One in five Cobb voters have voted early

Oct. 29—As the second week of early voting wraps up, more than 20% of voters in Cobb County have voted early.

As of 5 p.m. Friday, 106,928 Cobb Countians had cast a ballot in-person, according to Elections Director Janine Eveler. Cobb has 510,490 active registered voters, according to the secretary of state's office.

The same is true statewide. As of Friday morning, 1.25 million Georgians had voted early, according to the secretary of state's office — more than a fifth of the state's registered voters.

Turnout is not quite at the level of the 2020 election, when about 1.48 million Georgians had voted early by this point, but is higher than in the 2018 midterm, when about 821,000 Georgians had voted early by this point.

In the 2018 midterm, 111,000 Cobb Countians voted early, Eveler said, a number the county will likely exceed in the coming days.

The total early voting turnout in Cobb in 2020 was 174,000.

Lines this week have been mostly 10 minutes or less, per Eveler, but that could change next week, the last week of early voting ahead of the Nov. 8 election.

"The last week is always a heavier week," she said. "A lot of people want to wait until they have all the information about their candidates and they wait until the last week. But it will be busier. Friday will be the busiest day, and I'm sure we'll have lines then."

The secretary of state's office also expects early voting turnout to increase next week. The state encouraged voters to take advantage of the voting on Saturday, which is available across all Georgia counties this weekend.

"One in five active Georgia voters has made a plan and gotten their ballots in early," Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Friday. "They've played a wonderful role in reducing the lift for their county election directors come November 8th."

Shorter lines in Cobb are partially due to a new voter check-in system the state is piloting in some counties, Eveler said. Cobb is the largest county using the system, which uses new "poll pads," electronic tablets, for check-in.

With the new pads, voters do not have to fill out a paper form, which saves three to five minutes, Eveler said. It also saves time by consolidating the check-in process into one machine — previously, workers had to use a laptop and a poll pad to check in voters.

"So it takes out quite a few steps," she said.

As of Friday, 132,758 absentee ballots had returned to county election offices across the state.

Friday was the last day to request an absentee ballot. Cobb elections has mailed out about 28,500 absentee ballots, about 12,850 of which have been returned.

Cobb's early voting locations will be open Saturday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., the last opportunity to vote on a Saturday before the election.

This weekend the county will also offer Sunday voting for the first time, for limited hours at one location. Voting will take place from noon to 4 p.m. at the main elections office on Roswell Street.

Early voting continues next week, Monday to Friday, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. In addition to the dozen locations offered in the first two weeks, Cobb will open a 13th voting location for the last week, at Jim Miller Park.

For more information on early voting in Cobb, visit cobbcounty.org/elections.