Georgia, a key swing state coveted by both major presidential campaigns, shattered early voting records with more than a quarter million ballots cast on the first day of voting on Tuesday, state election officials said.
More than 300,000 votes had been cast, according to Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer for the Georgia secretary of state’s office and a top state election official.
“Spectacular turnout. We are running out of adjectives for this,” Sterling wrote on social media.
The record for the first day of early voting, set in 2020 with around 136,000 votes cast, was broken by 1 p.m. with more than 154,000 votes tallied, according to Sterling. He said that county polling officials were checking in Georgian voters within 55 seconds on average.
Tuesday's total was 123% higher than the previous record, Sterling said.
The total number of ballots cast had surpassed all daily early voting tallies from 2022 by 3:30 p.m., Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said.
Despite the record-breaking figures, one notable Georgia resident did not cast his ballot on Tuesday: former President Jimmy Carter, who turned 100 earlier this month.
On a call Tuesday discussing Vice President Kamala Harris' proposals for rural communities, Jason Carter, the former president's grandson, said that the 39th president will likely cast his ballot in the coming days.
"I think it's gonna be the next couple days," Carter said. "The absentee ballots have gone out. He is up and at 'em on most days, but not every day. So he needs to be engaged, be interested, and be ready to go. And I think he will be the next couple days, and we're looking forward to seeing him cast that ballot the way that he's been looking forward to casting that ballot for the last several months."
Carter has reportedly been energized by the prospect of Harris' candidacy in November's election, and has told family members that his goal is to live long enough to cast his ballot for the Democratic nominee.
"Paw paw is holding on, he is hopeful," Jason Carter said at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago in August. "Though his body may be weak tonight, his spirit is as strong as ever. My grandfather can't wait to vote for Kamala Harris."
The presidential race and the state’s 16 electoral votes are the headline this year for Georgia voters, with no other statewide races on the ballot. President Joe Biden edged out former President Donald Trump by around 11,000 votes in the state in 2020, securing a Democratic victory in Georgia for the first time since 1992.
Now, Harris is attempting to do the same, spending considerable time in the state and deploying key surrogates, including second gentleman Doug Emhoff and former President Bill Clinton. She’s set to return to Atlanta this weekend.
Trump himself was set to be in Atlanta on Tuesday night for a rally and a town hall with Fox News anchor Harris Faulkner set to air Wednesday.
Public polling suggests Trump has a narrow advantage in the state, with polling averages from the New York Times and FiveThirtyEight giving him a roughly one percentage point lead.
Spectrum News' Cassie Semyon and Justin Tasolides contributed to this report.