Following Joe Biden’s narrow presidential win in Georgia, early voting is underway in the state’s Jan. 5 runoff election for two U.S. Senate seats, races that will determine whether Democrats control both chambers in the first years of the new administration. Once a reliably Republican state, Georgia has received much attention for the increasing racial and ethnic diversity of its eligible voters, highlighting the importance of Black voters and other fast-growing groups like Latino and Asian voters.

Since 2016, the number of Black registered voters in Georgia increased by about 130,000, the largest increase among all major racial and ethnic groups, according to our analysis of Georgia Secretary of State’s Office data. Meanwhile, early reports suggest that turnout in November 2020 among Black registered voters increased compared with 2016, but not as much as other racial groups.