Georgia Senate runoff sets single-day record for voter turnout

Nov. 29 (UPI) -- The Georgia Senate runoff between Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker set a record on Monday after more than 300,000 voters showed up early to cast ballots -- the most ever in a single day.

Early voting in the state ends Friday for the upcoming Dec. 6 runoff, which was triggered earlier this month after neither candidate won more than 50 percent of the vote in the Nov. 8 midterm election.

Voters who turned out Monday shattered the previous record of 233,252 ballots cast in a single day during the 2018 midterm, state elections officials said.

"Just...WOW!" Gabriel Sterling, a top election chief with the Georgia Secretary of State's office, exclaimed on Twitter Monday night after hearing the news. "GA voters, facilitated through the hard work of county election & poll workers, have shattered the old Early Vote turnout, with 300,438 Georgians casting their votes today."

Elections officials have reported striking increases in voter turnout throughout the midterm and since early voting began over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend. More Georgians also voted early this past Sunday than on any other Sunday since about 2018, officials said.

Last Wednesday, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled unanimously to allow voting on Saturday, a decision that overturned Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's election guidance, which argued that Saturday voting after a holiday was prohibited by state law.

Even without Warnock's seat, Democrats have already retained a slim majority in the Senate with 50 blue seats in addition to a tie-breaking vote from Vice President Kamala Harris. But a win by Warnock would break the party's 50-50 even split with Republicans and conceivably give Senate Democrats more leverage in the upper chamber as President Joe Biden embarks on the second half of his term.