Georgia sets record after over 300,000 vote early ahead of high-stakes presidential election

Many Georgians stood in long lines on Tuesday as the state began early voting ahead of next month's presidential election.

According to data provided by the Georgia Secretary of State's office, more than 310,000 voters voted in person in Georgia on Tuesday. Additionally, over 24,000 absentee ballots have been accepted so far.

Georgia is considered one of seven hotly contested states in this year's presidential election. The immense focus on the Peach State has come with polls showing a nearly deadlocked race between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris. There is a strong possibility that whoever wins Georgia's 16 Electoral College votes will become president.

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"We shattered records today," said Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. "Georgia’s voting system has proven secure, efficient, & accurate."

The record day of balloting came as a judge ruled on Tuesday that a new rule requiring officials to count the number of ballots by hand cannot slow down election certification in the state. Democrats had accused election officials of trying to use the rule to eliminate votes from Democratic-leaning counties. That claim has been refuted by Raffensperger.

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In Georgia in 2020, Democratic candidate Joe Biden did well with absentee mail-in balloting, while Trump performed better with both in-person early balloting and Election Day voting. The 2020 election occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Biden won the state by about 12,000 votes out of nearly 5 million cast.