News Over 1 million ballots cast in early voting for Georgia U.S. Senate runoffs

[Miles]

More than 1.1 million Georgians have voted in twin U.S. Senate runoff elections that will determine which party controls that chamber of Congress, and with it the fate of much of Democratic President-elect Joe Biden’s agenda, state data showed on Friday.

The surge in turnout after four days of early in-person voting, and about four weeks of mail-in voting, showed that voter participation in the two races is on pace to rival the records set in the November presidential contest in which Biden defeated Republican incumbent Donald Trump.

Republicans have often performed better in low-turnout elections. But voters in both parties appear energized by the stakes in the January contest and each party has poured resources into Georgia ahead of the vote.

But Trump’s involvement in the contests, and his unsubstantiated claims that Biden won because of widespread voter fraud, could be fueling high turnout among Democrats, according to Jessica Taylor, an analyst at the Cook Political Report who sees the Senate races as toss-ups for either side.

“It’s not just Republicans that are enthused to come out to keep a firewall in the Senate, but Democrats (saying) ‘We beat Trump and he still won’t quit,’” Taylor said.

Over 1.1 million ballots cast in early voting for Georgia U.S. Senate runoffs

More than 1.1 million Georgians have voted in twin U.S. Senate runoff elections that will determine which party controls that chamber of Congress, and with it the fate of much of Democratic President-elect Joe Biden's agenda, state data showed on Friday.

www.reuters.com