These runoff elections are a result of a Georgia state law from the 1960s that sought to preserve white political power and prevent Black politicians from winning a multicandidate race with a plurality of the vote.
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On Jan. 5, Georgia voters will decide two runoff races that will determine which party controls the U.S. Senate, and we need your help to mobilize them.
These elections are a result of a Georgia state law from the 1960s that sought to preserve white political power and prevent Black politicians from winning a multicandidate race with a plurality of the vote. The law requires candidates for statewide office to secure over 50% of the vote in an election to win. If no candidate succeeds, they are forced into a runoff in early January with the second-highest vote getter.
The two runoff elections in Georgia are between appointed U.S. Senator Kelly Loeffler and Rev. Raphael Warnock in a special election and between U.S. Senator David Perdue and documentary filmmaker Jon Ossoff in a regularly scheduled election. Control of the entire U.S. Senate – along with the power to bring legislation to the floor for a vote and the power to confirm Cabinet positions and federal and Supreme Court judgeships – depends on the outcome of these two races.
Control of the U.S. Senate Comes Down to the South: A Panel Discussion and Call to Action with Vote Your Voice Georgia Organizers
Wednesday, Dec. 2
1-2 p.m. Eastern Time
Zoom Webinar
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Moderated by SPLC Deputy Legal Director Nancy Abudu <[link removed]>, this panel will include Vote Your Voice-supported organization leaders – Cindy Battles of Common Cause Georgia and Helen Butler of Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda – as well as SPLC Staff Attorney Poy Winichakul. These women will discuss the efforts to register and turn out voters in Georgia in the run-up to Nov. 3, how organizations are monitoring vote recounts from Nov. 3’s election to protect every voter’s voice in the process, and the strategy and tactics to turn out voters in advance of the Jan. 5 runoffs.
They will tell you how decisive your participation in get-out-the-vote efforts like SPLC’s Power Hours and financial support of organizations doing the hard work on the ground could be in determining U.S. policy for a generation. These runoffs determine control of the U.S. Senate, and control of the U.S. Senate determines what our national COVID-19 recovery looks like, how we deal with the racial reckoning unleashed this past summer, and how we restore the rule of law and democratic norms to the country when the outgoing president leaves office.
We hope you’ll join us in turning out the vote in this historic election!
Sincerely,
The Southern Poverty Law Center
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