Georgia’s Supreme Court allowed early voting last Saturday after a legal battle between Georgia Democrats and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, R-GA, who sought to prohibit voting on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, citing a state law that does not allow early in-person elections to take place on a weekend after a holiday.
According to Salem Radio Network News, the state statute includes language prohibiting early in-person voting on a Saturday if the Thursday or Friday leading up to it is a holiday. Georgia Democrats, including Senator Raphael Warnock’s campaign and other Democratic organizations argued that the legislation only applies to primaries and general elections; not runoffs.
Georgia’s 2021 election law requires a four-week limit to the time between general elections and a runoff. Thanksgiving fell in the middle of that time period in the midst of the Warnock/Walker runoff elections, permitting only five weekdays of early in-person voting – which was scheduled to start today, November 28 – for many Georgians.
Ultimately, Georgia’s Supreme Court allowed Saturday’s early voting to go forward, in spite of state Republican officials’ efforts to block the move.
Questions of election integrity, suspicions of voter fraud, and general mistrust of the voting process continue to spread across the country. Arizona faces election issues, as defeated Republican candidate to the governor’s office, Kari Lake sues Maricopa County. Democratic Party members and organizations have put significant effort into securing early voting, be it in person or through mail-in ballots. This raises questions in the minds of Americans who choose to vote on Election Day – many of whom vote conservative.
