Georgia’s voter turnout surpassed 4 million votes cast on the final day of early voting last Friday, a record turnout that was more than four times the number of votes cast during the entire March 2024 Presidential Preference Primary.

In Chatham County, early voting numbers were 100,824. This year’s total early votes in Chatham are about 75% of the total votes cast in 2020, which reached 134,210.

The nearly 101,000 early votes in Chatham put its early voting turnout at 48%, a few percentage points behind the 55.5% turnout statewide as polls closed Friday.

The statewide figure also rivals the early voting totals of the last presidential elections in 2020, when more than 2.7 million Georgia residents cast ballots during the state’s early voting period.

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For registered voters who have not yet cast their ballot, polls will reopen from 7am to 7pm on Election Day, which will be Tuesday, November 5. Voters can also drop off their absentee ballots at official voting drop boxes or at their county. registrar’s office.

At a Wednesday news conference, Secretary of State Chief Operating Officer Gabriel Sterling warned voters not to mail absentee ballots, as they likely won’t arrive in time to be tabulated on Election Day.

“If you received your absentee ballot, we and the United States Postal Service are now telling you not to mail it,” Sterling said. “Bring it to your local county elections office or to the Dropbox at your county early voting location.” . “That way you are protecting your vote.”

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He also urged voters who mailed in an absentee ballot to sign up for Ballot Scout on the My Georgia Voter page to verify that their ballot was accepted and make a backup plan if there were any problems.

Here’s a look at early voting turnout across the state.

Maya Homan is a USA TODAY 2024 Elections Fellow focusing on Georgia politics. She is @MayaHoman on X, formerly Twitter.

This article originally appeared in the Savannah Morning News: Early voting in Georgia broke records this year. Explore 2024 participation