United States: record turnout for early voting in the state of Georgia

This article was originally published in English

The US state of Georgia recorded record turnout on Tuesday on the first day of early voting for the US presidential election.

Georgia is a key state in the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump, still neck and neck in the polls.

More than 300,000 people voted, according to election officials, more than double the 136,000 people who participated on the first day of early voting for the 2020 election between Donald Trump and Joe Biden.

Gabriel Sterling, Director of Operations for the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, welcomed the participation “spectacular” on X.

In 2020, President Joe Biden became the first Democratic candidate to win the state since 1992, a victory widely attributed to increased voting by black voterswhich make up about a third of Georgia’s population.

New ballot counting rule blocked by judge

Questions about the validity of Georgia’s election procedures continue to loom over the state’s vote.

A judge on Tuesday blocked a new rule that requires Georgia’s Election Day ballots to be counted by hand after polls close. The ruling came a day after the same judge ruled that county election officials must certify election results within the statutory deadline.

Both rulings are seen as victories for Democrats, liberal voting rights groups and some legal experts who feared that Donald Trump’s allies would refuse to certify the results if the former president lost to Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in next month’s presidential election.

They also argued that New rules approved by majority of State Election Commission and backed by Donald Trump could be used to stop or delay certification and undermine public confidence in results.