Atlanta (AP) Jerry Calhoun, the election supervisor for Miller County, says he is unsure if anyone will cast a ballot in the next Democratic primary.
After all, Keisha Waites, Peter Hubbard, and Robert Jones received a single vote in the southwest Georgia county during the Democratic primary for the state Public Service Commission on June 17.
Two additional Democratic ballots were not counted, most likely as a result of voters selecting disqualified candidate Daniel Blackman. Republican turnout was not much higher, with 40 ballots cast in favor of Commissioner Tim Echols against opponent Lee Muns.
Regarding the Democratic runoff between Waites and Hubbard on July 15, Calhoun stated, “I’m going to tell you the truth, I’m worried about it for the runoff, but there’s nothing I can do about it.”
On June 17, only 2.8% of Georgia’s 7.4 million active registered voters cast ballots in the state’s primary. This includes almost 15,000 voters who most certainly supported Blackman but whose ballots were not counted.
However, the statewide turnout for the Democratic runoff may fall short of 1%. Additionally, based on a sample of certain county spending, counties might spend $10 million statewide to hold the election. Each vote might be worth over $100.
This election, according to some who want to alter Georgia’s runoff system, demonstrates how the state spends money only to have decisions determined by a small percentage of first-time voters.
State Representative Saira Draper, a Democrat from Atlanta, called it a “horrible waste of resources.”
However, two strategies that are employed elsewhere—allowing someone to win without a majority or utilizing ranked choice voting to establish a majority—are opposed by important Republicans. Meanwhile, a state statute is being used by some Republican-controlled counties to cut back on the number of voting stations for the runoff.
In order to win an election, you must receive at least 50% plus one of the vote in some way. Therefore, I oppose a plurality system. Representative Victor Anderson
Even if it falls well short of a majority, winning several states can be achieved by placing first. Only nine states—mostly in the South—need runoffs, including Georgia. Furthermore, it is one of just two states—along with Mississippi—that require a runoff if no candidate secures a majority in the general election following a partisan primary.
MOREWhite and other counties are restricting precincts for PSC runoff.
Runoffs were established, according to historians, in part to make it more difficult for Black candidates to achieve office and provide white voters with an opportunity to unite behind a candidate.
In order to prevent a runoff, Georgia lawmakers reduced the bar in 1995, requiring a contender to receive only a 45% plurality. After a GOP candidate lost a 1996 Senate race, Republicans reverted to a majority threshold.
In 2023, Draper proposed a measure to return the threshold to 45%, but it was never implemented. Victor Anderson, a Republican from Cornelia who chairs the House Governmental Affairs Committee, is one of those who think a majority is a crucial electoral mandate.
In order to win an election, you must receive at least 50% plus one of the vote in some way. Accordingly, I oppose a plurality system, Anderson, whose committee is in charge of election legislation, stated.
Allowing voters to rank their selections and selecting the winner based on second or third choices is an additional option. Voters in New York City elect a mayor using that procedure.
Runoff turnout is usually lower, which silences people who don’t come back, according to Scot Turner, a former Republican state representative who supports that method. According to him, ranked choice voting would increase participation, guarantee that a majority choose the winner, and result in cost savings.
According to Turner, it’s a modification of our current system that increases attendance while reducing expenses. Voters are disenfranchised as a result of the sharp declines in turnout during runoff elections. Their ballots are thrown away as though they were never cast.
Voters in the military and abroad are given ranked-choice ballots by Georgia. However, a large number of Republicans are against expansion, and the Georgia Senate has passed legislation to prohibit its continued use.
For the runoff, some counties are restricting the number of voting stations.
If less than 1% of a county’s registered voters cast ballots in the first primary, the state permits a county to open just one polling station for a primary runoff. That probably applies to several counties that are ruled by Republicans. Miller County is one of several rural counties that now only run one polling place.
After less than 2,000 voters cast ballots in the Democratic primary, Cherokee County, which has about 208,000 active voters, declared on Friday that it would only open one voting station. According to Elections Director Anne Dover, the ruling would save almost $70,000 by halving the runoff’s expenses.
Up to 20 counties are thinking about it, according to Travis Doss, president of the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials, who made the announcement on Friday.
