Brad Raffensperger calls for an end to Georgia’s runoff system
Jack Birle
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Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) is calling for an end to the state’s runoff election system, a week after the latest head-to-head contest for its U.S. Senate seat.
Raffensperger called on the Peach State’s General Assembly to reform the system in a press release Wednesday.
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“Georgia is one of the only states in the country with a general election runoff,” Raffensperger said. “We’re also one of the only states that always seems to have a runoff. I’m calling on the General Assembly to visit the topic of the general election runoff and consider reforms.”
The Peach State implemented the runoff system in the 1960s, with the system having roots in white Democrats wanting to stay in power and keep black voters from the ballot box, per the Washington Post. Since the system began it has tended to favor Republicans.
Georgia has held three runoffs in the past two years, all three for Senate races, with Democrats prevailing in all three, the most recent one earlier this month seeing Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) defeat Republican challenger Herschel Walker.
Raffensperger also discussed how the runoff system complicates the election system, creating more work for poll workers and election officials during the holiday season.
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“No one wants to be dealing with politics in the middle of their family holiday,” Raffensperger said. “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.”
The Georgia General Assembly is set to convene for its 2023 session in Atlanta on Jan. 9.