State sets record for registered voters
ATLANTA — Georgia has hit a new record high voter registration level.
As of last Tuesday, Georgia had 7,587,625 registered voters throughout the state. More than 5 million of those came through automatic registration at the Department of Driver Services, a program of the Office of the Secretary of State to make registering new voters and updating voter information simple and easy.
“The continued growth of Georgia’s registered voting population is a testament to the simple and easy registration options the secretary of state’s office provides to Georgia voters, including automated registration through DDS,” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a news release. “As Georgia’s strong economy continues to attract the best and brightest from around the country, even during the pandemic, my office has the infrastructure in place for anyone who wants to register and participate in the democratic process.”
Georgia voters have taken advantage of the numerous convenient and easy ways to register. Of the 7.6 million registered voters, according to preliminary data, 5,002,856 of them have registered through automatic registration at the Department of Driver Services. Another 734,000 of those registered voters did so online through the Secretary of State’s website. The other 1,850,464 registered with paper registration applications.
The final numbers will likely be higher as counties continue to process registration applications, including those submitted online and registrations completed by DDS.
The 7.587 million total registered voters for the November 2020 general elections represents a more than 600,000 registered voter increase since November 2018.
Historically, Georgia has had high voter registration rates. According to the 2016 U.S. Election Assistance Commission Survey, 95.4% of Georgia’s eligible voting population was registered to vote in 2016. The number of overall registered voters increased from 6.657 million in November 2016 to 6.944 million in November 2018.