1.86 million voters cast ballots so far for the runoff, down 39% from the 3.1 million voters who cast ballots ahead of the Senate runoffs in January 2021


151,016 voters cast absentee/mail ballots ahead of the runoff, down 36% from November’s general election and down 86% from the January 2021 runoff, held during the pandemic

“We’d likely see shorter lines if voters could have more effectively requested mail ballots,” said Michael McDonald, a political science professor at the University of Florida who tracks early voting turnout. “And the fact that we’re seeing these lines every day – just in certain localities – tells you there’s something systemic going on here.”

McDonald said it’s hard to know how early voting turnout will affect overall turnout and that it was impossible to know how many would-be voters were discouraged enough by mail ballot regulations or long in-person lines to just skip voting early altogether.

“For folks who have hourly jobs [or may] have childcare/family obligations... it's the choice between [not voting] or having their paycheck cut in half for the day,” said Xakota Espinoza with Fair Fight Action, a voter advocacy group founded by Democrat Stacey Abrams.