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Why vote?
In November, none of the candidates got 50 percent. votes to win a Senate seat, leading to a second round of elections on January 5.
There are two places to compete.
Voting begins at 7 pm (2 pm Lithuanian time). Record number of voters: more than 3 million. – voted in advance. Final results can be clear only after a few days.
Who competes
Current Republicans now compete with rookie Democrats for both seats.
Senator David Perdue is vying for a seat with John Ossoff.
„Reuters“ / „Scanpix“ nuotr./Davidas Perdue
The 70-year-old Republican D. Perdue has served as a senator since 2015. The former Reebok boss supported Donald Trump from the start and remained an ally of the president, writes the BBC. The Department of Justice’s attention has been drawn to Perdue’s sale of millions of dollars worth of stock. Shares of companies affiliated to the Senate committees where D. Perdue works have been sold.
„Reuters“ / „Scanpix“ nuotr./Jonas Ossoffas
Ossoff, a 33-year-old Democrat, launched the campaign with the support of prominent civil rights activist John Lewis, who died last summer. Before running the documentary company Insight TWI, he worked for Congressman Hank Johnson for five years.
Senator Kelly Loeffler is running for Pastor Raphael Warnock for another spot.
Reuters / Photo by Scanpix / Donald Trump and Kelly Loeffler
Republican Senator K. Loffler, 50, can still be considered a political rookie. He entered the Senate in 2019 after the resignation of one of the senators. K. Loffler is one of the richest senators: she is a co-owner of the NBA women’s team “Atlanta Dream.” When Loeffler began speaking out against the Black People’s Life movement (English Black Lives Matter), league players urged her to sell her shares.
AFP / „Scanpix“ nuotr./Raphaelis Warnockas
Warnock, 51, is pastor of Ebenezer Baptist Church in Altlanta. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. also delivered sermons. Together with Democrat Stacey Abrams, Warnock founded the Georgia Project, a voting rights organization, reports the BBC. The Georgia Secretary of State has launched an investigation into this group, which allegedly sent ballot requests to non-state residents.
Why are elections important?
The Senate, the upper house of the United States Congress, passes laws, approves justices of the Supreme Court and members of the cabinet. The Senate has been controlled by the Republican Party since 2014.
If both Democrats won, both Republicans and Democrats would have 50 seats each. There are fewer and fewer cases in which senators vote outside of the party line.
True, Democrats currently have 46 members in the Senate, but two independent senators, Bernie Sanders and Angus King, often vote Democrats.
“Scanpix” / AP nuotr./Bernie Sandersas
If both parties have 50 senators each, Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris will have a deciding vote in the Senate.
What do the results mean for Joe Biden?
If both seats were won by Democrats, that would not mean that President-elect Joe Biden could confidently implement the broad proposals in the areas of environment, health and economics, the BBC writes.
A small difference between the party-controlled seats would mean that any bill would have to be backed by centrists Joe Manchin from West Virginia and two senators from Arizona.
However, this would allow Biden to pass whatever laws he wants, making the appointment of federal administrative officials and judges much easier.
VIDEO: After winning the office of US president, Joe Biden addressed his compatriots, vowing to unite the divided country and fight COVID-19.
If Republicans retain control of the Senate, he is likely to wait another two years for the administration to break the deadlock and get bogged down in passing laws. In that case, the hopes of Democrats would rest on a majority of leader Mitch McConnell and a handful of moderate Republicans.
What do the polls show?
Biden’s victory in Georgia marks the first time in 30 years that a Democrat has won the state presidential election.
But for decades, no Democrat in Georgia has won Senate seats. In the first round of elections, both Republican candidates got more votes than the Democrats.
Most polls show very tense competition, even less than a day before the election. Polls are viewed with skepticism because their predictions in the presidential election were inaccurate. Many large polling companies have decided not to do so in the second round of elections, the BBC writes.
The Five Thirty Eight project averages the results of the second round of polls in the Georgia Senate election: Democrat J. Ossoff is projected at 49.1 percent. votes, Republican D. Perdue – 47.4 percent.
Democrat R. Warnock is forecast at 49.4 percent. votes, Republican K. Loffler – 47.2 percent. votes.
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