Rural Georgia counties outpace Dem strongholds as Peach State shatters early voting records
Georgia's rural, red-leaning counties have seen a significant uptick in early voting this year.
Rural Georgians are voting early at a higher rate than those living in Democratic-leaning counties that were key to President Biden flipping the state blue in 2020, the most recent data show.
Of the state’s 159 counties, the top 23 for absentee and early in-person voter turnout were won by former President Donald Trump in 2020, according to the state's elections website.
That includes the rural counties of Towns, Oconee and Rabun – which have seen 69.06%, 65.51%, and 64.46% of their active voters already casting ballots, respectively.
Towns County voters outpaced the Georgia county average early turnout rate by roughly 15%, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported.
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That includes suburban blue-leaning Cobb County and Gwinnett County, as well as the Democratic stronghold of Fulton County – home to Atlanta.
Of Fulton County’s active voters, 53.51% cast ballots before Election Day.
Georgia has smashed early voting records since early voting began on Oct. 15. On Wednesday evening, state officials announced that more than half of the state’s total active voters have already cast ballots.
Turnout in several rural areas that favored Trump is already close to total 2020 turnout, projections show.
Atlanta metro-area counties that voted for Biden are still significantly larger than rural areas with higher turnout, however.
Nearly 385,000 Fulton County voters cast early in-person ballots, followed by 275,207 from Gwinnett County and 271,426 from Cobb County.
By contrast, just under 7,000 Towns County residents voted in person during Georgia’s early voting period, which runs through Friday, Nov. 1.
Regardless, the spike in early voting in rural parts of Georgia could be a sign that Trump and Republicans have been successful in their efforts to gin up enthusiasm among their base.
It also could change perceptions of the way analysts and predictors interpret voter turnout – traditionally, early voting would heavily favor Democrats while an Election Day surge could help Republicans.
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Dave Wasserman, of the nonpartisan Cook Political Report, noted on X that early turnout in some rural red Georgia counties was on track to match their total turnout, but said it was not necessarily an indicator of who would win.
"It's notable that a place like Towns Co. (Trump +61 in '20) is at 92% of its final '20 turnout, while Clayton Co. (Biden +71) is at 69% of its '20 turnout," he wrote on X.
"Doesn't tell us who will win GA, just that Dems have more work to do than Rs to turn out their vote in the final days."
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