For a long time, Democrats accused Republicans of voter suppression in Georgia.
However, the latest numbers show record-breaking early polling is happening in the state, which is anything but voter suppression.
Record-Breaking Early Votes in Georgia
Georgia’s primary elections will start on Tuesday. However, over 600,000 votes have already been cast in the state.
This is an over 200 % increase in early voting, compared to the 2018 primary elections, the office of the Georgia Secretary of State noted.
According to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, this massive early turnout depicts the security of the Georgia voting system, coupled with the transparency it provides.
He also promised to maintain a fair balance between access to vote and security of the elections.
This time, Republicans are beating Democrats in the early voting efforts. While almost 310,000 Republicans voted early, only 230,000 Democrats exercised their rights, as of now.
Similarly, nearly 4,000 nonpartisan voters have also used their ballots. Most of these ballots were cast in person, while only a small number of voters cast their absentee ballots.
Remember last year when Abrams and Biden said S.B. 202 is suppressive? We’ve tripled the early vote turnout from 2018 – because in Georgia, it’s easy to vote and hard to cheat! I didn’t back down then, and with your vote, I’ll keep fighting for our state. https://t.co/BDirH4vmo3
— Brian Kemp (@BrianKempGA) May 19, 2022
This favorable trend of early voting in Georgia was evident from the very first day of voting.
For instance, the number of early votes cast on the first day of voting was almost 300% more than 2018’s first day of the vote.
Democrats also tried to federalize elections by criticizing Georgia’s election law, but ended up failing, due to the absence of votes from senators on their end.
Democrats Accused Republicans of Voter Suppression
These trends are coming at a time after Democrats were accusing Republicans of propagating voter suppression in the state.
When Georgia passed the Election Integrity Act of 2021, Democrats, including Joe Biden, stated this bill would take an aim at early voting efforts to disenfranchise people of color.
Back then, Biden told Al Sharpton’s National Action Network that the Georgia bill would push the country back to the era of “Jim Crow” laws.
Biden also stated this legislation would take America to the time when black people had to guess the number of “jelly beans in a jar” to qualify for voting.
Stacey Abrams, a Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Georgia, also raised her concerns against the so-called voter suppression bill.
Biden called Georgia's 2021 election integrity law "Jim Crow 2.0" while MLB, Delta Air Lines, and Coca-Cola smeared the law as a tool to disenfranchise voters. But 2022 early voting totals are 200% higher than they were at this point in 2018. https://t.co/n7Dxa4PB6h
— Spencer Brown (@itsSpencerBrown) May 19, 2022
Her self-proclaimed organizations have also taken measures to denounce the alleged voter suppression by creating awareness among the masses. However, the rising numbers of early votes are against her claims.
Liberal media outlets also decried the law last year, calling it the pinnacle of Republican voter suppression.
According to the New York Times, the voting law would create unprecedented hurdles in the way of early voting by reducing access to ballots.
The early voting deadline ends Friday evening in the state as remaining voters pull up their socks to use their right to self-determination.
