SCOTT DETROW, HOST:
The 2024 presidential election is well underway, with more than 5 million ballots already cast. In-person early voting began today in Georgia, a crucial swing state that could decide this year's winner. It's also where a judge has ruled this week that local officials are required by law to certify election results. NPR's Stephen Fowler is based in Atlanta and joins us with this Georgia voting update. Hey, Stephen.
STEPHEN FOWLER, BYLINE: Hey, Scott.
DETROW: So election certification - it's one of those things that we all mostly took as a given. But in the four years since former President Trump and his allies tried to overturn election results, it now has outsized significance. So given that context, tell us why it's so important that courts now say that certifying the election in Georgia is mandatory.
FOWLER: So this lawsuit was brought by a Republican member of Fulton County's elections board, who has declined to certify multiple elections so far - it hasn't impacted the results - and also after the Republican-majority state election board passed a rule that some worried could allow counties to reject votes, particularly in Democratic areas. This board member asked the court to rule that a county election board member's duty to certify the election is optional and not mandatory. That judge disagreed. In Monday's ruling, Judge Robert McBurney wrote that when the law says these officials shall certify the results, there's no choice.
DETROW: What's been the reaction so far to that ruling?
FOWLER: Well, pretty much everyone except for loyal Trump supporters are relieved. You've seen Democrats, Republican state officials and local county election boards all come together to say the state election board overstepped their authority here and with other last-minute rule changes - things like requiring poll workers to hand-count the number of ballots at each polling place after they close and before they can actually count what's on them. These rules are still in front of the courts and could be blocked, but voters are already casting their ballots here.
DETROW: All right, well, let's talk about that. I mentioned today is the first day of early voting. How has it gone so far?
FOWLER: Well, voters are voting in large numbers. Georgia is on pace to see a record number of people show up on the first day of a presidential election. By 1 o'clock, elections officials told me more than 155,000 people had cast their ballots. That's more than the entire first day of 2020. One of them is Republican Steve Beecham of Alpharetta, just north of Atlanta. He said the economy is his top issue, and it's why he voted for Donald Trump a third time.
STEVE BEECHAM: Well, I think that people don't understand that basically the government needs to be run like a business, and so that's my main focus - is who's running it like a business.
FOWLER: Then there's Bryan Heath of nearby Johns Creek. He's got two daughters, and so protecting abortion rights is a piece of Kamala Harris' vision that he supports.
BRYAN HEATH: For me, it's preservation of democracy as it stands. We're not perfect. We recognize that. But we don't need to go backwards. I think we need to move forward.
FOWLER: So the vast majority of Georgia's votes are cast before Election Day, Scott, so time is of the essence for the campaigns to get people to the polls.
DETROW: Stephen, this is a state where Biden beat Trump by about 12,000 votes last time. Every vote is going to matter. Walk us through what the campaigns are doing to get their people to the polls.
FOWLER: So Trump has a town hall focused on women's issues this afternoon. Then he's got a speech in suburban Cobb County. Kamala Harris is coming to Atlanta on Saturday. They also had former President Bill Clinton go across rural areas over the last few days. All of these locations underscore their focus. Trump is trying to win back moderate and right-leaning suburban voters, and Harris is trying to cut into the margins in rural areas while also having a strong base in urban areas.
DETROW: That's NPR's Stephen Fowler in Atlanta. Thank you, Stephen.
FOWLER: Thank you. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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