ATLANTA (AP) 鈥� Georgians aren't waiting to vote, with what could be more than 10% of expected turnout casting ballots through Wednesday.
More than 310,000 people voted on Tuesday, the first day of early in-person voting, with another 260,000 more making their choices through Wednesday evening. Another 33,000 mail ballots have also been accepted. That's more than 600,000 votes cast in Georgia, compared to the record 5 million who voted in the 2020 presidential election in the southern .
On Monday, voters lined up before sunrise, with many saying they long ago decided whether they were choosing Democrat , Republican , Libertarian or Green Party nominee . Two other candidates 鈥� independent and the Party for Socialism and Liberation's Claudia De la Cruz appear on Georgia ballots, but their votes won't be counted after the state Supreme Court ruled .
鈥淚'm excited to vote against Donald Trump and for Kamala Harris,鈥� said Anthony Engleton, a retiree who was voting Tuesday in the Atlanta suburb of Sandy Springs. 鈥淭he whole history, the record of Trump's crimes and grifts shows he's a con artist who's all about himself.鈥�
Voting in the Gwinnett County suburb of Berkeley Lake, Karen Hall said she had long been ready to support Trump because of her concerns about immigration.
鈥淚t鈥檚 the most important election in our lifetime,鈥� Hall said. 鈥淥ur country鈥檚 gone to hell in a handbasket and it needs to be set back on the right track. Donald Trump is the only who can fix it.鈥�
Both Democrats and Republicans try to to vote early in Georgia, so they can focus later on less reliable voters. Trump did two events Tuesday in Georgia, while urged on voters in recent days.
The previous first-day record was nearly 137,000 in 2020, and this year's increase reflects a shift in how Georgians vote. In 2020, amid the pandemic, Georgia temporarily made it easy to request a mail ballot online and set up many drop boxes. By this time in 2020, 1.2 million votes had already been recorded.
Voters in Georgia must now physically sign an absentee ballot application, counties are required to mail them later, and the number of drop boxes . That's all combined to decrease mail ballot requests from 2020, part of a in the state.
Among those who have already cast Georgia ballots are one former president, Jimmy Carter, and one current presidential candidate, Libertarian Chase Oliver.
Oliver joined a line of voters Tuesday morning in the Atlanta suburb of Tucker.
鈥淚t always feels weird seeing your name on the screen and you鈥檙e selecting yourself 鈥� it鈥檚 a little surreal,鈥� Oliver said.
The Libertarian is touting himself as the only third-party candidate on the ballot in all 50 states, saying he's an alternative for Republicans and Democrats dissatisfied with their nominees.
Jimmy Carter cast his ballot by mail on Wednesday, according to the Carter Center.
His son Chip Carter said before the family gathered for his on Oct. 1 that the former president was 鈥減lugged in鈥� to the election.
鈥淚 asked him two months ago if he was trying to live to be 100, and he said, 鈥楴o, I鈥檓 trying to live to vote for Kamala Harris,鈥欌�� Chip Carter said. ___
Kramon reported from Berkeley Lake, Georgia.
Jeff Amy And Charlotte Kramon, The Associated Press
