By Jill Nolin | Editor
The record-setting early voting turnout continues for Georgia’s midterm election. But there’s also been a notable drop in one area: At this point, far fewer Georgians are planning to cast an absentee ballot.
Georgians turned in a record number of absentee ballots during the 2020 election cycle. This year, the number of absentee ballot requests has noticeably decreased. Jill Nolin/Georgia Recorder (file photo)
2026 ELECTION
By Maya Homan
Peach State residents who want to vote by mail in the midterm elections have one last day to file their absentee ballot request, and so far, Georgia is seeing less demand for that form of voting.
About 154,000 absentee ballots have been requested as of Wednesday evening, according to data from the secretary of state’s office. Of the roughly 153,000 ballots that have already been sent out to voters, more than 62,000 have been returned and accepted. Georgia voters have until Friday to submit their absentee ballot requests to their county election office.
Voters line up outside Shiloh Hills Baptist Church in Kennesaw, Georgia, on primary Election Day, May 19, 2026. (Photo by Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
VOTING
By Jonathan Shorman
A federal judge on Wednesday night blocked the Department of Homeland Security from conducting election-related field operations that could sweep up U.S. citizens in nine states.
Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín, an appointee of President Joe Biden in U.S. District Court in the Northern District of California, issued a preliminary injunction after voting rights advocates alleged that Homeland Security was sending armed agents to homes to question residents about their voter status.
The injunction bars operations in California, Connecticut, Georgia, Missouri, Nevada, New York, Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin until polls close on Election Day, though the administration may appeal in the coming days.
The U.S. Supreme Court on April 9, 2026. (Photo by Ashley Murray/States Newsroom)
COURTS
By Ariana Figueroa
The U.S. Supreme Court Wednesday denied the Trump administration’s emergency request to implement a rule that would terminate gender-affirming care for transgender people incarcerated in federal prisons.
It means a lower court order that blocked the policy from going into effect will remain in place for now, and gender-affirming healthcare for transgender inmates will continue.
“This is a critical ruling for our clients and all transgender people in Bureau of Prisons custody,” Li Nowlin-Sohl, senior staff attorney with the ACLU’s LGBTQ & HIV Project, said in a statement. “The denial of medically necessary health care, including gender-affirming health care, to people in prison is a violation of their fundamental constitutional rights.”
News tips, feedback, question? Email us: [email protected]
ICYMI FROM THE RECORDER
Thanks for reading The Daily Record. Did you know our weekend digest is also free? Sign up here. And if you enjoyed today’s edition, please forward to a friend. Increasing our readership helps us cover more news.