LAWRENCEVILLE, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – Record-breaking early voter turnout will most likely result in Georgians getting an earlier look at the results of races on election night – from school board to president.

More than 3.3 million Georgians have already voted, and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said that number will likely be closer to four million by the end of early voting Friday evening.

Georgia allows pre-processing and scanning of early ballots cast in person or by mail, dramatically shortening the lengthy process before Election Day.

“We want every vote cast this way to be reported and appear on the board by the end of the evening,” Raffensperger said. “That will be 70-75% of all votes cast in Georgia reported by 8 p.m. We think that’s a good thing.”

Georgia law requires counties to report results by 8 p.m. on election night, but the state has never been able to process and provide such a high percentage before polls close.

“This puts us in a much better position on election night,” said Zach Manifold, Gwinnett County elections director. “The Election Fay experience is so much smoother, and that’s because 50, 60, 70% of the votes come in early. It just takes all the pressure off.”

Manifold reminds everyone that many counties, including Gwinnett, are opening their doors to voters and spectators while ballots are being processed. People can watch the whole thing in person at their election office.

Manifold — and certainly Raffensperger — remembers the impact of the 2020 election on poll workers. Raffensperger faced death threats and collected $500,000 in legal fees for the baseless lawsuits against him.

This year, some of Raffensperger’s allies launched the Election Defense Fund to raise money for legal aid to help local officials and poll workers facing similar baseless legal action and harassment.

“They’ve faced threats and I think it’s really exciting that people are stepping up and helping,” Manifold said. “We were lucky this year, it was nice and quiet. We hope this continues and hope for a smooth election day, election night and by-election.”

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