CHATHAM COUNTY, Ga. (WSAV) - Georgia has undoubtedly become an important state in this election cycle. As we approach Election Day on November 5th, it is important to address the growing concerns about election trust. WSAV spoke with local officials about how they are protecting voter rights and integrity in the 2024 election.
Four years ago, Georgia was one of the states in which results were so close that they were contested in several districts. A recent Gallup survey indicated a notable distrust among voters, particularly in national elections more than local elections. Despite the skepticism, experts agree that the integrity of our elections is strong.
Voters can rest assured that 95% will use systems that provide a voter-verifiable paper trail and that there are strict procedures in place to safeguard ballots and equipment. In Georgia, local election officials and trained poll workers have been preparing with extra locations, longer hours, and additional training.
“At the Board of Registrar, we think it is important to have outreach to the community to apprise them on ways to register, encourage them to take advantage in all ways that there are to vote. Whether that be absentee voting, early voting, or election-day voting. But it is important to get that information out there. The election climate has been characterized by so much by misinformation that we are doing what we can to try combat that by getting out ahead of these issues and giving information to voters in how to register to vote," said the Chatham County Board of Registrars Chairman Colin McRae.
Since the 2020 election, the legislature in Georgia imposed new rules surrounding absentee ballots.
“We have seen many fewer absentee ballot applications as a result. The time for requesting an absentee ballot was shifted to make it harder to vote by absentee ballot. Our office has really refocused on early voting as the preferred method of voting before Election Day. We have addressed that by adding a site, switching around some of our satellite sites to accommodate the entire county, giving some additional hours, giving some additional weekend days," said McRae.
Chatham County and the state of Georgia have seen significant turnout in early voting, the numbers now reflect over half of the state’s total votes in the 2020 Presidential Election.
As of noon, eastern time on Monday, October 28th, more than 2.73 million Georgians have cast their early voting ballot which smashes any previous election turnout.
The total number of ballots cast by the 15th day of early voting in previous years is shown here:
- 1,199,424 in 2018.
- 1,979,963 in 2020.
- 1,640,652 in 2022.
Now going on Tuesday, Georgia is inching towards 3 million votes. More than 2.87 million residents of the state's 7.2 million active voters as of 6 a.m.
"We have definitely seen an uptick in the number of voters who have registered and voted early. Our office prepared for that by opening additional satellite locations, and additional hours at our early voting spots to accommodate the additional voter turnout. We’ve also added additional training, and some influx of poll workers to accommodate the influx of voters. I am happy to say that all the additional sites, additional hours, and additional training has led to very smooth early voting experiences from our voters," added McRae.
Earlier this week, Georgia's Secretary of State held a press conference about the state's voter turnout. During the meeting, it was shared that after a review of the millions of registered voters in Georgia, just 20 noncitizens were registered to vote. Of those 20, only nine were found to have cast a ballot.
"I would say, and national pundits would agree, that Georgia’s system has as much election integrity as any system in the country.... with all the audits, with all the scrutiny that we’ve had, what has emerged is a system that voters can count on that is safe and secure. What we have now is a safe and secure system that people can take advantage of to ensure that their vote is counted, and it is not diluted by votes that shouldn’t be counted," said McRae.
Teachers in battleground states are educating youth to register to vote in what has been a historically contentious presidential race and make informed choices on their ballots.
"I was happy to see that the colleges rallied around each other and opposed those (voting) challenges to college students. We are hoping to see a wave of younger voters in addition to our normal participation by the community. To make sure those college kids voices are heard through their votes," said McRae.
So far 69,285 people have voted early in-person in Chatham County, and 14,678 people have in Bryan County.
"From the numbers we are seeing so far, from absentee ballots and early voting, we are predicting that more than 60% of votes cast in Chatham County will be cast before election day. A lot of people are really excited about getting out there and voting, having their voice heard, having their vote counted. We applaud that because it helps out on election day to have 60% of the votes already cast. So that on election day the lines for those who can only vote on election day will be much shorter,"
A reminder that if you're voting absentee, the ballot has to be physically received no later than 7 p.m. on election night. Officials recommend to mail it no later than 5 days prior to Election Day, October 31st.