Georgia surpasses 2M votes cast during early voting in 2022 midterm election

ATLANTA - Georgia voters are close to breaking the state's record for most votes cast during a midterm election as they continue to head to the polls.

Wednesday, the number of early voters in Georgia surpassed the 2 million mark with more than 115,000 votes cast that day. In total, nearly 1.9 million people have voted in person.

Secretary of State COO Gabe Sterling said that with a few days of early voting left, the state just a little more than 20,000 ballots shy of breaking the record of more than 2.1 million votes,

Sterling also said that 339 Georgians who are 101 years old or older have already cast a ballot in the election.

Officials say voters are also mailing in absentee ballots at a higher pace. As of Tuesday, more than 184,000 ballots - or 64% of those issued - had been returned to county elections offices. Sterling says a little more than 80,000 absentee ballots are left to return.

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 by fewer than 55,000 in 2018.

In-person early voting continues until the end of the day Friday with voter turnout expected to increase during the final days.

Vote stickers are seen at the early voting locations in Fulton County on October 22, 2022. (Photo by Nathan Posner/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)

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.