MACON, Ga. — It is Election Day 2024 in Georgia. Georgia is one of 7 major swing states that will decide the next President of the United States.
Polls indicate the margins are razor thin in all 7 of the swing states including Arizona, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, Pennsylvania and North Carolina.
For Election Night 2024, breaking live coverage and news conferences, you can download 13WMAZ+, available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week on Roku, Apple TV and Amazon Fire TV. 13WMAZ+ will be where you can catch our Election Night 2024 show starting at 7 p.m. on Election Day and airing throughout the night as we bring you the latest updates from around Georgia.
Former President Donald Trump is looking to return to the White House after losing to President Biden in 2020.
Biden stepped aside earlier this year for his Vice President Kamala Harris, who would later become the nominee for the Democratic Party.
Georgia has become a big battleground state and over the last few days has been at the center of the campaign circuit as Trump himself rallied in Macon on Sunday while Harris held another rally in Atlanta.
Their surrogates have also flooded the state as Sen. Raphael Warnock held a rally in Macon on Monday and last week First Lady Jill Biden delivered remarks in Macon.
More than 55% of Georgia's 7.2 million active voters have cast a ballot. An Election Day turnout of another roughly million votes would see the Peach State surpass the 2020 election overall turnout.
13WMAZ will track developments throughout Election Day and the rest of this week as the people of one the 7 major swing states, Georgia, cast their votes in the 2024 election.
2024 Election in Georgia | Live updates, Tuesday, November 5
5:34 a.m. | The AP called Wisconsin for former president Donald Trump. In a corresponding move, they also called the 2024 race for Trump and projected him the 47th president of the United States.
2:26 a.m. | Trump speaks to supporters in West Palm Beach just moments after the AP called Pennsylvania for Trump.
1:00 a.m | The AP projects Donald Trump as the winner of Georgia, shifting focus to the Rust Belt states. It comes after North Carolina was also called by the AP, narrowing the path for Kamala Harris. Based on current counts, Trump is leading in the Rust Belt states but there are still votes to be counted.
12:15 a.m | Democratic nominee Robert 'Buck' Shannon has won the race for Peach County Sheriff.
11:40 p.m. | Democratic candidate Tangie Herring has won the race for Georgia House District 145.
10:30 p.m. | Republican candidate Matt Moulton has won the race for Houston County Sheriff.
9:43 p.m. | The Georgia Secretary of State's Office said the average line time was 2 minutes across Georgia. Raffensperger said Georgia is at 5.22 million people who have cast ballots with 1.2 million today, which was a record.
9:21 p.m. | Republican Butch Parrish has won the race for Georgia House District 158.
9:19 p.m. | Republican Bethany Ballard has won the race for Georgia House District 147.
9:18 p.m. | Republican Dale Washburn has won the race for Georgia House District 144.
9:15 p.m. | Republican Mike Collins has won the race for United States House District 10.
9:13 p.m. | Republican Larry Dean has won the race for Laurens County Sheriff.
9:10 p.m. | Democrat Anissa Jones has won the race for Georgia House District 143.
9:00 p.m. | Republican Austin Scott has won the race for United States House District 8.
7:56 p.m. | A few polling places will remain open later after fake bomb threats in Dekalb County. A judge ordered extended hours at six polling places, but only three remain open at this hour.
- North DeKalb Senior Center: 8:29 p.m.
- Briarwood Recreation Center: 8:22 p.m.
- Wesley Chapel Library: 8:03 p.m.
7:18 p.m. | The Bibb County Board of Elections encountered early issues with their results computer. The computer "broke down" at around 6:50 p.m., but at around 7:18 p.m., they got the computer back working and early voting totals began to upload.
7:05 p.m. | The majority of polls have closed across Georgia besides ones granted extensions.
7:03 p.m. | Indiana and Kentucky have been declared for Trump. Vermont has been called for Harris.
6:25 p.m. | Votes are officially being counted in Indiana and Kentucky, per reports.
6:07 p.m. | DeKalb County officials said they had received bomb threats at seven locations, including five voting precincts across the county.
5:08 p.m. | Raffenspeger says the state has reached over 800,000 votes so far and is projected to cross 1.1 million by the time polls close. If that happens, the state will exceed 5.2 million votes in total.
5:04 p.m. | Former US Senator Saxby Chambliss says Georgia election board still plans to have the votes counted quickly after polls close. "Two hours out from the polls closing, these guys are prepared to get the count up quickly," he said.
3:00 p.m. | The FBI released the following statement on bomb threats at polling locations across several states, including Georgia:
The FBI is aware of bomb threats to polling locations in several states, many of which appear to originate from Russian email domains. None of the threats have been determined to be credible thus far.
Election integrity is among the FBI’s highest priorities. We will continue to work closely with our state and local law enforcement partners to respond to any threats to our elections and to protect our communities as Americans exercise their right to vote.
As always, we urge the public to remain vigilant and report suspicious activity to state or local law enforcement, or submit tips to the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324) or online at tips.fbi.gov.
2:40 p.m. | The Secretary of State's Office says about a dozen precincts across the state will be kept open a little later due to late starts for a variety of reasons, from hoax threats to minor issues like power trouble. The office will provide an exact number soon.
2:38 p.m. | Several locations across the metro will be held open late by approximately 30 minutes due to unfounded bomb threats caused by a 'Russian hoax'. Those include:
- Two locations in Fulton County
- Two locations in Gwinnett County
The specific locations were not yet specified. Also, two locations in Cobb County will be held open late due to late starts due to equipment issues.
2:36 p.m. | Raffensperger says nearly 700,000 votes have been cast in Georgia so far today.
12:57 p.m. | A judge ordered the two precincts in Cobb County that had their openings delayed due to equipment to remain open until 7:20 p.m. While this won't affect anyone specifically in Central Georgia, it may delay the vote tallies in Cobb County.
12:20 p.m. | Reporters out in the field said that voting lines in Central Georgia are only taking about 5-10 minutes and that everything is running smoothly, as many have already reported.
12:12 p.m. | Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger confirmed that bomb threat hoaxes in the state impacted between five and seven precincts, and federal partners are working to help dispel misinformation.
12:10 p.m. | Raffensperger says 500,000 Georgians have voted so far today. This has brought the projected voters to 1.2 million. The average check-in time is still 49 seconds, and the voting line time has dropped to one minute.
10:45 a.m. | Georgia Secretary of State COO Gabriel Sterling took to X, formerly Twitter, to address previous hoax videos claiming voter fraud in the state. The video showed a Haitian immigrant, who claimed to have voted in several times during early voting in Georgia. It was debunked shortly after it was posted.
10:40 a.m. | Raffensperger confirmed non-credible bomb threats at polling locations that were 'of Russian origin."
10:38 a.m. | Raffensperger says officials expect all ballots to be counted by one hour after the polls close. Turnout also seems to be on pace to surpass the previously estimated 1 million votes.
8:45 a.m. | An Election Day morning update is set to come from the Secretary of State's Office in 15 minutes.
8:40 a.m. | Gabriel Sterling, the chief operating officer in the Secretary of State's Office, continues his earlier report that Georgia's voting lines are short and moving smoothly.
7:45 a.m. | Sterling, the chief operating officer in the Secretary of State's Office, reports a "smooth opening around the state of Georgia" this morning.
7:10 a.m. | People once lined up outside poling offices began to file in. Pictured below shows several voters lined up outside a precinct on Bass Road in North Macon.
7:00 a.m. | Polls will officially open for those choosing to vote on Election Day. Early voting totals show more than half of Georgians have already cast their ballots. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a press conference on Monday that he expects more than 70% of the vote to be counted by 8 p.m. on Tuesday, meaning earlier returns than in previous elections.