The line stretched around the block at South Cobb Regional Library in Mableton where voters waited in line for hours to cast ballots on the first day of early voting in the Nov. 3 general election on Oct. 12, 2020. (Photo by Beau Evans)
Prominent national political figures swarmed Georgia in the final days before the Nov. 3 election, solidifying the state as battleground territory where voter turnout is racking up record-breaking numbers.
President Donald Trump landed in Rome, Ga., on Sunday for a rally attended by thousands of people as part of a multi-state blitz meant to shore up Republican support in states with tight races including those for Georgia’s U.S. Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, who attended the president’s rally.
Hours before he spoke, Democratic vice presidential nominee Kamala Harris headlined a get-out-the-vote rally in the Atlanta area in her second visit to the Peach State in recent weeks, following an appearance by her running mate and presidential nominee Joe Biden last Tuesday.
And former President Barack Obama, in whose administration Biden was vice president, also held a rally in Atlanta on Monday afternoon to further punctuate Georgia’s growing importance for Democratic leaders.
Meanwhile, more than 3.9 million votes had been cast in Georgia as of Saturday through mail-in ballots and during the three-week early voting period, shattering records for early turnout and approaching the 4.1 million votes cast in the 2016 presidential election.
State election officials expect upwards of 2 million more votes could roll in on Election Day.
Interest has spiked among Georgians this election cycle with the presidency, both U.S. Senate seats, congressional seats and control of the state House of Representatives in play.
Polls show tight races up and down the ballot in Georgia, from the contest between Trump and Biden to the two Senate races to a pair of congressional contests in suburban Atlanta where voters have trended more Democratic after years of reliable Republican support.
But Trump, who has journeyed to the state several times in recent months, said he was unfazed by the political fortune-telling in Georgia during a rally late Sunday night in staunchly conservative Northwest Georgia, where he touted his administration’s track record and assailed Biden.
“I shouldn’t even be here,” Trump said. “They say I have Georgia made. But you know what? I said I promised we have to be here.”
Down the road, Harris convened numerous state Democratic leaders including voting-rights advocate and former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, Senate candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock and local officeholders to drum up excitement for Democrats’ chances on Tuesday.
“They know that when we vote, things change,” Harris said. “They know that when we vote, we win.”
Ossoff, Warnock, Abrams and other state Democratic luminaries dropped by for Obama’s rally in downtown Atlanta on Monday, where the former president said Georgia voters could help sway the balance of power in both the Senate and the White House.
“Georgia could be the state,” Obama said. “Georgia could be the place where we put this country back on track.”
Despite the push from Democrats, Georgia Republicans and the Trump campaign have remained confident they will keep a foothold in the state where a majority of voters have not cast ballots for a Democratic presidential candidate since 1992.
“As the final hour of the election draws near, Georgia is once again ready to deliver and re-elect President Trump,” said Trump campaign spokeswoman Savannah Viar.
Polling places in Georgia open on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Nov. 3 to be counted.
The line stretched around the block at South Cobb Regional Library in Mableton where voters waited in line for hours to cast ballots on the first day of early voting in the Nov. 3 general election on Oct. 12, 2020. (Photo by Beau Evans)
More than 3.8 million people cast ballots in Georgia by the close of the three-week early voting period for the Nov. 3 election, marking roughly half the state’s total registered voters and nearly eclipsing the entire vote count of the 2016 election.
Around 2.6 Georgians turned out to vote in-person for early voting from Oct. 12 through Oct. 30, according to Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office. Another roughly 1.2 million had cast absentee ballots through Friday, with more mail-in votes expected to arrive before Election Day.
Turnout for the Nov. 3 election looks to dwarf record numbers seen in the 2016 presidential election, which drew around 4.1 million votes in Georgia. Interest is high among Georgians this election cycle with the presidency, both U.S. Senate seats, congressional seats and control of the state House of Representatives in play.
The enormous early turnout numbers in Georgia reflected safety concerns about the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, long lines seen during the June 9 primaries and mistrust in the integrity of the election ahead of one of the most consequential elections for Georgia in decades.
Raffensperger has estimated another 2 million Georgians could head to the polls on Election Day next week, potentially upping the final vote tally to 6 million of the state’s 7.6 million registered voters.
“Voters are coming out to vote,” Raffensperger told members of the State Elections Board on Friday.
With a huge chunk of the vote coming from mail-in ballots, Raffensperger has said officials tasked with publishing election results “plan to get them up as soon as we have them.” Absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day in order to be counted.
“We want everyone to know that your vote counts,” Raffensperger said earlier this week. “We want to get those election results up as soon as possible.”
Raffensperger has urged Georgians to “make a plan” if they intend to vote on Tuesday with lines expected to be long. He has also pressed mail-in voters to deliver their absentee ballots quickly to one of hundreds of drop-off boxes scattered throughout the state or at a local elections office.
Come Election Day, the state and counties have recruited around 50,000 volunteers largely as poll workers, while several hundred contractors and others trained in how to troubleshoot Georgia’s new voting machines will be at precincts for technical assistance, according to Raffensperger.
Gaps in poll worker know-how and minor technical glitches contributed to long lines during the June 9 primary, along with delays caused by safety and sanitization measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The large number of volunteers should help smooth the process on Nov. 3, Raffensperger said earlier this week.
“Though we originally aimed to recruit just 10,000 Georgians, average, everyday voters joined the effort in droves, exceeding even our expectations,” Raffensperger said in a statement Friday. “These heroes deserve to be recognized for their selfless dedication to upholding democracy in Georgia.”
Polling places in Georgia will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Tuesday.
This story has been corrected to note that absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day in order to be counted in Georgia.
Gov. Brian Kemp speaks with reporters outside Amazon’s new warehouse in Gwinnett County on Sept. 1, 2020. (Photo by Beau Evans)
Gov. Brian Kemp is quarantining after being exposed to a person who tested positive for COVID-19, his office announced Friday afternoon.
Kemp’s office soon afterward announced he and First Lady Marty Kemp tested negative for the highly contagious virus. Both are still quarantining.
“The Governor is not currently experiencing any symptoms and will be quarantining, per Department of Public Health guidance,” Kemp’s office said in a statement.
Separately, U.S. Rep. Drew Ferguson, R-West Point, disclosed he tested positive for coronavirus after developing cold-like symptoms Thursday night that worsened the following morning.
Kemp and Ferguson, both Republicans, appeared together on Tuesday at a rally for President Donald Trump just outside Warm Springs, the same day Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden made a campaign stop there. Many of the attendees at the pro-Trump rally were not wearing masks.
Ferguson is campaigning for a third term representing Georgia’s 3rd Congressional District, which stretches west of Atlanta to the state line between Columbus and Villa Rica. He is competing against Democratic nominee Val Almonord.
“While the vast majority of my recent schedule has been virtual, we are beginning the process of reaching out to anyone I have seen in recent days,” Ferguson said Friday. “I am eager to get back to work and will do so as soon as I have fully recovered.”
Kemp’s quarantine announcement came shortly after he renewed COVID-19 distancing and sanitization rules that have been in place for several months in Georgia, which has struggled to shake off the virus as businesses and schools reopen following a statewide shutdown in April.
Public gatherings are limited to 50 persons or fewer and a shelter-in-place order remains in effect for elderly persons in long-term care facilities and those with chronic health issues.
As of Friday afternoon, more than 358,000 people in Georgia had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the novel strain of coronavirus that sparked a global pandemic. It had killed 7,955 Georgians.
Investigative journalist Jon Ossoff (left) and U.S. Sent. David Perdue (right) clashed in a debate Wednesday night (Oct. 28, 2020) with days left to go before the Nov. 3 election. (Credit: Ossoff and Perdue campaigns)
U.S. Sen. David Perdue and challenger Jon Ossoff sniped at each other in an hourlong debate Wednesday night less than a week before the Nov. 3 election that echoed attacks the pair have lobbed at each other for months in television and social-media ads.
It was the second time Perdue, a Republican, and Ossoff, a Democrat, have squared off directly rather than through attack ads, which have racked up tens of millions of dollars and injected a bitter tension into the race.
Much of Wednesday night’s in-person debate hosted by WTOC-TV in Savannah revolved around keystone issues and political jousting that have come from both campaigns for months in Georgia, as Democrats aim to flip a crucial Senate seat and Republicans seek to stand their ground.
Perdue, a corporate executive seeking a second six-year term in office, has positioned himself as a staunch defender of President Donald Trump’s policies while casting Ossoff as a socialist aligned with progressive Democrats eager to reduce funding for police agencies and apply more government control to health insurance.
Ossoff, who runs an investigative journalism firm, has framed Perdue as an absentee politician more interested in his own personal and financial gain via the power of his Senate office, and slammed Perdue for following Trump’s lead in downplaying the threat of coronavirus during the COVID-19 pandemic’s early days.
Throughout the debate, Perdue slammed Ossoff for not acknowledging ties he had with a Chinese company on his campaign financial disclosure forms, accusing Ossoff of being too cozy with China. Republicans have villainized China this election cycle as the originator of COVID-19.
“Clearly, China was responsible about this [virus],” Perdue said. “What we have to do is hold China accountable, and Jon Ossoff will not do that.”
Ossoff dismissed the accusation, calling it a diversion tactic to avoid talking about the state and country’s response to the virus. After the debate, an Ossoff campaign spokesman said the matter referred to a Hong Kong media company that bought one of Ossoff’s films.
Ossoff also framed Perdue’s comments as a tactic to avoid discussing his stance on health care and insurance coverage. Democratic candidates including Ossoff have posed health care as a key plank in their campaigns this election cycle.
“Blaming the Democrats, blaming foreign countries,” Ossoff said. “As I predicted, Sen. Perdue doesn’t want to talk about COVID-19…. He is going to spend this entire debate deflecting from a substantive conversation about the most serious public-health crisis in generations.”
Ossoff homed in on health care and insurance coverage for long stretches of the debate, claiming Perdue’s votes against the Affordable Care Act meant he sought to gut health-care options for Georgians with pre-existing conditions.
“David Perdue does not care about our health,” Ossoff said. “He only cares about his donors.”
Perdue cried foul on that attack, arguing he supports expanding coverage for patients with pre-existing conditions despite opposing the Affordable Care Act, which he claimed increased health-care costs and limited insurance options for many Georgians.
“What [Georgians] want is protection for pre-existing conditions, get rid of surprise billing, which we can do, and also get at drug costs,” Perdue said. “He’s talking about politics. We’re talking about real potential solutions.
Perdue punched back by drawing attention to a large amount of campaign donations that have come to Ossoff from outside Georgia. Ossoff, in turn, accused Perdue of being in the pocket of insurance companies. Both dismissed the shots fired against them.
Ossoff also addressed past comments on calls from some Democratic leaders and advocacy groups to reduce funding for local police agencies, saying he does not support “defunding” police but does want local law enforcement agencies to “be held to a high standard” when applying for federal grants.
Perdue called that stance double-speak from Ossoff, who he accused of trying to “hide this radical socialist agenda that the Democrats are trying to perpetuate right now.”
Wednesday’s debate did not feature Libertarian candidate Shane Hazel, who participated in the first debate held on Oct. 12. A third debate between Perdue and Ossoff is scheduled for Sunday.
Both campaigns have kept up a steady and intense back-and-forth with polls showing a tight race that could result in a runoff in January, depending on how well Hazel fares on Nov. 3.
A candidate must gain more than 50% of the vote in the general election to win outright. If not, the top two finishers will head to a runoff.
The same scenario holds true for a second Senate race running in tandem with Ossoff and Perdue’s, in which U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler is fighting to hold her seat against challenges on two fronts.
Ossoff has campaigned frequently in recent weeks with Rev. Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor of Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church who has risen as the Democratic frontrunner challenging Loeffler.
Warnock is also battling U.S. Rep. Doug Collins, a preacher and four-term Republican congressman looking to edge Loeffler out of an expected January runoff.
The two races have helped elevate Georgia in the national spotlight with the election outcomes capable of potentially tipping the balance of power in the Senate. Energized by the election’s importance, Georgians have begun casting ballots in record-breaking numbers even before Election Day.
Nearly 3.4 million mail-in and early votes had been counted in Georgia as of Wednesday evening, marking a huge surge in pre-Election Day turnout that has already dwarfed early voting in the 2016 presidential election.
State election officials anticipate the final tally in the Nov. 3 election could top 5.5 million votes, shattering past turnout records in Georgia. Early voting lasts through Friday.
This story has been updated to clarify Sen. Perdue’s comments regarding Jon Ossoff and China.
Voters trickle in to cast ballots during the early-voting period at State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Oct. 28, 2020. (Photo by Beau Evans)
Georgians who have not yet voted for the Nov. 3 election need to plan ahead for long lines in the final days of early voting as well as on Election Day, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said Wednesday.
Anyone still planning to vote by mail also needs to hand in their absentee ballot at a county elections office or in a local drop box, rather than trust their vote to the over-stressed U.S. postal system, Raffensperger added.
With the early-voting period set to run through Friday, Georgians have already cast more than double the number of early and mail-in ballots for this 2020 presidential election than were cast in the 2016 election. So far, more than 3.2 million Georgians have voted early and by mail, Raffensperger said.
The secretary of state’s office now expects around 5.5 million Georgians to vote in the Nov. 3 election, vastly more than the 4.1 million votes tallied in 2016.
“Our election is functioning well because voters have information,” Raffensperger said at a news conference Wednesday. “They have access to the ballot box, and they have the will to exercise their voices. Your vote counts.”
Raffensperger delivered remarks from State Farm Arena in Atlanta where voters so far have cast roughly 33,500 ballots, marking the state’s largest early-voting precinct and what Raffensperger called “a showcase of democracy.”
Even with such high early turnout, state and local election officials expect Thursday and Friday to potentially draw the largest numbers of Georgia voters, likely prompting long lines that have already been seen since early voting kicked off on Oct. 12.
On Wednesday, Raffensperger urged Georgians still needing to vote to “make a plan” for the last two days of early voting or for Election Day, when he estimates 2 million more Georgia voters could cast ballots in person.
Raffensperger also urged mail-in voters to deliver their absentee ballots quickly to one of hundreds of drop boxes scattered throughout the state or at a local elections office, particularly since officials are now able to start processing those ballots to help curb possible delays in reporting results next week.
“If that was me, I’d be filling that thing out today and I’d be running it down to either an absentee-ballot drop box or taking it to your election official to make sure they got it in there,” Raffensperger said.
Come Election Day, the state and counties have recruited around 50,000 volunteers largely as poll workers, while several hundred contractors and others trained in how to troubleshoot Georgia’s new voting machines will be at precincts for technical assistance, Raffensperger said.
Gaps in poll worker know-how and minor technical glitches contributed to long lines during the June 9 primary, along with delays caused by safety and sanitization measures due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Of the state’s roughly 3,000 precincts, Raffensperger said enough tech workers have been tapped so far to serve all but between 50 to 100 precincts, while counties also have access to a new real-time dashboard for reporting problems.
“We feel like we’re in as best shape as possible,” Raffensperger said.
