Last year Georgia Republicans passed a number of election integrity measures designed to root out fraud and protect the rights of voters to cast their ballots.
At the time Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, backed up by President Joe Biden in the White House, called the measures "Jim Crow 2.0" and claimed they would suppress voters in future elections. Abrams also refused to concede a previous election to Republican Governor Brian Kemp in 2018, citing voter suppression and saying she did not lose.
But as Georgians head to the polls to cast ballots in the 2022 elections, those statements have again been proven false. In fact, voters are already breaking turnout records with three weeks to go until Election Day.
Our elections team has reviewed the initial early vote numbers for Day 1 and we know we are north of 125,000. This dwarfs the previous record of 72k from the 2018 midterm 1st day of early voting. We will have exact numbers in the morning. #gapol #PlanYourVote
— Gabriel Sterling (@GabrielSterling) October 18, 2022
From Fox 5 Atlanta:
Day two of early voting in Georgia hasn't kicked off yet and election officials say voter turnout has already outpaced numbers from the previous midterm election.
More than 4 million people could vote in the state’s elections this year, and if past patterns hold, more than half are likely to cast ballots before Election Day. Nearly 2.7 million Georgians voted early during the 2020 general election.
This is the first year that Georgians will head to the polls under a new law passed by the Republican-led legislature following the party's defeat in the 2020 presidential election.
The 98-page bill in Georgia contained dozens of changes to state voting law. They include shortening the time to request a mail ballot, rolling back the pandemic-driven expansion of ballot drop boxes and reducing early voting before runoff elections.
Meanwhile, Governor Kemp continues to lead Abrams in the polls leading up to November 8. Abrams is still claiming suppression as she tries again to win the seat.
Debate Night in Georgia: Stacey Abrams denied her prior election denials but refused to say whether she'll accept the outcome of her November rematch against Gov. Brian Kemp.https://t.co/ewx18OpPgM
— Spencer Brown (@itsSpencerBrown) October 18, 2022