EDITORIAL: Early voting for U.S. Senate runoffs start Monday — take advantage of it

Published 10:15 am Wednesday, December 9, 2020

Election season in Georgia isn’t over yet. Some say it’s just heating up.

On Tuesday, Jan. 5, Georgians will choose the state’s two U.S. senators during the general election runoff.

In the Nov. 3 general election, Republican U.S. Sen. David Perdue and Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff both fell short of the 50% threshold needed to avoid a runoff.

In the other U.S. Senate race, Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler and the Rev. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, emerged as the top two vote-getters in a crowded contest in a special election for the seat vacated by Republican Johnny Isakson because of health reasons. Warnock received 32.9% of the vote while Loeffler received 25.9%.

Since the runoff was announced in the days after the general election, the airwaves, social media, mailboxes and phones have all been flooded with advertisements touting the virtues and pitfalls of the four remaining candidates.

Many eyes are on the Peach State as these two races could decide the balance of power in the U.S. Senate. Republicans currently hold a 50-48 majority, but if both Georgia Democrats win that would even the count at 50 senators for each party, giving Democrat Kamala Harris, the vice president-elect, the deciding vote.

Advance voting begins Monday and will continue weekdays through Tuesday, Dec. 22, from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at the county government annex building. Early voting will be held Wednesday, Dec. 23 from 8:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. Voting resumes Monday, Dec. 28 and continues through Dec. 31. 

Since the Christmas holidays and New Year’s Day fall during these three weeks, there will be no advance voting on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day or New Year’s Day.

Election Day for the runoff is Tuesday, Jan. 5. 

We encourage you to take advantage of early voting. You can avoid possible lines on Jan. 5, and you won’t have to worry about a January election slipping your mind.