Politics
Georgia early-vote gains are concentrated in metro counties as rural turnout holds flat
Early ballots in counties Kamala Harris carried in 2024 are up 18% from the same point in the 2022 midterms, while voting in Donald Trump’s counties is roughly even. Suburban counties on both sides of the political divide are outpacing the previous midterm, but much of rural Georgia is not.
Early voting in Georgia’s 2026 general election is running ahead of the 2022 midterm pace in many metro Atlanta counties, while participation across most rural counties has remained nearly flat, according to an analysis of voter participation and election results data from the Secretary of State’s Office.
The analysis found that ballots cast in the 27 counties carried by Democrat Kamala Harris in 2024 were up 18% compared with the same stage of early voting in 2022. In the 132 counties won by Republican Donald Trump, early turnout was essentially unchanged.
The divide is not strictly partisan. Democratic-leaning Cobb and Gwinnett counties are each running about 15% ahead of their pace at this point in the last midterm. Republican strongholds Cherokee and Forsyth are seeing even larger increases. But many rural counties are lagging behind metro areas.
The statewide surge has already passed 1 million early ballots. High participation is notable in a midterm election, but early-voting totals alone do not establish how many people will vote by Election Day or predict which candidates will win. Voters can also choose to cast ballots later, and the pace can vary across counties and election cycles.
The geographic split comes as Georgia voters prepare to decide closely watched contests for governor and the U.S. Senate, among other races. The contrasting county trends show how a statewide turnout increase can mask very different levels of participation from one community to another.