Early voting in Georgia surpasses 3 million ahead of runoff election

Over 3 million votes have been cast ahead of Georgia's runoff election on Jan. 5, according to an analysis of data from the secretary of state's office by Georgia Votes.

The strong turnout comes amid a high stakes election that will determine the balance of power in the Senate, with Democrat Jon Ossoff facing off against Republican Sen. David Perdue and Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock facing off against Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler. At least $512 million has been spent to run or reserve ad time in the runoffs, according to new data from Kantar Media’s Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG).

LIVE UPDATES: HERE'S WHERE GEORGIA RUNOFF CANDIDATES STAND AHEAD OF TUESDAY VOTE

As of Sunday afternoon, Georgie Votes reported 3,032,066 people have voted in the runoff election so far. Of those votes, 957,544 are absentee by mail and 2,074,522 are from in-person early voting.

Roughly 2,800,666 of early voters in the Georgia runoffs voted in the general election compared to 117,713 early voters in the Georgia runoffs who did not vote in the general election.

Georgia Votes reports that about 55% of the early vote is coming from White voters, followed by Black voters at 30% and Hispanic and Asian voters each at roughly 2%. Female voters make up roughly 55% of the vote while male voters make up roughly 44%.

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The latest data was released as Loeffler campaigned with South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem in McDonough, Ga. on Sunday.

Perdue has been forced to step back from the campaign trail after while the 71-year-old quarantines following potential exposure with a staffer who tested positive for coronavirus on Thursday.

"Both Senator Perdue and his wife tested negative today, but following his doctor's recommendations and in accordance with CDC guidelines, they will quarantine," the Perdue campaign said in a statement. "The Senator and his wife have been tested regularly throughout the campaign, and the team will continue to follow [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] guidelines. Further information will be provided when available."

Meanwhile, Warnock and Ossoff held a rally in Savannah on Sunday with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris.

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The latesting polling from RealClearPoltiics shows Ossoff and Warnock with slim leads over their incumbent challengers, with Ossoff leading by less than a percentage point and Warnock leading by roughly 1 percentage point.