U.S. Elections: Georgia Grabs Attention for Massive Early Voting
Presidential elections in the U.S., Nov. 5, 2024. X/ @MahalaxmiRaman
November 5, 2024 Hour: 11:29 am
Georgia’s Secretary of State estimates that 70 percent of ballots will be ready to be counted when the polls close at 7 p.m.
On Tuesday, polling stations opened in Georgia, with a spotlight on this critical “swing” state. Over 50 percent of voters cast ballots early, and Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump are in a virtual tie in their race for the White House.
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Due to the high turnout of early voters, Georgia’s Secretary of State estimates that 70 percent of ballots will be ready to be counted when the polls close at 7 p.m. Approximately 3.8 million people voted early, and another 265,000 cast absentee ballots. These unprecedented numbers represent nearly 56 percent of Georgia’s 7.2 million active voters.
At voting centers, which opened at 7 a.m., up to 3 million more voters are expected to cast ballots. Election officials have promised a secure and transparent process, repeatedly emphasizing this commitment after Trump claimed election fraud in 2020.
With 16 electoral votes, Georgia is one of seven key swing states, along with Nevada, Arizona, Wisconsin, Michigan, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, all of which are considered crucial for both candidates’ presidential aspirations.
Historic Voter Turnout
“All eyes are on Georgia again,” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said, highlighting the state’s efforts to protect voting rights and prevent irregularities. So far, voting has been marked by historic turnout, surpassing the expectations of election officials and the 2.7 million who voted early in 2020, when President Joe Biden became the first Democrat to win Georgia since Bill Clinton in 1992.
This year, voter turnout has been notably high in 92 out of Georgia’s 159 counties, including the populous counties in the Atlanta metro area such as Fulton, Gwinnett, Cobb, and DeKalb. In terms of demographics, early voting has been highest among women and in the age groups of 50 to 70 and 18 to 24.
The Importance of Georgia
As in 2020, Georgia is seen as one of the biggest “trophies” of this election. In the final stretch of the 2024 presidential campaign, Harris and Trump made multiple visits to the state, accompanied by public figures like Barack and Michelle Obama and Bruce Springsteen.
“Georgia is a key state for both campaigns. In most scenarios to achieve victory in the Electoral College, Trump’s campaign absolutely needs to win Georgia,” said Jerry Gonzalez, executive director of the GALEO Impact Fund of the Georgia Association of Latino Elected Officials.
For the Democratic candidate’s campaign, “it would be beneficial to win Georgia to provide additional options for reaching the 270 electoral votes needed to win the Presidency,” added Gonzalez.
According to the GALEO Impact Fund CEO, citing the analytics site GeorgiaVotes.com, over 128,000 Latino voters out of around 400,000 registered voters have already cast ballots during the early voting period. Latino voters were part of the coalition of minority and young voters that helped Biden secure victory in Georgia in 2020.
Republican Lawsuit Over Ballots
In the days leading up to the election, absentee ballots, which are sent by mail, have been a source of controversy. Republicans filed a lawsuit attempting to prevent polling places from opening on the weekend to allow voters to submit their ballots in person.
However, a judge dismissed the legal action, as voters are allowed to submit ballots until polls close on election night.
In a separate ruling on a case brought by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center, the Georgia Supreme Court decided that election officials could only count absentee ballots received by 7 p.m. on Election Day. The organizations had requested an extension of the deadline to November 8 due to postal delays.
teleSUR/ JF Source: EFE
