The Georgia Supreme Court on Wednesday rejected an appeal by the state Republican Party to shut down early voting on Saturday, effectively handing incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock (D-GA) a legal win ahead of his Dec. 6 runoff against Herschel Walker.
“Upon consideration, the emergency petition for writ of certiorari and motion to stay are denied,” the brief ruling said. “All the justices concur.”
GEORGIA SUPREME COURT DECISION REINSTATES SIX-WEEK ABORTION BAN
The state’s high court is made up of eight justices who were appointed by Republican governors and one who was appointed by a Democratic governor more than two decades ago.
Wednesday’s decision cleared the way for voters in at least 19 counties to cast their ballots on Saturday.
Georgia law requires five days of early voting from Monday, Nov. 28, to Friday, Dec. 2. Counties are allowed to offer up three additional days. Some of the state’s largest counties, such as Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold, had planned to offer early voting on Saturday, Nov. 26.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office notified county officials that there would be no voting on Nov. 26, the second Saturday before the Dec. 6 runoff, because it is two days after Thanksgiving and one day after a state holiday that commemorated Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee’s birthday. The Georgia legislature dropped the tribute to Lee in 2015 but kept the state holiday.
Raffensperger initially agreed that the runoff would include Saturday voting but reversed course, citing a prohibition in the 2016 law. Democrats then filed the lawsuit to challenge the decision.
Warnock and the Democratic Party of Georgia argued that the law applies only to primary and general elections, not the runoffs. They claimed that the law specifically mentions runoffs in other parts but does not mention it when it comes to Saturday voting and that the omission should be considered intentional.
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The state legislature passed a new voting law last year that scheduled runoffs four weeks after the general election. In previous years, they were held nine weeks after the general election.
Rebecca DeHart, the executive director of the Democratic Party of Georgia, called Raffensperger’s move to stop Saturday voting “deeply concerning for anyone who believes in the right to vote.”
