Record Number of DeKalb Residents Vote Early

DECATUR, Ga. – A record number of DeKalb County registered voters took advantage of early voting. The Board of Elections is reporting that more than 193,000 people have already cast their ballots including more than 13,000 by mail.

“We expect Election Day to go smoothly because almost 50 percent of active voters have taken advantage of early voting opportunities and the remaining 30 percent to 35 percent we expect will be spread over 173 locations,” said Maxine Daniels, DeKalb Registration and Elections director.

There are 518,947 registered voters in DeKalb County.

“To see nearly 4,000 people to come out and take advantage of Sunday voting is impressive,” said DeKalb County Interim CEO Lee May. “DeKalb County led the state in the effort to make early voting more accessible and these numbers show adding that Sunday option makes a difference.”

DeKalb elections officials said the average wait time during the first two weeks at early voting locations was less than 15 minutes. The final week averaged 30 minutes across the county.

Elections officials are prepared for the thousands of voters who have yet to cast their ballots.

“Technically, we have been preparing for this day since 2008,” Daniels said. “While there are always unexpected issues, I feel like our poll officials and staff are trained to handle this important election day.”

Polls are open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 8. Times and locations can be found by visiting www.dekalbvotes.com. Voter registration and poll location information can be found at the Georgia voting MVP website.

###