How to vote
Early voting for the Senate runoff began Monday and goes through Friday, Dec. 2. The polls are open from 8 a.m.-5 p.m. at the Board of Elections (41 Fairground Road, Lexington). The runoff will take place from 7 a.m.-7 p.m. Dec. 6 at the three regular voting precincts.
Election season is dying down, but there’s one loose end in Georgia.
The Senate race between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker heads to the runoff on Dec. 6. Since neither candidate received 50% of the vote in the general election on Nov. 8, they are running against each other again — but this time without the third-party candidate, Libertarian Chase Oliver.
Oglethorpe County saw a voter turnout of 65% in the general election on Nov. 8, and local officials said that although they don’t expect to reach that number for the runoff, it’s a possibility.
“They (voters) had 17 days in the full general election; now that’s been compressed to the five voting days,” Oglethorpe County election assistant Steve McCannon said. “So, we still have to average 700 a day just to equal the turnout for advanced voting in the general election.”
With 734 first-day voters on Monday, the runoff is on pace to match the general election, but McCannon expects a turnout between 40-50%. He said he’s also focused on making sure absentee voters submit their ballots on time.
“I just want people who have ballots mailed to them to make sure they're given back by 7 p.m. on Election Day to count, and we still got almost 200 still out as of right now,” McCannon said.
There was a discussion about including Saturday, Nov. 26 as an early-voting option after a state-level decision. The Oglethorpe County Board of Elections, however, decided against it because many poll workers and voters would be out of town for Thanksgiving weekend.
As the runoff approaches, the local Republican and Democratic parties are encouraging residents to vote again.
The Oglethorpe County Republican Party has been active during early voting by placing bilingual ads in newspapers, holding meetings and engaging the community to keep turnout high, county chair Dave Gossage said.
“Runoffs have a propensity to have bad turnout,” he said.
The county’s Democrats are mobilizing voters through emails, calls and door-to-door canvassing, focusing on encouraging early voting. They were disappointed with being shut out locally during the general election, but they hope they can help send Warnock back to Washington.
“We are optimistic that voters will see that Sen. Warnock is the only candidate with the qualifications to serve our state in the Senate,” Oglethorpe Democrats chair Janet Hill said.