More than 26,000 voted early in DeKalb for runoff elections

More than 26,000 people voted early in DeKalb County this past week.

Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC

Credit: JOHN SPINK / AJC

More than 26,000 people voted early in DeKalb County this past week.

After last month's historic early voting totals, 26,921 voters submitted ballots ahead of the Dec. 4 runoff elections in DeKalb County, according to election information posted on the county's website.

Of that amount, 209 absentee voters have returned ballots in the runoff elections for secretary of state and public service commission.

For secretary of state, Democrat John Barrow faces Republican Brad Raffensperger. In the Public Service Commission race, Republican Chuck Eaton is opposed by Democrat Lindy Miller.

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HERE | See DeKalb's sample ballot

In the weeks leading to the Nov. 6 primary election, 166,280 early voters cast ballots in DeKalb County. That total surpassed the historic early voting numbers in the 2008 presidential election which had 150, 897 early voters.

Statewide, about one-fifth as many voters cast ballots in advance of the runoff compared to the leadup to the Nov. 6 general election, according to data from the Secretary of State’s Office. More than 402,000 Georgians voted early for the runoff,  after 2.1 million voted in advance of the general election.

“Based on early voting, there may a slight increase in voting of about five percent on Dec. 4,” DeKalb County spokesman Andrew Cauthen said.

Cauthen said there were no early voting issues this past week and urged voters to contact the DeKalb County Board of Registration and Elections at 404-298-4040 if they experienced any problems during the runoff.

The county experienced a myriad of early voting issues, including residents not receiving their ballots, regarding absentee ballot voting leading up the Nov. 6 Election.

Cauthen said the exact number of absentee ballots mailed out was not readily available.

Precincts will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Dec. 4 for the runoff election.

Staff writer Mark Niesse contributed to this story

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