More than half of the registered voters in Gilmer County voted in early voting or mail-in absentees.
A total of 12,553 Gilmer County residents out of 26,227 registered voters cast ballots during the three weeks of early voting and more than 900 used absentee ballots for a 51 percent turnout rate.
“I have 108 outstanding absentee ballots overall, which is great,” said Gilmer County Chief Registrar Tammy Watkins.
Mail-in ballots must be received by the day of the election to be counted.
“Our post office has been great with us,” she said. “They won’t leave any ballots there.”
In Georgia, more than 4 million voters cast ballots early or by mail. This accounts for a 55.3 percent voter turnout rate for the state according to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
As of Saturday morning, 92 Georgia counties have exceeded 50 percent turnout, according to a release from his office.
“This was the most successful Early Voting period in Georgia history because voters trust the process,” said Secretary Raffensperger. “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.”
During Early Voting in 2018, there were 1,890,364 voters who cast ballots. IN 2020, 2,697,822 cast ballots, and 2,289,933 cast ballots in 2022, the release said.
Watkins said her office spent the weekend reconciling numbers and preparing for Election Day.
“It’s going to be a good day for my poll workers,” she said.
On Tuesday, Nov. 5, they began counting absentee ballots. Beginning at 7 p.m. tabulation started, Watkins said.
As of 11:50 a.m. on Tuesday, 1,504 voters had cast ballots over 13 precincts.
“It’s been busy,” Watkins said. “Lots of questions from voters about where they are registered and what precinct to vote in.”
Because of press deadlines, the results of the election will not appear in this newspaper until next week. A brief with local results will be posted on the website.