Reports from independent data analysts state that nearly 50,000 voters who didn’t vote in the general election have voted in the runoff election. The data culled from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office issued a stark contrast to the total number of votes cast in the runoff, which are currently lower overall than in the general election.
According to Georgia Votes, the 50,000 voters make up nearly 3 percent of the registered voters who didn’t vote in the presidential election. There are 21 percent less mail-in ballots than the general election, and a 5 percent increase of early votes. The site reflected that Monday marked five consecutive days of lower in-person voting turnout than the general election. Additionally, Democratic-leaning districts had stronger turnouts this past weekend than their Republican-leaning counterparts.
Over half of the early voters from the general election haven’t voted in the runoff election yet. Over 2.3 million have applied to vote by mail, a 4 percent decrease from the general election.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger issued a press release on Tuesday that his office will undertake a statewide investigation into voter fraud. The Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) and local elections departments will assist the secretary of state’s office in over 250 investigations.
The press release noted that approximately 8,000 individuals illegally requested ballots for the runoff election, despite having moved out of the state.
Raffensperger’s announcement followed the decision to conduct a signature matching audit, after nearly a month of representatives and constituents alike requesting one.
The latest poll favors Democratic candidates Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock over Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler. Ossoff leads Perdue by up to five points, and Warnock leads Loeffler by seven points. However, the latest poll’s sample size is smaller than a preceding poll which depicted Perdue leading Ossoff by up to three points and Loeffler leading Warnock by six points.
Over 1.6 million individuals have cast their vote for the runoff election at the time of publication. January 5 is the date for the runoff election.
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Corinne Murdock is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and the Star News Network. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to [email protected].
Photo “People Voting” by Wyofile Wyofile. CC BY 2.0.
The GA State Constitution states: Paragraph II. Run-off election. A run-off election shall be a continuation of the general election and only persons who were entitled to vote in the general election shall be entitled
to vote therein; and only those votes cast for the persons designated for the runoff shall be counted in the tabulation and canvass of the votes cast. Why is the SoS and the Governor letting this happen?