Georgia voters head to polls for last day of early voting in 2022 midterm election

ATLANTA - Georgia voters are heading to the polls to cast their ballots on the last day of early in-person voting in the Peach State.

More than 2.2 million Georgians - about 32.5% of active voters in the state - have already voted in-person or through the mail in the state's highly competitive 2022 midterm elections.

That's more than 400,000 votes than Georgia's 2018 midterm election's total early voting count, and officials believe Friday will the busiest day yet.

At one point Thursday, Georgia Secretary of State COO Gabe Sterling said that about 280 people were voting every minute in Georgia. 

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For many Georgians, voting early is a way to avoid the possible long lines on election day.

"I wanted to make sure I voted when I knew I had the opportunity and didn't get too busy on the actual election day and not be able to vote." Amanda McGowan said.

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So far more than 2 million Georgia voters has cast ballots in-person with another 200,000 coming through the mail. Officials expect over 2.4 million Georgians will have cast their ballots by the end the day.

"What we're seeing is more Georgia voters getting more comfortable with early voting. They like it and they're turning out in record numbers," UGA Political Science professor Dr. Charles Bullock said. 

The record pace comes as Republicans and Democrats try to pry votes out of every cranny, knowing that even as more than 4 million people are likely to vote by Nov. 8, the outcome could be decided by mere thousands of ballots. President Joe Biden won Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes in 2020, while Gov. Brian Kemp defeated Stacey Abrams 

Eligible voters can vote at any early voting location in your county. To find locations and hours, visit the Secretary of State's My Voter Page.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.