Comment ATLANTA — A Georgia judge ruled that early voting can be held Saturday in the Senate runoff election between Democratic incumbent Raphael G. Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker. In a ruling Friday afternoon, Judge Thomas A. Cox Jr. found that a provision of the Georgia election code cited by the secretary of state’s office as prohibiting Saturday voting “does not specifically prohibit counties from holding advanced voting on Saturday, November 26, 2022, for a runoff election.” The court further noted that “there is an absence of settled law on this particular question” in Georgia, but that the intent of the state legislature was “obvious” by the omission of any specific reference to runoffs in the statute. As Republicans worry, Democrats welcome Trump’s shadow in Senate runoff The decision is a victory for Democrats and voting rights advocates, who had argued that the laws in question were vague and did not apply to runoff elections. Officials in the secretary of state’s office had initially ruled that Saturday’s vote could be held in this year’s runoff election before backing down after discovering a provision of the election code that prohibited voting on days after public holidays. The Saturday at issue in the case would be two days after Thanksgiving and one day after a state holiday that until 2015 honored Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Democrats filed the lawsuit shortly after the state issued directives to counties advising them not to vote on Saturday. “I am delighted with the judge’s decision. Obviously, I think it was the right call,” Warnock said at a rally on the Georgia Tech campus Friday night. “We should want every voter to have the opportunity to vote and not voting on Saturday disproportionately affects the working class in an adverse way.” “I want to encourage everyone to vote early and make sure your voice is heard,” she added. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) said the decision should not be the end of the road on this issue. “We disagree with the court’s order and look forward to an immediate appeal,” Raffensperger said in a statement. The decision on whether to appeal the case will be made by Republican Chris Carr, the state’s attorney general. The appeals court could issue a stay order to prevent counties from allowing the Nov. 26 vote. Walker’s campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Georgia Senate race is in a runoff. That’s how it works. The decision does not necessarily mean that a vote will be held on Saturday. Counties across Georgia must decide whether to hold early voting hours on Nov. 26, requiring more time and resources from poll workers and election officials. More litigation is also possible if the case is appealed. “The judge made it very clear that the text, structure and history of the election code do not fit the state’s tortured, literal interpretation of the law to prevent Saturday voting,” said Anthony Michael Kreis, a professor of constitutional law and legal history. at Georgia State University. “It doesn’t make sense to apply the same standards to a short runoff election as we would to a general election with many weeks of early voting.” Chatham, Cobb, Dekalb and Fulton counties have already adopted trigger policies that would direct election officials to conduct Saturday voting if the court rules it is legal. Sabrina Rodriguez contributed to this report.
