Georgia Senate Runoffs: What to know

by Ashley Peterson

On January 5, 2021, Georgia will hold its senate runoff election. This runoff is especially important, as there are two senate seats up for grabs rather than the usual one. Whoever wins these seats will become the senators for Georgia in the United States Senate, giving them the power to approve or reject presidential appointees to executive and judicial branch posts, to ratify treaties, and to work in conjunction with the House of Representatives to make decisions in Congress.

Republican David Perdue is squaring off against Democrat Jon Ossoff, given that neither of them managed to gain 50% of the vote during the general election. The same is true for Republican Kelly Loeffler and Democrat Raphael Warnock, who will also be vying for a senate seat in January.

The runoff could determine the makeup of the senate, given that Democrats currently have 48 seats and Republicans 50. If Democrats score these last two seats, Vice President-Elect Kamala Harris would cast the tiebreaking vote and likely give control to the Democrats.

The deadline to register new voters is Dec 7. The secure online portal ballotrequest.sos.ga.gov requires voters to submit their name, date of birth, county, and either their Georgia driver’s license or official state identification number. Nov 18 is the earliest date a registrar can send out ballots.

Early voting begins Dec 14. If a Georgia citizen is currently 17 but will be 18 by the election, they are eligible to vote in the runoff election.