For most of the nation, the election is in the rearview mirror, but here in Georgia, voters will need to return to the polls one more time to vote in a runoff election between incumbent Democratic U.S. Senator Raphael Warnock and his Republican challenger Herschel Walker.  Neither of the candidates achieved the 50% threshold in the General Election that is required by Georgia law. Another Georgia law is preventing early voting on Saturday before the runoff election.

Georgia and Louisiana are the only two states that have runoff elections in the General Election if no candidate gets 50% of the vote.  There are ten states, including Georgia, that have runoff elections for Primary Elections.

Due to a change in the law by the General Assembly in 2016, Saturday voting cannot take place on a day following a state or federal holiday.  Also, the timeframe for runoff elections was reduced by the General Assembly in 2016.  That means the only Saturday when voters would have had the opportunity to vote falls on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  But the Friday after Thanksgiving is a state holiday – once known as “Robert E. Lee’s Birthday”, it is now simply called a “State Holiday”.

That means all early voting for the runoff election will take place on weekdays.  All early voting in Chattooga County will take place at the Chattooga County Registrars Office located at 10017 Commerce Street in Summerville.