Georgia's election law that took effect last year means at least one major change for voters in the Senate runoff race between Democratic incumbent Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker: They'll be heading back to the polls a lot sooner.
allowed between a general election and a runoff election — drastically shortening the period during which many voters must request, receive and cast ballots. The law's narrowed time frame also effectively cuts the early in-person voting period, from a minimum of 16 days in 2020 to a minimum of 5 in 2022, while existing rules have ensured almost no new voters will be eligible to vote in the runoff.
“It was not just that the runoff date was moved up, it’s that the period to get so many steps done has been condensed,” said Danielle Lang, the senior director of the voting rights unit at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan voting watchdog group. The law, however, does not change an existing rule that voters must register at least 30 days before an election.will not be able to registerThat’s a stark difference from the landscape in the state in 2020 — that year both of the state’s U.S. Senate races advanced to a runoff that would determine control of the chamber — when candidates and outside groups rushed to register droves of new voters.
Under existing runoff procedures, most Georgians who want to cast an absentee mail-in ballot must first request such a ballot, in compliance with the law's new voter ID requirement. The deadline for local election officials to receive those absentee ballot applications is Nov. 25, the day after Thanksgiving.
Once voters receive their absentee ballots, they must choose their candidates and mail those ballots back, again in compliance with the voter ID requirement. Absentee mail-in ballots received before 7 p.m. on the day of the election — Dec. 6 — will be counted, per Georgia’s law. Voters may also deposit their absentee ballots in drop boxes.
Under a separate provision of SB 202, overseas and military absentee voters were provided a ranked choice voting ballot as their general election ballot weeks before the general election so that, in the event of a runoff, their vote would have already been mailed in.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Georgia officials sued over Saturday poll closure in Senate runoffRepublicans know their best chance of electing Herschel Walker is to keep voter participation low. And they're doing everything in their power to make that happen. (via TheReidOut Blog)
Read more »
Mike Huckabee hits campaign trail with Herschel Walker, addresses Trump factor in Georgia Senate runoffFormer Republican Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee addressed how the Trump factor could affect the runoff race between Herschel Walker and Sen. Raphael Warnock.
Read more »
Judge rules to allow early voting in Georgia Senate runoff on Saturday after Thanksgiving | CNN PoliticsA judge in Georgia on Friday ruled to allow early voting on November 26 in the state's US Senate runoff election.
Read more »
Georgia Judge Allows Saturday Voting in U.S. Senate RunoffA Georgia judge has allowed voting on the Saturday following Thanksgiving in the runoff election between Sen. Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker, a victory for Democrats who challenged the state’s guidance disallowing it
Read more »
Judge Allows Saturday Voting in Georgia Senate RunoffGeorgia voters will be able to cast a ballot the Saturday after Thanksgiving in the state’s contentious Senate runoff race, a judge ruled Friday.
Read more »
Judge permits early voting in Georgia Senate runoff for Saturday after ThanksgivingA judge in Georgia ruled to grant voters in the state the ability to vote early on Nov. 26 in the hotly contested Senate race.
Read more »