Judge hands Warnock victory on Saturday early voting in Georgia Senate runoff
by Kaelan Deese, Supreme Court Reporter |
November 18, 2022 06:21 PM
A Fulton County judge ruled Friday afternoon in favor of Sen. Raphael Warnock's campaign and other Democratic groups that sued to allow early voting on the Saturday after Thanksgiving in Georgia's Senate runoff election.
Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Cox Jr. took up the case Friday to determine whether Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office had erred when it said early voting on the weekend after a state holiday wouldn't be allowed under Georgia law.
"Based on the Court’s ruling, counties may provide advance voting on Saturday, November 26, 2022. Further, Defendant is hereby enjoined from interfering in efforts by counties to provide for advance voting on Saturday, November 26, 2022," Cox wrote in a 10-page opinion.
Deputy Secretary of State Gabriel Sterling initially told reporters last week that officials researched Georgia's new voting law and concluded it would be illegal to hold early voting one day after a state holiday, as the state observes Thanksgiving and the Friday after as state holidays.
However, the plaintiffs said Raffensperger's interpretation "misreads" and "cherry-picks" the law, arguing the bar on voting after holidays only applies to general elections and not runoffs.
In his opinion, Cox said the court disagrees in part with the secretary of state's office because "a runoff election is not merely a continuation of a primary or (general) election but is in fact its own distinct event." The court also sided with the Democratic senator's position because barring voting on Nov. 26 would hurt Warnock, particularly because his party tends to push early voting more than Republicans.
Cox's ruling enjoins Raffensperger's office from "preventing any votes cast on that day from being counted or included in the certified election results."
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/policy/courts/judge-gives-warnock-victory-paving-way-for-saturday-voting
