Georgia sees fewer voters requesting absentee ballots ahead of Friday's application deadline

Friday is the last day for Georgians to request an absentee ballot in the midterm election, and the state is seeing much lower numbers of people who want to vote by mail.

As of Friday, data from the Georgia Secretary of State's Office showed that slightly more than 160,000 absentee ballots have been requested ahead of the deadline. That's a significant drop from the over 285,000 ballots requested in the 2022 midterms.

Of the requested ballots, the state says more than 74,000 have been returned. Nearly all of those have been accepted, with fewer than 570 rejected.

Unlike some other states, Georgia has few restrictions on who can vote by absentee ballot. To vote by mail, you merely have to be eligible to vote in the election. That deadline has already passed.

To vote by absentee ballot in Georgia, you must submit an application via the Secretary of State's Absentee by Mail Request Portal or here, or email, mail, or fax the application to your County Board of Registrars Office. You can also submit your application in person at the office as long as you bring an accepted photo ID. This must be done by close of business on Friday.

Missed the deadline to apply for an absentee ballot? Don't worry, you can still vote early or on the day of the election if you are registered to vote.

Outside of absentee voting, Georgia has seen record-breaking numbers in its early voting period. More than 1.5 million people have voted as of Friday afternoon, over 20% of the state's total active voters.