Black, Latino and Asian Americans have been key to Georgia’s registered voter growth since 2016

Early voting is underway in Georgia’s Jan. 5 runoff election for two U.S. Senate seats, races that will determine whether both chambers of Congress are led by Democrats during the first years of the new administration. The number of Black registered voters in Georgia increased by about 130,000 between October 2016 and October 2020, the largest increase among all major racial and ethnic groups. There has also been rapid growth among Latino and Asian registered voters, though both groups make up relatively small shares of the state’s voter rolls.

• Black eligible voters have accounted for nearly half of Georgia electorate’s growth since 2000

As CDC warned against holiday travel, 57% of Americans say they changed Thanksgiving plans due to COVID-19

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has cautioned Americans to avoid holiday travel this year because of the COVID-19 outbreak. A third of U.S. adults say they changed their Thanksgiving plans “a great deal,” while 24% changed their plans “some,” according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. Democrats are far more likely than Republicans (70% vs. 44%) to say they changed their Thanksgiving plans due to the virus.

• Explore the data in our interactive tool
• See all our COVID-19 research

20 striking findings from 2020

Every year, Pew Research Center publishes a list of striking research findings from our studies over the past 12 months. As 2020 draws to a close, here are some of the findings that stood out, covering the coronavirus pandemic, race-related tensions, the presidential election and other important developments from a year unlike any other.

From our research