’re going to hold those who interfere in our elections accountable,” Raffensperger said.

Georgia was a hotly contested battleground state in the 2020 election cycle. President Donald Trump, running for reelection, led Georgia’s vote totals on election night, but the vote tallies flipped in favor of candidate Joe Biden in the days that followed.

Georgia election officials conducted a hand-recount of the 2020 election results, and certified Biden as the winner. Trump continued to challenge the election results in the weeks that followed.

Trump currently faces a pending criminal trial in Fulton County, Georgia, on allegations his efforts to challenge the 2020 election results turned into a criminal conspiracy to unlawfully change the election outcome. The case has been on hold since June, as the court has dismissed charges, then weighed reinstating several charges, while also hearing arguments that Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis should be disqualified from prosecuting the case.

Raffensperger’s office said it’s closely monitoring for signs of interference in Georgia’s election process this cycle. The office said it has identified four individuals who may have violated state laws by attempting to cast multiple ballots.

In an Oct. 31 press statement, Raffensperger said his office also investigated a video purporting to show a Haitian national claiming to have voted multiple times using multiple Georgia ID cards. Raffensperger said he had determined the video to be false and “an example of targeted disinformation we’ve seen in this and other elections” and likely a “foreign interference” effort. He said he notified the U.S. Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency about the video and has asked owners of various social media platforms to remove the video.

“As Americans we can’t let our enemies use lies to divide us and undermine our faith in our institutions—or each other,” Raffensperger said.

The presidential contest in Georgia remains close in the final days before Election Day, according to polls. As of Oct. 31, the RealClearPolitics polling average shows Trump leading Vice President Kamala Harris by about 2.6 percentage points.