Although Senate control may not hang in the balance, the special election in Georgia, in which Sen. Rev. Raphael Warnock (D) will face off against former football star and Trump acolyte Herschel Walker (R), is an important one for both parties. After all, if Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) has proven anything to Democrats over the past two years, it’s the importance of that one extra vote.
🚨BREAKING: Victory for @DSCC, @GeorgiaDemocrat, @ReverendWarnock and voters of Georgia!
Judge ORDERS Georgia to permit counties to offer early voting on Sat, Nov. 26 for the Senate runoff. REJECTS GA previous guidance banning early voting on that day.https://t.co/sTp4b4DFT4
— Marc E. Elias (@marceelias) November 18, 2022
Never ones to miss a chance to suppress the vote, Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger banned early voting on the Saturday following Thanksgiving, cutting into one of two early voting Saturdays prior to the special election on December 6. Raffensperger drew on a law preventing early voting on the second Saturday prior to the election following a holiday.
Plaintiffs Raphael Warnock and the Democratic Party of Georgia sued in court to ensure that early voting will remain open for voters in the state and, on Friday, scored a victory in court.
According to Democracy Docket:
‘The plaintiffs argue that the law “guarantees early voting on specific weekend days for primary and general elections and imposes conditions on that mandate, neither of which apply to runoffs” and therefore counties can hold early voting on Saturday, Nov. 26.’
Using the argument that special elections are not the same as other elections and that the law does not prevent early voting on the second Saturday prior to the election following a holiday, the plaintiffs swayed the judge and handed defendants, the government of the state of Georgia, a defeat.
The judge’s ruling finds in the favor of the plaintiffs and orders that:
‘Defendant is hereby enjoined from interfering in efforts by counties to provide for advance voting on Saturday, November 26, 2022, due to any failure by the board of registrars to comply with the requirement…to publish the date, time, and locations of the availability of advanced voting in those jurisdictions at least seven (7) days before November 26, 2022.’
Twitter was quick to thank election attorney Marc Elias of Democracy Docket for his tireless work protecting democracy and congratulating him and the plaintiffs on their win. Read some of their comments below:
