Georgia set a voter registration record ahead of its March 1 presidential primary, with more than 54,000 people registering to vote or updating their registration status within a week before this past Monday's registration deadline.
Secretary of State Brian Kemp made the announcement as elections officials prepared for the start of early voting next Monday. He said the numbers represented an unprecedented use of the state's online voter registration system, which the state launched in 2014.
Kemp said that over the last seven days before registration closed Monday evening, 54,385 Georgians registered to vote or updated their registration status using the online system. Of them, 37,903 were registering for the first time.
Georgia is one of 14 states, many of them in the South, that will hold presidential primaries or caucuses on March 1 in what is being called the SEC primary.
Absentee voting by mail has already started across the state. Registered voters can request a mail-in absentee ballot for either the Democratic- or Republican-preference primaries from their local elections office up to 45 days ahead of a federal Election Day.
If you want to cast a ballot in person, early voting begins statewide Monday at select locations. Check with your local elections office to see where to go.
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