
Over 2.7 million Georgians voted early in person for the 2026 midterms, surpassing the state’s 2022 midterm record by more than 415,000 ballots.
Northeast Georgia led the state in overall voter turnout, with more than half of the active registered voters in Towns County casting ballots ahead of Election Day. Oconee County was close behind.
A record midterm
By the time polls closed Friday, Oct. 30, 2,705,259 of Georgia’s 7.5 million active registered voters had cast ballots, up 18.1% from 2022.
Election officials accepted nearly 130,000 absentee-by-mail ballots statewide, for an overall turnout of 37.6%.
Towns and Oconee lead the region and state
Across Northeast Georgia, early voter turnout reflected statewide totals, reaching 37.5% of the nearly 650,000 voters across 18 counties.
Towns County led the region and state at 52.2%, with 5,703 of its 10,920 active registered voters casting early ballots. Oconee County followed, with the second-highest turnout in Georgia, at 50%. By the end of early voting, 16,461 of Oconee’s 32,919 active registered voters had cast ballots.
Rabun and Union counties were next, regionally, at 43.4% and 43.3%, respectively. Habersham ranked fifth in the region at 41.2%, with 13,250 of its 32,157 active registered voters casting early ballots.
Eight Northeast Georgia counties exceeded the statewide turnout. Franklin County had the region’s lowest early turnout at 28.5%, followed by Elbert at 29.6% and Barrow at 30.2%.
Early turnout by Northeast Georgia county
| County | Early turnout |
|---|---|
| Towns | 52.2% |
| Oconee | 50.0% |
| Rabun | 43.4% |
| Union | 43.3% |
| Habersham | 41.2% |
| Clarke | 40.5% |
| Dawson | 39.9% |
| Lumpkin | 38.2% |
| Jackson | 37.1% |
| Hall | 36.7% |
| Stephens | 36.7% |
| White | 35.7% |
| Hart | 34.4% |
| Banks | 32.6% |
| Madison | 31.0% |
| Barrow | 30.2% |
| Elbert | 29.6% |
| Franklin | 28.5% |
Turnout is the share of active registered voters who voted early in person or had an absentee-by-mail ballot accepted. County percentages are shown as displayed on the regional map.
Election Day voting
Election Day voting at polling precincts across the state begins at 7 a.m. on Nov. 3. Now Georgia is closely monitoring the election and will bring you live updates throughout the evening after polls close at 7 p.m.
To check your voter registration status and locate your assigned voting precinct, visit Georgia’s My Voter Page.
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