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CAN IT BE STRONGER? Joe Biden and Americans across the country are closely following developments in Georgia on Tuesday. Photo: ANGELA WEISS / AFP
ATLANTA, GEORGIA (VG) The battle for the Senate was undecided Wednesday morning. But with 97 percent of the votes counted in Georgia, several US outlets are reporting that Democratic candidates are likely to flee with victory.
Political America is biting its nails and, from coast to coast, millions of Americans have been closely following the count of the night.
Polling stations closed at 1:00 Wednesday night, but no clear winner of the two Senate elections in Georgia can yet be declared.
Democrat Jon Ossoff challenges current Republican Senator David Perdue, while Democrat Raphael Warnock challenges Republican Kelly Loeffler.
Valgdramaet i Georgia: – I haven’t fully decided yet
– Margins are very tight, says the manager of the state’s voting system, Gabriel Sterling, in a to update around 4 a.m. Norwegian time, after 80% of the votes had been counted.
THESE FIGHT FOR THE SENATE: Above from left: David Perdue, Jon Ossoff, Kelly Loeffler and Raphael Warnock. Photo: PERSONAL / Reuters
After 97 percent of the votes, about 4.3 million votes, were counted, the Democratic candidate leads in one of the races, while the Republican candidate leads in the other, according to the New York Times:
- Democratic challenger Raphael Warnock has 50.41 percent of the vote, while incumbent Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler has 49.59 percent of the vote.
- Republican Senator David Perdue has 50.01 percent of the vote, while his Democratic challenger Jon Ossoff has 49.99 percent of the vote.
The New York Times lists both Democratic candidates as favorites to flee with victory. The Guardian also writes that it seems increasingly likely that Democratic candidates will run away with victory.
A large portion of the votes that have not been counted come from DeKalb County. This is a suburb of the city of Atlanta where Democrats traditionally stand strong.
The final result was not announced until Wednesday morning local time and Wednesday evening Norwegian time.
TOP LEADERSHIP: With 95 percent of the votes counted, Pastor Raphael Warnock leads by a narrow margin over current Republican Senator Kelly Loeffler. Photo: Megan Varner / GETTY IMAGES NORTH AMERICA / AFP
Therefore, the Senate election is crucial
Due to the distribution of the Senate after the November elections, the Senate election is of enormous importance to Joe Biden, because it decides whether the Democrats win control of the Senate.
- If Perdue and Loeffler are re-elected, Republicans will get a 52-48 majority. If only one is re-elected, they will still get a 51-49 majority.
- If the two Democrats lose and are elected, it will be 50 to 50. Then Vice President Kamala Harris, who will be president of the Senate, will decide with her vote by tie.
Legislative changes and budgets must be approved by both the House of Representatives and the Senate for them to take effect. The Senate must also approve the appointment of ministers, judges, and various other important public servants. So if Democrats control all of Congress, Biden will pass many more of their policies.
On Monday, during the last election campaign meeting in the great city of Atlanta in Georgia, incoming President Joe Biden made clear how much the elections mean:
Georgia, the whole nation is watching you. The power is literally in your hands, he said.
To his supporters at a campaign rally in the city of Dalton, Donald Trump said:
– This is the last chance to save the United States we love!
Read also: Here’s how Kamala Harris can get even more powerful
During the “original” Georgia Senate election on Nov. 3, which took place at the same time as the presidential election, neither candidate for the two Senate seats received more than 50 percent of the vote.
According to Georgia’s special rules, there was a new round of elections in which the two candidates with the most votes run in each of the two elections. It is these elections that have now been held.
– A difficult decision
– I haven’t fully decided yet. This is a tough decision, 22-year-old Donny Ngyuen told VG as he made his way to the polling station at Antioch Baptist Church, outside of downtown Atlanta, Tuesday morning.
He and his friend Andrew Corn (22) agree that this is an important election, even if they disagree politically.
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
Corn, who voted for Joe Biden in the presidential election, has decided to bet on the Democratic candidates. Nguyen, who voted for Trump, has settled on incumbent Republican senator David Perdue, but is in doubt between Warnock and current senator 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?
Turnout in this year’s Senate elections was very high:
- About 4.4 million people voted in the Senate elections, writes the Washington Post. Three million people voted before the elections. That’s 40 percent of all registered voters in all of Georgia, writes The New York Times.
- The number of voters has increased enormously. In the last state senate elections, in 2008, a total of 2.1 million people voted.
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