'Spectacular turnout': Georgia voters cast record number of early ballots

Georgia election officials were encouraged Tuesday by the record number of early voters casting ballots in the critical battleground state that faces challenges from Hurricane Helene and litigation over controversial election rule changes.

Over 300,000 ballots were cast Tuesday, the opening day for early voting in the state, Georgia election official Gabriel Sterling announced on X.

“For those that claimed Georgia election laws were Jim Crow 2.0 and those that say democracy is dying…the voters of Georgia would like to have a word. Over 300,000 votes cast today! That’s 123% higher than the old record for the 1st day. Great job counties & voters,” Sterling said.

Earlier in the day, Sterling called the quarter of a million votes cast by 4 p.m. a “spectacular turnout.”

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger wrote in a social media post that Georgia voters “have surpassed all daily records for any day of early voting in 2022.” He added that “Georgia voters are energized!”

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“No matter how you look at it, these are huge numbers,” said CNN’s Erin Burnett on her show “OutFront.” She asked veteran Democratic operative David Axelrod to analyze what he saw in the numbers.

“To me, this is a statement on the part of people across the state that, ‘Hey we’re coming, we’re going to vote, we’re not going to be discouraged’ and that, I think, is great.” He added that he believes the turnout is “mildly encouraging for Democrats."

"And certainly it's encouraging for democracy that a record is being broken," Axelrod said. "But it looks like we’re heading for another big election.”