Early in-person voting begins in Georgia as U.S. Senate showdown enters
final weeks
Send a link to a friend
[December 14, 2020]
By Rich McKay and David Morgan
ATLANTA (Reuters) - Early in-person voting
begins in the state of Georgia Monday for a pair of Jan. 5 runoff
elections that will determine control of the U.S. Senate and whether
Democratic President-elect Joe Biden will be able to enact at least some
of his agenda.
In a showdown that depends largely on voter turnout, the number of
people who show up to vote on Monday could offer clues to which side
ultimately prevails: Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler,
or their respective Democratic challengers, Jon Ossoff and Raphael
Warnock.
"On the first day of early voting during the general election, there
were people lined up long before the polls opened. If we see something
like that, I think that would bode well for the Democrats," said Michael
McDonald, a University of Florida political science professor who
administers the U.S. Elections Project.
Each side has made the race about Senate control and the success of
Biden's priorities, with Republicans warning voters that President
Donald Trump's policies are on the line and Democrats warning that
healthcare coverage and coronavirus relief hang in the balance.
Republicans could have the advantage in a state their party has long
dominated. But Biden's narrow victory there over Trump last month has
buoyed Democratic hopes of another win, aided by aggressive Democratic
voter registration drives and demographic trends that have nudged the
electorate away from Republicans.
Perdue on Sunday said the contest was all about voter turnout. He
finished just ahead of Ossoff in November, while not quite getting the
50% needed for a victory under Georgia law.
"If we get our vote out we'll be able to hold the line here in Georgia,"
Perdue said on Fox News' "Sunday Morning Futures".
But Georgia Democratic activist Stacey Abrams told CNN's "State of the
Union" that this was "the first runoff where we (Democrats) have the
level of investment and engagement that it takes to win a runoff."
Abrams, who lost a race for Georgia governor in 2018, said 1.2 million
absentee ballots have been requested thus far. In the November general
election, 1.78 million absentee ballots were requested and 1.32 million
were returned and accepted, according to the U.S. Elections Project.
She said 85,000 of those applications are from voters who did not vote
in the general election, and they are disproportionately young and
people of color.
Democrats are depending on voters of color, young people and
college-educated whites to turn out for them in urban and suburban
communities, especially in the Atlanta area, while Republicans need
Trump supporters in outlying areas of the state.
More than 200,000 Georgians have already voted by mail, according to
McDonald's findings, raising expectations for a mammoth runoff turnout
of between 3.5 million and 4 million voters. Just over 5 million people
voted in the general election, about 1.3 million by absentee ballot.
[to top of second column]
|
U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler speaks at a campaign event at the Cobb
County Republican Party Headquarters in Marietta, Georgia, U.S.
November 11, 2020. REUTERS/Elijah Nouvelage/File Photo
But both sides face challenges getting voters to the polls without
Trump on the ballot in a campaign marked by political turmoil, a
surging coronavirus pandemic and the threat of winter weather in a
region where ice and snow can paralyze travel.
The showdown has also spawned court battles involving the state's
removal of nearly 200,000 people from voter registration rolls, and
a Republican Party effort to curb the use of drop boxes for absentee
ballots.
Republican infighting over Trump's unsubstantiated claims of
election fraud could lead some of the president's most ardent
supporters to stay home in protest.
Perdue alluded to that possibility Sunday when he told Fox:
"Regardless of what happened in November, we want to make sure that
people get out and vote on our side in January."
Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have both visited Georgia to
warn supporters that failure to vote could mean Democratic rule in
Washington. Two Democratic wins would produce a 50-50 party
breakdown in the Senate. That would give Democrats control because
Kamala Harris could cast tiebreaking votes as vice president.
Democrats already run the House of Representatives.
"I want you to be confident about your vote," Pence said in Augusta,
Georgia, last week. "We're on 'em this time. We're watching 'em ....
So get an absentee ballot in today and vote."
Biden is expected to visit Atlanta on Tuesday to urge supporters to
see votes for Warnock and Ossoff as a way to ensure quick action on
coronavirus relief for struggling families.
Monday's early voting coincides with an Electoral College vote that
would make Biden's victory over Trump official.
(Reporting by Rich McKay in Atlanta and David Morgan in Washington;
additional reporting by Susan Cornwell; Editing by Lisa Shumaker)
[© 2020 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2020 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content. |