What to expect in Georgia on Election Day

This is the first in a series of state-by-state previews of the 2024 election.

Georgia voters are once again expected to play a pivotal role in the presidential election on Nov. 5, even as many are focusing on recovering and rebuilding from the devastating effects of Hurricane Helene.

Both Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump have visited Georgia in recent weeks to survey the damage and meet with affected residents and local officials. The exact magnitude of Helene’s impact on the election, including on the state’s voting infrastructure, is difficult to assess and won’t likely be fully understood until after Election Day.

Georgia nonetheless remains one of the top prizes in the presidential election. The state played a key role in 2020, when Joe Biden became the first Democratic presidential candidate to carry the state since Bill Clinton in 1992. Biden defeated Trump in Georgia by less than a quarter of a percentage point, a margin of 11,779 votes.

Trump’s efforts to overturn those results are at the heart of an ongoing criminal case in Fulton County, although it’s currently on hold while the former president’s legal team pursues a pre-trial appeal to have District Attorney Fani Willis removed from the case and the indictment tossed. The Georgia Court of Appeals will hear those arguments after the election. Willis is seeking another term as Fulton County’s top prosecutor and will appear on the November ballot, facing Republican attorney Courtney Kramer.

Georgia’s governor and U.S. senators are not up for election this year, while all 14 U.S. House seats are not considered competitive. In the state Legislature, where Republicans control both chambers, all 56 state Senate and 180 state House seats are up for election. Democrats hope to chip away at the Republican majorities but have not listed the Georgia Legislature as a top target in November, as they have in a handful of other states.