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One of White County’s most memorable election seasons continues to take new turns with a presidential recount and three runoff elections on the horizon.
One of White County’s most memorable election seasons continues to take new turns with a presidential recount and three runoff elections on the horizon.
Though more than 80% of county voters backed President Donald Trump, his lead in Georgia on Election Day eroded as vote counting continued elsewhere in the state. With former Vice President Joe Biden now ahead by a slim margin, the state is headed for a hand recount of ballots, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced Wednesday morning Nov. 11. (See related story here.)
On Wednesday afternoon, County Election Superintendent Garrison Baker said he expected to received more direction and training about the recount from the Secretary of State’s office Thursday and would plan accordingly to process the nearly 15,000 votes cast in White County. (Updates from this developing story will be posted on the White County News website and social media.)
Raffensperger also announced that state runoff elections originally set for Dec. 1 would be moved to align with the federal runoff on Jan. 5, 2021.
The runoffs are a result of no one candidate winning a majority of the ballots cast. The top two vote-getters move on to the runoff. (Georgia law makes an exemption for the presidential race.)
All eyes are on Georgia as two potentially power-shifting U.S. Senate runoff races plow on.
The runoff races between Republican Sen. David Perdue and Democratic nominee Jon Ossoff, and between Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Rev. Raphael Warnock, are set for Jan. 5.
For federal runoffs, new voters may register for the runoff by the Dec. 7 deadline. Voters can register at the White County Voter Registrar’s office at 1241 Helen Highway, Suite 210- A, in Cleveland (Phone: 706-865-7812) or by visiting the My Voter Page at www.mvp.sos.ga.gov/MVP.
Perdue, 70, was elected to the Senate in 2014 after a 40-year career in business that included serving as CEO of Reebok and Dollar General. Ossoff, 33, an investigative journalist who runs a documentary production firm, entered elective politics three years ago, losing a special election for a congressional seat in Atlanta’s northern suburbs.
Loeffler, a wealthy Atlanta businesswoman, has touted legislation she filed on protecting local police budgets, prohibiting COVID-19 aid for abortion providers and barring transgender girls from playing in public-school girls’ or women’s sports.
Warnock, who is the senior pastor at Atlanta’s Ebenezer Baptist Church, has pressed for boosting health-care access through Medicaid expansion and by shoring up the Affordable Care Act with a public option. He has also called for national rules on certain police activities including a ban on chokeholds and third-party probes of officer-involved killings.
All Georgia voters will also be asked to decide a runoff for the state Public Service Commission District 4 seat. Incumbent Republicans Lauren “Bubba” McDonald Jr. will face Democrat Daniel Blackman.
For state races, those who were registered by the Oct. 5 general election deadline will be able to vote in the PSC runoff.
Capitol Beat staff writer Beau Evans contributed to this report.