Early votes in Georgia, nation could signal high ’22 turnout

By BILL BARROW and JEFF AMY
Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — Strong early voting could point to high turnout in Georgia and nationwide in the 2022 midterms. Total early votes in Georgia through Sunday, including those cast in person and those sent in by mail, were running 60% higher than in the 2018 midterm election. University of Florida Professor Michael McDonald says he expects another high-turnout election nationwide like those in 2018 and 2020. Georgia Republicans including Gov. Brian Kemp have seized on the numbers as vindication that their 2021 rewrite of state election law didn’t hurt the ability to vote. Kemp’s challenger, Democrat Stacey Abrams, pushes back at that notion by saying voters have had to find ways around barriers.