ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) —Georgians have cast more than 300,000 ballots through the first two days of early voting. More than 190,000 votes were cast statewide on the first day, a record for the first day of midterm early voting.

But in Dougherty County, only about a thousand votes were cast on Tuesday. Dougherty County Election Supervisor Ginger Nickerson said Dougherty County has had low voter turnout for the last couple of statewide elections.

“Of course, we’re a little, you know, disappointed that the numbers are not here, but also being disappointed, we still remain hopeful that there’s still time. That was just day one,” Nickerson said.

Turnout numbers

In May, election total turnout was just over 25% in Dougherty County. Nickerson said turnout needs to improve, with roughly 70,000 registered voters in the county.

“The situation I always say is we have a lot of people that do registration drives, but nobody does bring people to the polls. And so Tuesday, for our closeout to be 1,000 people, that is a small percentage out of that percentage that is registered. And so, we would like to see our numbers higher in the 2,000 to 3,000, if possible, to... Well, it is possible, let me say that. At least we’d see 2,000 to 3,000 on a daily basis to ensure that we have an impact and show that our voters are concerned and they’re ready,” Nickerson said.

Expanded voting access

Nickerson said they work every year to better spread the word on early voting, polling locations, and expanded hours for workers and churchgoers.

“And we’re also going to have that one Sunday where our voters can come in from one to five. And of course, the Sunday is the optional. All counties do not offer Sunday voting. The board met and it was a request made from an entity and the board voted and approved it. And also, the same goes for the extended hours. The board, that was a request that was made from an entity and the board unanimously accepted the request and extended those two days till 7 p.m. So, we’re hopeful still,” Nickerson said.

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