State Supreme Court ruling allows Saturday early voting in Georgia runoff election
People wait in line for early voting for the midterm elections at Ponce De Leon Library on Nov, 4, 2022 in Atlanta. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago/Getty Images) (Getty Images)
ATLANTA - The Georgia Supreme Court will allow Saturday early voting for Georgia's runoff election in the race for U.S. Senate by denying Republicans' request to stay a lower court's ruling.
A Fulton County judge sided with Sen. Raphael Warnock, to allow early voting on Saturday. A Georgia appeals court ruling made it so counties can offer early voting on the Saturday after Thanksgiving in the U.S. Senate runoff election between Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker.
The court order in Georgia Republican Party, Inc. et al. v. Democratic Party of Georgia, Inc. et al. was brief:
"Upon consideration, the Emergency Petition for Writ of Certiorari and Motion to Stay are denied. All the Justices concur."
Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger told county election officials that early voting could not be held that day because state law says it is illegal on a Saturday if there is a holiday on the Thursday or Friday preceding it.
Warnock’s campaign, along with the Democratic Party of Georgia and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, sued to challenge that guidance.
State law requires at least five weekdays of early in-person balloting beginning Monday, Nov. 28, and also directs Georgia’s 159 counties to open early in-person voting "as soon as possible" in a runoff.
The Georgia Secretary of State's office concluded that it would be illegal to hold early voting on a day after a state holiday, Thanksgiving and the following Friday. Democrats argued the bar on voting after a holiday applies only to primary and general elections and not to runoffs.
Georgia's 2021 voting law shortened the time between the 2022 general election and runoff.
Chief Operations Officer for the Secretary of State's Office, Gabriel Sterling, said Tuesday afternoon there were 18 counties prepared to offer early voting on Nov. 26, including a handful in metro Atlanta: Cobb, DeKalb, Douglas, Fulton, Gwinnett, Newton and Rockdale counties. More could offer voting in the coming days.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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