A record 5.29 million Georgia voters turned out in this year’s election, shattering the previous high set four years ago.
About 64% of registered voters participated in the race, with a majority of them supporting Republican Donald Trump over Democrat Kamala Harris. Trump received nearly 117,000 more votes than Harris, a 2% margin of victory.
The high turnout showed strong voter engagement in Georgia, one of seven swing states. Trump was on track to win Georgia and every other swing state, including Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.
While the overall number of voters was larger than the 5 million who showed up in 2020, the turnout rate was slightly lower because more voters have registered in the state as Georgia has grown the past four years. About 65% of registered voters participated in 2020, when Democrat Joe Biden defeated Trump.
The largest batch of Georgia votes were cast before Election Day.
More than 3.7 million voters turned out during three weeks of in-person early voting, and 51% of them supported Trump. The president-elect also received a majority of the 1.2 million votes cast on Election Day.
Harris won 64% of the absentee vote, which was much lower than in 2020, when many people voted by mail during the COVID-19 pandemic.
About 5% of Georgia voters cast absentee ballots this year, compared with 26% in 2020.
Compared with the rest of the United States, Georgia had the 17th-highest turnout rate, according to data from Michael McDonald at the University of Florida Election Lab.
An estimated 68% of eligible Georgia voters participated in this year’s election, higher than the national turnout rate of 65%. The University of Florida calculates turnout based on eligible voters rather than registered voters.
The highest states for turnout this year were Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan.
This article was updated on Nov. 12, 2024, to reflect that turnout reached 5.29 million voters.
