Ahead of runoff, Georgia’s 6th District now has almost 8,000 new voters

Gary Peeler and Roberta Goldbaugh prepare to vote early in the Georgia 6th District runoff as poll workers Nancy Love and Esther Wilder check their papers Tuesday at the North DeKalb Senior Community Center in Chamblee. Early in-person voting got underway Tuesday in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, kicking off the official countdown to the June 20 runoff between Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff. JOHN SPINK/JSPINK@AJC.COM.

Credit: John Spink

Credit: John Spink

Gary Peeler and Roberta Goldbaugh prepare to vote early in the Georgia 6th District runoff as poll workers Nancy Love and Esther Wilder check their papers Tuesday at the North DeKalb Senior Community Center in Chamblee. Early in-person voting got underway Tuesday in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District, kicking off the official countdown to the June 20 runoff between Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff. JOHN SPINK/JSPINK@AJC.COM.

Nearly 8,000 voters have now been added to voting rolls in Georgia's 6th Congressional District ahead of the hotly contested June 20 runoff between Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff.

The total includes two types of voter: the newly registered, plus so-called "transfer" applications — voters already registered in Georgia who moved into the district after March 20, when the registration period originally closed.

It comes after a federal judge in early May extended voter registration in the district through May 21, part of an ongoing lawsuit over how Georgia handles voter registration ahead of federal runoff elections.

As a result, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office, 7,942 people as of Tuesday afternoon had newly registered or transferred into the 6th District following the reopening of voter registration.

The 6th District already boasts more than 521,000 registered voters. The impact of several thousand more is unclear, but it has the potential to swing a race that polling suggests is separated by only a few percentage points and within the margin of error for either candidate.

Early voting ahead of the runoff began Tuesday and will run through June 16.

Tom Price’s congressional seat is vacant since he accepted a position in the Trump administration.


6th DISTRICT RUNOFF

Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff face each other in a June 20 runoff to fill the congressional seat Tom Price vacated to become secretary of health and human services.

For more articles about the campaign — including candidate profiles, stories focusing on the issues of the race and finance reports — go to myAJC.com/politics.

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