The first voters on runoff election day in Georgia lined up before doors opened at 7 a.m. Tuesday, braving the rain and short waits to make sure their voices are heard in the race for U.S. Senate.
Standing in a drizzle outside of Butler Street Baptist Church in Atlanta, Douglas Jackson was ready when his polling place let voters in. The line extended down the street.
”I’ve never missed one since I was 21, and I’m 75 now,” he said.
Credit: Cassidy Alexander
Credit: Cassidy Alexander
Average wait times were about 7 minutes soon after polls opened among locations that reported information, said Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer for the secretary of state’s office. He said lines should dissipate after the first voters cast their ballots.
Though he said having runoff elections makes “no sense,” Jackson felt a responsibility to get to the polls.
Georgia is a rare state that requires runoffs when no candidate wins more than 50% of the vote. In most of the rest of the country, the first-place finisher wins, even if they don’t receive a majority.
The runoff is expected to cost taxpayers tens of millions of dollars. Georgia lawmakers might consider changing or eliminating runoffs in next year’s legislative session.
Credit: Cassidy Alexander
Credit: Cassidy Alexander
Yvette Wilson, 63, remembers hearing elders in her community talking about what people of color and women used to have to go through to vote. She now considers getting to the polls the least she can do.
”These young people, these millennials and Gen Z, I really hope they understand that voting really does affect their quality of our lives — not now, but further on down the road,” Wilson said.
Vince Todd, 60, arrived at the Atlanta polling site just before 7 a.m. and was about 50th in line.
“I wanted to see who I wanted in there: Warnock,” Todd said. “I believe in him, so I gotta get out there.”
By 7:25 a.m., he was walking out with his “Georgia voter” sticker.
Credit: Cassidy Alexander
Credit: Cassidy Alexander
