1 of 2 | The Georgia Supreme Court ruled against Republican attempts to block Saturday voting, dealing a pre-runoff election victory for Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock in his campaign against Republican Herschel Walker. File Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI |
License Photo
Nov. 23 (UPI) -- The Georgia Supreme Court ruled against Republicans and in favor of opening up voting in the senatorial runoff election between incumbent Democrat Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker this Saturday.
The decision by the court overturns Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's election guidance, which argued that Saturday voting after a holiday was prohibited by state law, with all justices concurring with its ruling, according to a notice filed by a Supreme Court clerk Wednesday.
The Georgia GOP, Republican National Committee and National Republican Senatorial Committee, along with Raffensperger, tried to block Saturday voting. The Democratic Party of Georgia challenged the state for Saturday voting to be allowed on Nov. 14 and earned a victory in the federal appeals court on Tuesday.
The appeals court ruling confirmed arguments from the Democratic Party and Sen. Warnock's campaign which said Raffensperger's guidance was based on a misunderstanding of the law. The Warnock campaign noted that the law prohibiting Saturday voting after a holiday only applies to primary and general elections, not runoff elections.
"Illegal attempts to block Saturday voting are another desperate attempt by career politicians to squeeze the people out of their own democracy and to silence the voices of Georgians," said Quentin Fulks, Warnock's campaign manager.
After votes were counted following the midterm election on Nov. 8, Warnock led Walker 49.43% to 48.51%. About 3.9 million people voted in this race and 81,267 voted for Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver.
The Warnock campaign released a statement Friday ahead of the ruling by the state's Supreme Court.
"Allowing for Saturday early voting is a win for every Georgia voter, but especially for workers and students who will have a greater opportunity to make their voices heard in this election. We look forward to counties announcing that they will provide Georgians the opportunity to cast their ballots on Saturday, November 26th."
Voting in the senatorial runoff election concludes on Dec. 6.
