to be a good showing in the nearly 2 million votes cast during early voting will be enough for the senator to win re-election. that said, this race is different than the last run-off when he beat the republican, georgia s new voting law cut the voting period by five weeks. 1.8 million early votes this year is nothing to sneeze at, overall, it is down by nearly 40% compared to the 3.1 million people who voted early in 2021. the so, let s just say the warnock campaign is cautiously optimistic. i worry that we will see this massive early voter turnout and some will decide that we don t need your voice and we do. there is still a path for herschel walker to win this race. for a week we have been talking to experts who said this is a game of attrition and turnout, and seems like both of these candidates got the
message. sandra. sandra: charles watson in atlanta following the big race on election day, thank you. i m going to take you to the touch screen real quick before john brings in the congressman. we are taking a look, obviously, at georgia, and the big race we are waiting on here, and when you look at the early voter turnout, i mean, this tells a big part of the story that we are seeing right now. it s looking good for warnock when you look at the early voter turnout, just showing you the number that charles watson highlighted, nearly 1.9 million, 27% of registered voters, that s early in-person voting and mail-in ballots that have been returned. that is running below 2021 levels, but that is what we are seeing so far. when you go into where the candidates are going to be campaigning today, cobb county, as far as the results from the midterm elections, cobb county, walker will be on the ground today. he s trying to run up his
midterm election vote outcome, trying to shrink the margin there, that s where he s going to spend his day. that is the third-ranked population in the state. fulton county is number one, as far as where most of the votes will come from, home to atlanta, georgia. as far as population rate, dekalb county, run up the vote there, run the table. high margin of victory in the midterm election turnout there, and just north of dekalb, gwinett county, warnock is trying to run up the margin there, almost 60% then, if he turns out that vote this time around, that s looking good for him. that s what we are watching on election day, a couple key counties, obviously surrounding the atlanta area there, john. john: all about getting people out to the polls if they hope to counter the early voting on the democratic side. more americans could face increased scrutiny from the irs
senator rafael warnock and republican herschel walker are trying to get more out to the polls. walker in marietta georgia, he shook hands and took pictures, and big assist from georgia governor brian kemp. take a listen. i voted for herschel walker, i want to encourage you to do the same. we have to have a big turnout to win this thing. a vote for my opponent is a vote for joe biden and a vote for chuck schumer, and he s showing you that a vote for me is a vote for georgia values. meantime, warnock kicked off a canvassing event this, knocking on doors, the warnock campaign is hoping a strong turnout and what they believed
before a big game i don t sleep because i m ready. so i want y all to get ready. don t spike the football before we get it into the end zone. we are going to win. sandra: for the second time in a month, voters in georgia are back to the polls to see who they want to represent them in the divided u.s. senate, and choice between herschel walker and rafael warnock will have broad implications for the rest of the country. complete coverage begins now. illinois congressman is just moments away, but charles watson is live in atlanta. how is turnout looking, charles? hey, good afternoon, sandra. not bad at all. the georgia secretary of state office says they expect more than 1 million people to get out and cast a vote today, and so far folks are not having to wait long at all to cast their ballots. meantime, incumbent democrat