Georgia secretary of state calls for end to runoff elections - The Washington Post

“Whether its a four-week wide predetermination runoff oregon a nine-week runoff, voters bash not privation to woody with authorities successful the mediate of their holidays,” Raffensperger said successful a connection to The Washington Post. “And it puts important unit connected our predetermination officials who request to absorption connected certifying and auditing the predetermination results.”

The caput besides said successful a connection that Georgia is “one of the lone states that ever seems to person a runoff.” Georgia’s peculiar runoff strategy is the merchandise of its post-segregationist predetermination laws, which lawmakers aboriginal admitted were intended to suppress emerging Black governmental power.

Raffensperger does not person immoderate nonstop relation successful the legislative process that determines Georgia predetermination law. He besides did not endorse immoderate replacement voting process to runoffs and does not mean to lobby authorities lawmakers astir what strategy to adopt, though helium has precocious outlined options that the General Assembly could follow successful its coming 2023 session.

Yet the secretary’s comments are the astir important absorption the runoff strategy has faced amid increasing disapproval and accrued statewide occurrences. The secretary’s captious presumption of runoffs came astir owed to changes successful Georgia’s arguable 2021 voting law, which compressed the clip betwixt the wide predetermination and immoderate imaginable runoff from 9 weeks to four.

Georgia could follow a plurality ballot strategy similar astir states, successful which a campaigner with the astir votes wins careless of if they get 50 percent of the vote, oregon ranked prime voting, arsenic a fistful of states and municipalities person precocious done. The governing Georgia Republicans bash not person a nationalist stance connected the issue, portion Democrats and voting rights advocates successful the authorities contend runoffs should beryllium ended but are divided astir what should regenerate them.

Raffensperger noted that the midterms had seen precocious in-person voting turnout and that galore counties had offered expansive in-person aboriginal voting, though absentee message ballots had dropped sharply aft Georgia’s arguable 2021 predetermination overhaul.

Last week, Sen. Raphael G. Warnock (D) defeated Herschel Walker (R) successful a runoff election. Warnock had collected the astir votes connected Nov. 8 but fell abbreviated of the 50 percent threshold. Warnock was archetypal elected to the Senate successful a 2021 runoff contention that helped Democrats unafraid the precocious chamber.