Georgia polling places could be ‘ghost town’ on Election Day after heavy early voting

Georgia election officials say turnout is running so high with early in-person voting and absentee ballot returns that polling places could be a “ghost town” on Election Day on Nov. 5.

Nearly 3.1 million people in the Peach State have voted in person as of Wednesday morning, according to Blake Evans, the state elections director. About 200,000 absentee ballots have been accepted, out of 341,520 issued, he said.

State election officials urged anyone who still has an absentee ballot to deliver it to an election office or drop box rather than mail it.

The 45.4% turnout is about two-thirds of the entire turnout in 2020, according to Gabe Sterling, chief operating officer for the state secretary of state. The 2020 turnout was second only to 1960 turnout, when the voting population was much smaller before the Voting Rights Act, he said.

“There is a possibility it could be a ghost town on Election Day,” Sterling said. “We’re going to have a record turnout, more than likely."

Election officials are trying to shoot down conspiracy theories about what is expected to be a very tight race between former President Donald Trump, a Republican, and Vice President Kamala Harris, a Democrat.

One accusation in social media was that the number of “active” voters continues to rise after the registration deadline. Sterling said some registrations hadn’t been processed by the deadline and people who voted this year after years of not voting had resumed “active.”

“People are making a choice not to believe those of us in the government offices,” Sterling said. “Some of them are so goo-goo-g-joob crazy town that it’s ridiculous to even try to respond.”

Because the margin between winner and loser could be close, Sterling said election officials anticipate legal challenges to the results and have asked the governor’s office to line up special assistant attorneys general.

“We don’t know who will win,” Sterling said. “Who wins will decide who sues us.”

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Georgia's early voting turnout could leave Election Day 'ghost town'