Georgia's top election official calls for end to runoffs in the state

Published 12/14/2022, 12:34 PM
Updated 12/14/2022, 12:35 PM
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger gestures as he speaks a day after midterm elections, in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. November 9, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

By Joseph Ax

(Reuters) - Georgia's top election official on Wednesday called on lawmakers to eliminate the state's unusual runoff election system, a week after Democrats again prevailed in a runoff for a closely fought U.S. Senate race.

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, said runoff elections put a significant strain on election officials. Under Georgia law, if no candidate secures at least half of the votes in November's regular election, a runoff between the two top vote-getters is triggered.

"No one wants to be dealing with politics in the middle of their family holiday," Raffensperger said in a statement. "It's even tougher on the counties who had a difficult time completing all of their deadlines, an election audit and executing a runoff in a four-week time period."

Democrats in January 2021 swept two Senate runoff races, giving them control of the chamber and allowing President Joe Biden to advance his legislative agenda. Earlier this month, Senator Raphael Warnock defeated former football star Herschel Walker in another runoff, solidifying the Democrats' majority in the Senate.

Raffensperger did not advocate for a particular alternative. A spokesman for his office said the two likeliest options would be to adopt the system that most states use, in which the candidate with the most votes in November wins the race, or a system known as ranked-choice voting.

Ranked-choice voting is sometimes referred to as instant runoffs. Voters list candidates in order of preference. If no candidate wins 50% of the initial votes, the candidate with the fewest votes is eliminated, and their ballots are redistributed according to the voters' second choice, and so on until a candidate reaches 50%.

© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger gestures as he speaks a day after midterm elections, in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. November 9, 2022. REUTERS/Carlos Barria/File Photo

Maine and Alaska are the only states to adopt ranked-choice voting for statewide and federal elections. Only Louisiana and Georgia employ a runoff system for general elections.

The leaders of Georgia's Republican legislature could not immediately be reached for comment. The state's next legislative session begins in January.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2025 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.