Gwinnett County could have almost three weeks of early voting for a January 5 runoff for Georgia’s two U.S. Senate seats and a Public Service Commission seat.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced Wednesday morning that he would combine the runoffs. The county’s elections board made plans for two separate runoffs in their Tuesday night meeting, but those plans will now be revised.
The January runoff will include races between U.S. Sen. David Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossoff; U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock; and Public Service Commissioner Bubba McDonald and Democratic challenger Daniel Blackman. All three incumbents are Republicans.
Georgia’s Senate races will determine the balance of the U.S. Senate; if Democrats Warnock and Ossoff both win, the legislative body will be split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, a Democrat, as the deciding vote. If one or both of the incumbent Republicans win, Republicans will retain control of the Senate.
Early voting for the January runoff in Gwinnett would start Dec. 14 and end Dec. 31 under the plan approved by the elections board Tuesday night. It is subject to approval by the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners. With the control of the senate hanging in the balance, the runoff is expected to have high turnout and intense national media attention.
Runoffs typically see significantly fewer voters than a general election. Gwinnett had 69% turnout in the 2008 general election and 39% in a December 2008 runoff, which included the U.S. Senate race between incumbent Sen. Saxby Chambliss and challenger Jim Martin.
“This will be an extremely unusual runoff, maybe the most unusual runoff this state has ever seen,” Gwinnett elections board member Stephen Day said, referencing the anticipated high turnout in January.
The plan approved Tuesday would have at least eight early voting locations open seven days a week, however voting would not be held on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Seven locations — indoor facilities at Bogan Park, Dacula Park, George Pierce Park, Lenora Park, Lucky Shoals Park, Mountain Park Park and Shorty Howell Park — would be open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The main elections office would be open 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. seven days a week.
The schedule change helps county elections offices, including Gwinnett, avoid a challengingly short turnaround time for a December vote. Georgia’s general election results have not yet been certified — the deadline to do so is Nov. 20 — and will undergo a recount, both steps that would have limited the amount of local staff available for a December runoff.
Before the runoffs were combined, the Gwinnett elections board approved a plan that would hold in-person early voting for the public service commission seat for only five days at a single location, the main elections office in Lawrenceville.
Elections board member Alice O’Lenick drew criticism from multiple members of the public watching the videoconference meeting for her comments about voter interest in the public service commissioner runoff. O’Lenick said election workers needed to focus on the larger January runoff for the U.S. Senate seats.
“Let’s be frank, all right, please. It’s public service commissioner. Nobody even knows who the public service commissioner is and what they do besides go out to dinner with Georgia Power,” O’Lenick said. “I’m sure both people really want to win that race, but I really don’t think the general population is that excited about a public service commission runoff.”
Among the critics was Marlene Taylor-Crawford, a local activist.
“I am upset abut the fact that I’m hearing someone make a determination of what race she thinks is critical, big enough for someone to want to come out for,” Taylor-Crawford said. “I’m not understanding what gives a person the authority, the gall to even say something like that regarding the public service commissioner. ... I’m very disturbed about what I’m hearing today.”
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