Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Approximately 20 percent of Troup County’s registered voters have already cast their ballot for the Nov. 3 general election, according to numbers provided by county Elections and Registration Supervisor Andrew Harper.

Harper said that, as of Friday, 4,661 people had voted early in-person, and 3,520 absentee ballots had been returned, a total of 8,181 votes.

As of Sept. 1, there were 41,489 registered voters in Troup County, though the number is likely higher, as the last day to register for this election was Oct. 5.

The data shows that in this cycle, early voting is still more popular than absentee voting, but the increase in absentee ballots is much more dramatic.

Just 1,259 Troup voters cast absentee by mail ballots for president in 2016, so there has already been a 180 percent increase this year.

In 2016, 12,679 people voted early for president in Troup.

The high turnout in Troup County matches statewide figures. Approximately 1.48 million Georgians have voted already, about 20 percent of the state’s 7.1 million registered voters. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has said he thinks the election could see more than 5 million votes.

Raffensperger’s office released data comparing statewide turnout in this election to statewide turnout at the same time (7^th day of early voting) in 2016. As of Sunday, has been a 156 percent increase in total turnout to date. Broken down by ballot type, there’s been a 67.2 percent in early, in-person voting and a 653.4 percent increase in absentee by mail ballots.

Oct. 12, the first day of early voting, saw long lines at the Troup County Government Center, with many waiting more than two hours to cast a ballot.

“I think it [the first week] went pretty well,” Harper said. “We had people lined up out the door before 8 o’clock every morning.”

Harper said they were using 20 machines at the government center and had no issues with them. The number of voters, he said, remained steady or increased throughout last week. The lines moved quicker, however.

“All the workers are getting in a groove,” Harper said.

Of the early in-person ballots cast, 3,850 were cast at the government center and 811 have been cast at the new early voting site in Hogansville. There are 8 voting machines in Hogansville, Harper said.

Early voting is available at the government center at 100 Ridley Ave. and at the Hogansville Annex at 600 Main St., Monday through Friday, until Oct. 30. Early voting will also occur on Saturday, Oct. 24 from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

Absentee ballots must be mailed to the county Board of Elections and Registration Office or dropped in one of three drop boxes. The drop boxes are at the government center, the Hogansville Police Department and West Point City Hall.