October 19, 2022

Georgians Are Voting Early in Record Numbers

Turnout so far is on track to outpace that of the 2020 presidential election.

Miguel Martinez/The Atlanta Journal-Constitution/Zuma

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After two full days of early voting in Georgia, the state’s remarkable midterm turnout was on track to exceed that of the 2020 presidential election.

The contentious Senate race between former college football star Herschel Walker and incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock could help determine the makeup of the upper house of Congress. Georgians are also deciding whether Democrat Stacey Abrams will unseat Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, although polls show Kemp with a significant lead.

As of Wednesday morning, more than 268,000 Georgians had cast their ballots during early, in-person voting—a 75.3 percent increase from the day two totals for the 2018 midterms, and a 3.3 percent increase from those for the 2020 presidential election, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. The turnout is especially impressive in light of a 2021 law aimed at restricting the right to vote in Georgia.

“We’re extremely pleased that so many Georgians are able to cast their votes, in record numbers and without any reports of substantial delays,” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a press release. Raffensperger, who is up for reelection himself, famously resisted former President Donald Trump’s efforts to pressure him to overturn the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. Prosecutors in Fulton County are scrutinizing those efforts as possible crimes.

Instead of stoking fears of election fraud and targeting poll workers, Raffensperger made a point of reminding Georgians to trust the democratic process. “This is a testament to the hard work of Georgia’s election workers, the professionals who keep our elections convenient and secure,” he said.

As in 2020, the stickers local election workers hand out to voters even include a cheeky nod to conspiracy theories about election meddling: “I secured my vote.”

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WHO DOESN’T LOVE A POSITIVE STORY—OR TWO?

“Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids.”

That’s what a civil rights lawyer wrote to Julia Lurie, the day after her major investigation into a psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as “cash cows” published, letting her know he was using her findings that same day in a hearing to keep a child out of one of the facilities we investigated.

That’s awesome. As is the fact that Julia, who spent a full year reporting this challenging story, promptly heard from a Senate committee that will use her work in their own investigation of Universal Health Services. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come.

Like another story about Mother Jones’ real-world impact.

This one, a multiyear investigation, published in 2021, exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other sweets. A year ago, the Biden administration banned sugar imports from Central Romana. And just recently, we learned of a previously undisclosed investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this?

“This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains,” according to a retired special agent we talked to.

Wow.

And it is only because Mother Jones is funded primarily by donations from readers that we can mount ambitious, yearlong—or more—investigations like these two stories that are making waves.

About that: It’s unfathomably hard in the news business right now, and we came up about $28,000 short during our recent fall fundraising campaign. We simply have to make that up soon to avoid falling further behind than can be made up for, or needing to somehow trim $1 million from our budget, like happened last year.

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