Georgia voters set a new single-day early voting record Monday with 301,500 people hitting the polls ahead of next week’s contentious Senate runoff between Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker. The tally blew past the previous record of about 253,000 set during the 2016 general election. Although polls opened over the weekend in many counties, Monday was the first day of early voting for most Georgia counties. Changes in Georgia law passed after the 2021 Senate runoffs significantly cut down the time between the general and runoff elections, and slimmed down the window for early voting. As of Tuesday morning, more than 500,000 voters had cast their ballots in person or by mail in the Dec. 6 runoff. Almost 4 million Georgians voted in the general election earlier this month.