Georgia secretary of state calls for end of general election runoffs

ATLANTA – Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger says that he desires the Georgia Basic Meeting to finish the Peach State’s use of normal election runoffs.

In an announcement launched Wednesday, Raffensperger known as on Georgia officers to do away with the runoff course of.

Beneath Georgia legislation, if no candidate within the normal election will get greater than 50% of the vote in November, the race goes to a runoff 4 weeks later between the highest two vote-getters.

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State and federal runoffs used to occur on completely different days, however a measure handed final 12 months combines these right into a single date. Earlier than this 12 months, runoffs for federal normal elections have been held 9 weeks later.

“Georgia is among the solely states in nation with a Basic Election Runoff,” Raffensperger mentioned. “We’re additionally one of many solely states that at all times appears to have a runoff. I’m calling on the Basic Meeting to go to the subject of the Basic Election Runoff and contemplate reforms.”

Raffensperger argued that the runoff system is troublesome for counties to cope with the deadlines, election audits, and establishing a brand new election 4 weeks later.

Additionally, “nobody desires to be coping with politics in the course of their household vacation,” the secretary of state mentioned.

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Raffensperger’s feedback come after three Senate runoffs through which Georgia Democrats defeated their Republican counterparts.  In 2020, management of the U.S. Senate got here right down to the dual contests in Georgia, each of which have been gained by Democrats in runoffs that stretched into the subsequent calendar 12 months. Of their 2021 runoff elections, Jon Ossoff and Warnock grew to become the primary Democrats to win a U.S. Senate election in Georgia since 2000. Earlier this month, Warnock defeated Republican challenger Herschel Walker after neither man handed the vote threshold wanted within the Basic election.

This 12 months’s turnout for the runoff election broke information with the best variety of early votes and absentee votes by mail forged. In whole, over 3.5 million Georgians voted within the Senate race.

The Georgia Basic Meeting might resolve to make adjustments to the election course of when it reconvenes in January.