Georgia Enters Final Week of Early Voting With Nearly 1.8 Million Ballots Cast

Introduction

Georgia is entering the final week of early voting with nearly 1.8 million ballots already accepted ahead of the November 3 general election, according to the latest figures from the Georgia Secretary of State's unofficial turnout dashboard, reported by FOX 5 Atlanta on October 26, 2026.

Through October 26, a total of 1,698,469 voters had cast ballots in person and 82,740 absentee ballots had been accepted, FOX 5 Atlanta reported. Together, those figures represent 23.7% of Georgia's 7,530,073 active voters — nearly one in four active voters in the state having already cast a ballot with eight days still to go before Election Day.

The numbers matter because Georgia is once again one of the most closely watched states in America. Its ballot includes a high-profile U.S. Senate race, where Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff faces Republican Mike Collins, and a governor's race, where Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms faces Republican Rick Jackson. Early voting continues through Friday, October 30, and voters who are registered can also cast a ballot on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3.

This article breaks down the turnout figures in detail — who is voting, how they are voting, and how this year compares with 2022 — and explains what the numbers can and cannot tell us about the outcome.

The Headline Numbers

The Secretary of State's dashboard figures, as reported by FOX 5 Atlanta, give a clear snapshot of where Georgia stands at the start of the final week:

• In-person early ballots cast through October 26: 1,698,469
• Absentee ballots accepted through October 26: 82,740
• Combined ballots accepted: approximately 1,781,209 — described by FOX 5 Atlanta as "nearly 1.8 million"
• Share of active voters: 23.7% of 7,530,073 active voters

The in-person figure dominates the total. For every absentee ballot accepted, roughly 20 Georgians had voted in person at an early voting location. That balance reflects how Georgia voters have increasingly used in-person early voting, which opened in the state on October 13, rather than voting by mail.

It is also worth noting what the dashboard counts. These are ballots accepted — in-person ballots cast and absentee ballots that have passed the acceptance process — not merely ballots requested or mailed. That distinction matters for absentee voting in particular, where the gap between ballots requested, issued, returned, and accepted can be significant.

Absentee Voting: A Smaller Share Than in 2022

The absentee figures tell a story of their own. According to FOX 5 Atlanta's report of the dashboard data:

• Absentee ballots requested: 164,750
• Absentee ballots issued: 163,873
• Absentee ballots returned: 83,379
• Absentee ballots accepted: 82,740

Two comparisons stand out. First, the number of absentee ballots requested — 164,750 — is well below the more than 285,000 submitted during the 2022 midterms. That is a drop of more than 120,000 requests, or more than 40%, compared with the last midterm cycle.

Second, the acceptance rate among returned ballots is high: 82,740 of 83,379 returned ballots were accepted, a gap of just 639 ballots. That suggests that, for voters who did choose to vote absentee, the process of returning a ballot that counts has been relatively smooth so far — though final figures, including ballots returned closer to the deadline, could shift that picture.

Georgia's absentee ballot request deadline has already passed. It passed on Friday, October 23, FOX 5 Atlanta reported. That means the absentee universe is now essentially fixed: no new requests can expand it, and the remaining question is how many of the issued ballots are returned and accepted before the deadline for counting.

The decline in absentee requests does not mean overall turnout is down. As the next section shows, in-person early voting has been running ahead of 2022, and the overall picture is one of voters shifting methods rather than staying home.

A Record Start, Still Running Ahead of 2022

Georgia set a record on the first day of in-person early voting. On October 13, a total of 188,667 ballots were cast in person, FOX 5 Atlanta reported — 40% more than on the first day of early voting in 2022.

That opening surge was not a one-day story. By October 20, in-person voting was 12% ahead of the same point in the 2022 midterm election, according to the Secretary of State's office, as cited by FOX 5 Atlanta.

Those two benchmarks help explain the 1.8 million figure. Georgia did not reach it by a slow, steady accumulation alone; it reached it with a record-breaking first day and a pace that stayed ahead of the last midterm through at least October 20. Whether that pace holds through the final week — which typically includes a surge in the last days of early voting, as voters who waited to cast ballots in person finally do so — will determine where Georgia's final early-vote total lands.

For context, Georgia's early voting period runs through Friday, October 30. After that, the only remaining way to vote is in person on Election Day itself, Tuesday, November 3. Historically, the final days of early voting and Election Day itself both draw large crowds, so the 23.7% figure should be read as a checkpoint, not a final turnout rate.

Who Is Voting: Age and Race Breakdowns

The Secretary of State's dashboard also publishes breakdowns of who has voted so far, and FOX 5 Atlanta reported the leading groups in both age and race categories.

By age, older voters dominate the early electorate so far:

• Ages 60-64: 213,257 voters — the largest single age group
• Ages 65-69: 209,899 voters
• Ages 55-59: 183,217 voters
• Ages 50-54: 159,378 voters
• Ages 75-79: 131,615 voters

Taken together, voters aged 50 and above account for the overwhelming majority of ballots cast so far in the groups listed. That pattern is common in early voting: older voters, who tend to vote at higher rates in midterms generally, also tend to vote earlier. Younger voters often make up a larger share of the Election Day electorate, so these early breakdowns should not be read as a prediction of the final electorate's age profile.

By race and ethnicity, the dashboard figures reported by FOX 5 Atlanta were:

• White: 890,760 voters
• Black: 544,112 voters
• Other or unknown: 156,447 voters
• Hispanic or Latino: 46,132 voters
• Asian or Pacific Islander: 40,165 voters
• American Indian or Alaska Native: 6,687 voters

These are records from the state's voter files, not estimates, and they describe who has voted so far — not who will vote, and not how anyone voted. A voter's race or age says nothing about which candidate they supported, and the secret ballot means the dashboard can never answer that question.

The Party Model: What It Shows, and What It Does Not

One figure in the FOX 5 Atlanta report requires careful handling, because it is easy to misread. A party-affiliation model attributed to TargetSmart, via the NBC News early-vote tracker, estimated that 54% of Georgia's early voters aligned with Democrats, 41% with Republicans, and 5% with other groups.

That model is not a vote count. Georgia does not register voters by party, FOX 5 Atlanta explicitly noted, so there is no official party registration to count. The TargetSmart figures are a modeled estimate, built from voter-file data and other signals, of which party early voters are likely to align with. And, crucially, FOX 5 Atlanta added, the modeled figures "do not show which candidates people chose."

That caveat deserves emphasis. A voter modeled as aligned with Democrats may still vote for a Republican candidate in a particular race, and vice versa. Ticket-splitting is real, especially in a state where the Senate and governor's races feature different dynamics. The model is best read as a rough signal about the composition of the early electorate — not as a forecast, and not as evidence about who is winning.

The same caution applies to national early-vote models. Nationally, NBC News' early-vote tracker counted 28,942,282 ballots cast as of the morning of October 26, with modeled party splits reported for some states. Those models are useful for understanding who is showing up early, but they are not results, and they will not be replaced by results until votes are counted after polls close on November 3.

What Is on Georgia's Ballot

Georgia's ballot is headed by two races that have drawn national attention and national money.

In the U.S. Senate race, Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff faces Republican Mike Collins. Ossoff, first elected in a 2021 runoff, is seeking a second term in a state that has become a genuine battleground. Collins, a congressman, has campaigned on a platform aligned with President Donald Trump, and Trump has campaigned for Georgia Republicans, including at a rally in Perry, Georgia, on October 24. Recent polling averages have shown Ossoff ahead — one polling average cited in recent coverage put him about eight points ahead — but averages move, and Georgia's recent history is full of races that tightened late.

In the governor's race, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms, the former mayor of Atlanta, faces Republican Rick Jackson. The governor's race will determine who leads the state's executive branch for the next four years, with consequences for everything from the state budget to election administration.

Beyond those two races, Georgia voters are also deciding U.S. House races, state legislative races, and local offices. The full ballot varies by county and district, and voters can check their specific ballot through their county election office or the Secretary of State's voter portal.

How Georgia Early Voting Works From Here

For Georgians who have not yet voted, the path is straightforward. Early voting continues through Friday, October 30, at early voting locations across the state. Voters can cast a ballot at any early voting location in their county, though the specific locations vary by county and voters should confirm hours and locations before going.

On Election Day, Tuesday, November 3, the rules change: voters must cast their ballots at their assigned polling place, not at any early voting location. That distinction trips up some voters every cycle, and it is worth repeating in the final week: early voting offers flexibility on location; Election Day does not.

Voters who requested an absentee ballot but have not returned it should pay attention to the return deadline and the rules for returning it — whether by mail, by drop box, or in person — since a ballot that arrives too late cannot be counted. The Secretary of State's dashboard and county election offices publish the relevant deadlines.

For voters who are not yet registered, it is too late to register for this election in Georgia — the state's registration deadlines passed before early voting began. That is a contrast with some other states: on October 26 itself, Colorado and Washington both had registration deadlines, with in-person registration still available on Election Day in both states.

Why Georgia's Turnout Matters Nationally

Georgia's turnout is watched nationally for several reasons. First, the Senate race could help determine control of the U.S. Senate. Republicans currently hold the Senate 53-47, and Democrats need a net gain of four seats to reach 51 — a path that runs through a handful of competitive states, Georgia among them. If Ossoff holds his seat, the Democratic path gets easier; if Collins wins it, the Republican majority gets harder to dislodge.

Second, Georgia has become a bellwether for turnout patterns in the South. Its combination of a large Black electorate, fast-growing suburban counties around Atlanta, and deep-red rural counties makes it a microcosm of broader demographic shifts. High early turnout in Georgia is often read — cautiously — as a signal of enthusiasm, though enthusiasm for which side is, as noted above, something the turnout data alone cannot answer.

Third, Georgia's 2022 midterm is a useful benchmark. The state set early-voting records then, too, and the 2026 pace running ahead of 2022 through October 20 suggests that voter engagement remains high even in a midterm cycle that has been dominated by national issues — the economy, gas prices, healthcare, and the ongoing war with Iran — rather than by a single Georgia-specific controversy.

None of this means the outcome is settled. Early votes are banked votes, but they are not counted publicly until after polls close, and Election Day votes can shift the picture significantly, especially in a state where the final margin in recent statewide races has often been narrow.

What Happens Next

The final week of early voting in Georgia will be the busiest stretch of the campaign. Expect several things:

• A final early-voting surge. The last days of early voting, particularly the final Friday, typically draw large crowds as voters who waited finally cast ballots. Daily dashboard updates will show whether Georgia's total pushes well past 2 million before Election Day.
• A closing campaign blitz. Both parties will pour resources into turnout in the final week — rallies, canvassing, advertising, and get-out-the-vote operations aimed at their own supporters, since persuading undecided voters matters less now than making sure decided voters actually vote.
• Absentee ballot returns. With the request deadline passed, the remaining absentee story is about returns: how many of the 163,873 issued ballots come back and are accepted, and whether the final acceptance rate stays as high as the current 82,740 of 83,379.
• Election Day itself. On November 3, Georgia's polls will be the focus of national attention, and results will begin to arrive after polls close. Early votes are typically among the first reported in Georgia, which means the early picture on Election Night may look different from the final picture once Election Day ballots are counted.

For now, the clearest fact is the simplest one: nearly 1.8 million Georgians have already voted, nearly one in four active voters, with a full week of early voting still to run. Whatever happens next, Georgia's electorate is already speaking — loudly, and early.

Frequently Asked Questions

How many Georgians have voted early so far?

Through October 26, 2026, nearly 1.8 million ballots had been accepted: 1,698,469 cast in person and 82,740 absentee ballots accepted, according to the Georgia Secretary of State's unofficial turnout dashboard as reported by FOX 5 Atlanta. That is 23.7% of Georgia's 7,530,073 active voters.

When does early voting end in Georgia?

Early voting continues through Friday, October 30, 2026. Election Day is Tuesday, November 3, 2026, when voters must vote at their assigned polling place.

Is absentee voting up or down compared with 2022?

Down, by requests: 164,750 absentee ballots were requested in 2026, well below the more than 285,000 submitted during the 2022 midterms. In-person early voting, by contrast, set a first-day record and was running 12% ahead of 2022 as of October 20.

Does the party-affiliation model mean Democrats are winning Georgia?

No. Georgia does not register voters by party, so the TargetSmart model cited by FOX 5 Atlanta is an estimate of which party early voters align with — 54% Democratic-aligned, 41% Republican-aligned, 5% other. It does not show which candidates anyone voted for, and it is not a result.

Who is running for U.S. Senate and governor in Georgia?

For U.S. Senate, Democratic incumbent Jon Ossoff faces Republican Mike Collins. For governor, Democrat Keisha Lance Bottoms faces Republican Rick Jackson.

Can I still register to vote in Georgia for this election?

No. Georgia's registration deadlines passed before early voting began. Voters who are already registered can vote early through October 30 or on Election Day, November 3.

Sources

• FOX 5 Atlanta, "Georgia enters final week of early voting with 1.8M ballots cast," October 26, 2026, citing the Georgia Secretary of State's unofficial turnout dashboard.
• NBC News early-vote tracker / TargetSmart party-affiliation model, as cited by FOX 5 Atlanta, October 26, 2026.