NORCROSS, Ga. — Georgia has gained more than one and a half million voters since the last gubernatorial election - and the details give some hope to Democrats that they can win statewide elections again this year.
Most new Georgia voters register when they get new driver’s licenses. In the last four years, they expanded the electorate by about 20 percent, according to an analysis published by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
"I’m like, absolutely I do want to vote," said Marsella Ventura, who just moved to Gwinnett County from New York. She got a Georgia driver’s license around lunchtime Thursday and is now a registered voter with the state. She moved to Georgia to start a new job.
"I think everyone should vote. My biggest pet peeve is when people who complain about things say that their vote doesn’t matter when, in reality, it does," Ventura said moments after she registered at the Department of Driver Services office in Norcross.
It mattered four years ago when Gov. Brian Kemp squeaked by Stacey Abrams to become Georgia’s governor. Since then -- an analysis by the AJC shows that 1.6 million new voters have registered in Georgia and most of them are young people and voters of color.
The newspaper said the number of Hispanic voters grew 49 percent and the number of Asian American voters grew by 43 percent – voters who tend to support Democrats, according to an 11Alive poll released this summer.
White voters, who form the Republican party’s base, declined from 54 to 52 percent of Georgia’s electorate. Black voters, who overwhelmingly back Democrats, held steady at 30 percent.
More than half of the state’s new voters are under 35. Young voters tend to be more liberal, but vote less reliably than older voters, data shows.
Ventura said switching to Georgia may make her vote count more than she felt it did in New York.
"Down here, now that it’s purple, you know I feel like now I really have a bigger impact (on the election)," she said.
Georgia Republicans have made a concerted effort this year to sway voters of color -- hoping to nullify any demographic gains made by the Democrats since 2018.