The GA Secretary of State is posting on a daily basis some key early voting statistics at the following website:
SOS data
(If someone can tell me how to do one of those links so it looks like a name instead of just the link, I would appreciate it!)
Quick analysis after the fold.
Friday, 10/17, was the highest total of early voting and absentee ballots to date. There's no let up. 55.7k new voters on Friday. Previous best day was Thursday at 50.4k.
DeKalb is still banking votes at a higher rate than any other major county. DeKalb went 73% (or so) for Kerry in 2004. And through Friday, 23% of registered voters in the county had already voted. At this rate, 50% of the voters in the county might vote early! (Anyone in DeKalb, we may need some help in Fulton if the lines are short there!)
African Americans are turning out at a rate significantly above the other demographics. ~15% of African Americans have voted already, as compared to 12.4% of all registered voters.
Fulton county still has the lowest turnout rate of the top 5 counties (9.6% of registered voters). Considering this is a county that went for Kerry in 2004 by 59%/40%, we have our work cut out to get people out early and on election day in Fulton. IF YOU LIVE IN FULTON COUNTY OR CAN HELP WITH GOTV EFFORTS IN FULTON, WE NEED YOUR HELP! Check out www.mybarackobama.com for more information on what events are planned in Fulton county.
If we can get higher turnout in Fulton and keep African American turnout above 30% (in early voting it's still 35.6%), we can win Georgia for Obama and have Jim Martin beat Saxby Chambliss. But we need more volunteers. We've got a great start, but we need to keep running through the finish line.
Let's make it happen!