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MARIETTA, Georgia: Hundreds of people lined up in cold rain on Monday (December 14) to vote in a pair of United States Senate elections in Georgia that will determine chamber control and greatly influence capacity of Democratic President-elect Joe Biden to enact his agenda.
Election experts said participation on the first day of early voting in a contest ending Jan. 5 could offer clues as to which side ultimately prevails: Republican Senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, or their respective Democratic rivals: Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock.
“On the first day of early voting during the general election, there were people lining up long before the polls opened. If we see something like this, I think it would bode well for Democrats,” said Michael McDonald of the University of Florida. political science professor who administers the United States Election Project.
Each side has vied for control of the Senate and the success of Biden’s priorities, with Republicans warning voters that President Donald Trump’s policies are at stake and Democrats warning that health care coverage and coronavirus relief are at stake.
“I should have waited long lines; this race is very important. The world is watching us,” said James Crawford, 54, a Democrat and retired Navy sailor who was leading a line of hundreds outside of a vote in his hometown of Marietta, Georgia, 20 miles northwest of Atlanta. “This will affect whether Biden can do anything, his ability to run the government.”
Republicans could have the upper hand in a state their party has long dominated. But Biden’s narrow victory there over Trump last month has fueled Democratic hopes for another victory, helped by aggressive Democratic voter registration drives and demographic trends that have alienated the electorate from Republicans.
“We cannot allow Biden and the Democrats to have full control of Washington, who knows what kind of radical action they will do,” said Norman Johnson, a 53-year-old Republican engineer who also votes in Marietta.
Perdue said Sunday that the contest was about voter turnout. He finished just ahead of Ossoff in November, though he didn’t get the 50 percent needed for a win under Georgia law.
Democratic US Senate candidate Jon Ossoff speaks during a debate for the US Senate in Atlanta, Georgia on December 6, 2020 (Photo: Ben Gray / Pool via REUTERS).
“If we get our vote, we can hold the line here in Georgia,” Perdue said on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures.”
But Georgia Democratic activist Stacey Abrams told CNN’s “State of the Union” that this was “the first second round in which we (the Democrats) have the level of investment and commitment it takes to win a second. return”.
Abrams, who lost a 2018 Georgia gubernatorial race, said 1.2 million absentee ballots have been requested so far. In the November general election, 1.78 million absentee ballots were requested and 1.32 million were returned and accepted, according to the US Elections Project.
She said 85,000 of those requests come from voters who did not vote in the general election, and they are disproportionately young and people of color.
Democrats rely on voters of color, youth, and college-educated whites for support in urban and suburban communities, especially in the Atlanta area, while Republicans need Trump supporters in outlying areas of the state.
More than 246,000 Georgians have already voted by mail, according to McDonald’s findings, raising expectations for a huge turnout in the second round of between 3.5 million and 4 million voters. Just over 5 million people voted in the general elections, about 1.3 million per absentee vote.
Raphael Warnock, a Democratic candidate for a U.S. Senate seat representing Georgia, speaks during a debate with Senator Kelly Loeffler in Atlanta, Georgia, on December 6, 2020 (Photo: Ben Gray / Pool via REUTERS).
But both sides face challenges in getting voters to go to the polls without Trump on the ballot in a campaign marked by political turmoil, a growing coronavirus pandemic and the threat of winter weather in a region where ice and snow can paralyze travel.
The standoff has also sparked court battles involving the state’s removal of nearly 200,000 people from voter registration lists and an effort by the Republican Party to curb the use of mailboxes for absentee ballots.
Republican infighting over Trump’s unsubstantiated claims of voter fraud could lead some of the president’s most fervent supporters to stay home in protest.
Trump and Vice President Mike Pence visited Georgia to warn their supporters that a lack of a vote could mean a Democratic government in Washington. Two Democratic victories would produce a 50-50 party break in the Senate. That would give Democrats control because Kamala Harris could cast runoff votes as vice president. Democrats already run the House of Representatives.
Biden is expected to visit Atlanta Tuesday to urge supporters to view the votes for Warnock and Ossoff as a way to ensure swift action on coronavirus relief for struggling families.
Monday’s early voting coincides with an Electoral College vote that would make Biden’s victory over Trump official.
