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VOTES: Here, Americans vote in the Senate elections in Atlanta, Georgia. Photo: Thomas Nilsson / VG
ATLANTA, GEORGIA (VG) More than three million have already voted early in the crucial Senate elections. Biden relies on taking both seats to win a majority.
– I haven’t fully decided yet. This is a tough decision, 22-year-old Donny Ngyuen told VG as he entered the polling station at Antioch Baptist Church, outside of downtown Atlanta.
Everyone’s eyes these days are on Georgia. With its five million votes, the state will decide who gets the majority in the Senate.
There are two seats to fill. Democrats need both. Republicans only need one. If Democrats take both, Vice President Kamala Harris’ vote will tip the Senate in favor of Democrats.
Explanation: That is why there are now Senate elections in Georgia.
I WASN’T SURE: Donny Ngyuen (right) wasn’t sure until he entered the polling station. Here with my friend Andrew Corn. Photo: Thomas Nilsson / VG
There is no queue outside the polling station, and Nguyen and his friend Andrew Corn (22) can enter directly. They agree that this is an important option, even if they disagree politically.
Corn, who voted for Joe Biden in the presidential election, has decided to bet on the Democratic candidates: the young journalist Jon Ossoff and the pastor and human rights activist Raphael Warnock.
See also: Shows Positive Polls for Democrats in Georgia
Jon Ossoff of the Democrats at an election event outside Atlanta.
Nguyen, who voted for Trump, has settled on Republican Senator David Perdue, but hesitates between Warnock and rival, wealthy Kelly Loeffler.
– I think there is a lot that speaks both for and against both candidates. Personally, I don’t believe in Loeffler as a person, but I have more conservative views and I definitely don’t agree with Warnock’s politics. Should I vote for someone I really don’t like, or should I vote for someone I don’t agree with?
Kelly Loffeler with Donald Trump during their rally Tuesday night.
Many early votes
VG visits four different polling stations this Tuesday morning US time. There is no queue outside any of them.
Gabriel Sterling, head of the voting system in Georgia, said Tuesday that the average wait time for some votes at the beginning of the day was between one and five minutes. The longest wait times have been in DeKalb and Cobb County, where people have had to queue up to 30 minutes.
According to CNN, turnout is not expected to be as high as in presidential elections. About four million early votes were cast, compared to three million this time.
– There are many who have voted in advance, says electoral official Fave Edvards to VG.
SUITABLE FOR: Fave Edvards Election Officer. Photo: Thomas Nilsson / VG
It is, as it was during the presidential election two months ago, it is expected that the election result will take a while to clear up.
Why? Because early votes are not counted until the polling place closes at 7:00 p.m. US time today.
Trump, Biden and Harris in the state
Huge sums of money have been invested in the election campaigns of both Democrats and Republicans.
It has been impossible to turn on television in Georgia without a political announcement from both parties. On the radio, Barack Obama can be heard praising the two Democratic candidates, and along the highway that runs through the state is photo after photo of the four candidates.
QUIET MORNING: VG visited four different polling stations on Tuesday. There was no long queue outside of any of them. Election official Fave Edvards still says there is a lot of pressure at her polling place (pictured) in the morning. Photo: Thomas Nilsson / VG
Joe Biden, Kamala Harris and Donald Trump have visited the state in the past two days in an attempt to gather important and decisive votes.
On Tuesday night, Trump held a large rally with around 4,000 to 5,000 people in Dalton.
– Tomorrow you will vote in one of the most important elections in the history of our country. The whole world is looking at Georgia tomorrow. I think we will win them both. Together we will defeat the Democrats, Trump said from the rostrum Tuesday night.
– Destroy his legacy
Trump went on to claim, as he has since the US media announced Joe Biden as president, that the election is “rigged” and “stolen,” and that he is the winner.
This is despite the fact that several courts have found no basis for their claims, and the Supreme Court, where Trump himself has the majority among conservative justices, found no basis for reversing election results in Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Wisconsin.
See the VG photographer’s photos from the Trump rally:
– As Biden has said, this destroys his legacy as president. Everyone else has left the office classy and I think he should do the same, says Cyndia Harper (37) to VG.
VG meets her on the way to the polling station on Tuesday morning. She says she will vote blue, that is, for the Democrats.
– I’ll make sure Georgia stays blue. It makes no sense to be a blue state and not have blue representatives in the Senate, he says.
Georgia put everyone to bed when they elected a Democratic candidate during the presidential election. This has not happened since 1997.
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MUST VOTE: Karma (35) with her twin daughters Nadia and Miraia. Karma says that it is important for her to involve her daughters in the democratic process. You have not had time to vote today, but you will vote this afternoon. Photo: Thomas Nilsson / VG
Despite the all-important Senate election, there is something entirely different that has drawn attention in the days leading up to the election: an audio recording of a phone conversation between Trump and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, published by the Washington Post this weekend.
Trump did not comment on the audio recordings during tonight’s event, but VG spoke to several of his supporters who still say they support him.
The seas: Trump voters in Georgia: – This is a corrupt election
– You can hang out with her for two years.
Donny leaves the voting station smiling. He managed to decide when to stop at the polling station. The vote went to Republican Kelly Loeffler.
– When I was there, I thought this would determine whether Republicans or Democrats would get a majority. Then I can put up with her for two years, she says and laughs.
