Georgia early voting breaks midterm record despite Democrats' "Jim Crow" warnings

Georgia set a new record for early voting in a midterm election despite widespread concerns that recent voter laws would make voting more difficult.

Over 2.4 million votes were cast by Friday evening in the Peach State, either in person or absentee by mail, according to a statement from Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the state’s top election official.

“2.4 million voters will turnout during Early Voting,” Raffensperger said in the statement. “That alone reflects that our Early Voting infrastructure is among the nation’s best.”

This year’s early voting turnout is about 25% higher than in the 2018 midterm elections. 2.3 million votes were counted by Friday morning, compared to about 1.7 million by the same day in 2018.

The Friday morning tally falls just short of the 2.5 million who turned out to vote early in the 2020 presidential election by the same day.

Republicans hope the record turnout will silence critics of the Election Integrity Act of 2021, which overhauled elections in Georgia to make voting more secure. New provisions included a new photo ID requirement for requesting an absentee ballot, reduced the number of ballot boxes and mandated three weeks of in-person early voting, among other changes.

State Democrats said the law would suppress turnout, especially among Black voters, by making voting more difficult.

President Joe Biden likened the new rules to “Jim Crow in the 21st century,” a comparison that has been repeated by detractors of the law.

Major League Baseball even pulled the All-Star Game out of Atlanta in 2021 in protest of the new voting law.

In September, a federal judge appointed by President Barack Obama ruled against a group associated with Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams that claimed the Election Integrity Act was unconstitutional.

Raffensperger, a Republican, is running for reelection this year. Polls indicate he is well ahead of Democratic state Rep. Bee Nguyen because of Raffensperger has significant crossover support from Democrats and independents after he defied then-President Donald Trump’s call to overturn the 2020 presidential election results in Georgia.