Support the Georgia Senate runoffs.

Get Educated

• Volunteer for both Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock. Many opportunities available for those outside GA and under the age of 18!

• Donate to Fair Fight PAC, a nationwide group founded by Stacey Abrams that combats voter suppression and promotes “free and fair elections” in GA.

• Donate to the Black Voters Matter organization, which is focused on voter registration and turnout for the Black community.

• Georgia residents: Sign up to be a poll worker for the runoff election. Give those poll workers from the election a break!

There are two Senate seats up for a runoff election in January. If Democrats win both, we will have a 50/50 Senate split and a Democratic VP making tie-breaking decisions (NPR). This political power could make both a lasting and immediate impact. Some key issues have been stalled in the Senate, like the second round of coronavirus relief (Vox), that could pass more swiftly. To do this, we need to win both seats in the run-off election in Georgia.

The rise of support for the Democratic governors, particularly as mail-in ballots were counted, was energizing. But as the votes trickled in, one thing was clear: both races were so close that neither of the candidates would reach majority-rule (or 50%) for victory (NPR). This means that both races are going into a runoff election, a second election to determine an ultimate winner (Ballotpedia).

The concept of runoff elections may be new to you. Georgia is one of only a few states that require voters in an election to reach a specific threshold before winning. Most of these states are in the South. And "fun" fact, runoff elections were designed specifically for white leaders to maintain power as the voter block diversified.

The runoff system was implemented in Georgia in the 1960s, an effort led by state representative Denmark Groover. Groover was a bit salty from losing an election in 1958 – although he carried the white vote, Black people voted for his opponent by a 5-1 margin. This demonstrated that, as usual throughout history, Black people overall tend to support one progressive candidate, whereas white people split their vote between many (Vox).

Afraid of the power this could give to Black people, Groover pushed for runoffs so that, even if Black people chose one candidate that was counter to the white vote, their majority wouldn't be enough to win (Vox). According to someone on his team, Groover was worried that "the Negroes and the pressure groups and special interests are going to manipulate this State and take charge if we don’t go for the majority vote" (Vox).

But Groover didn't come up with this idea on his own. Runoff elections were implemented in several Southern states to maintain the overwhelmingly Democratic (now Republican) control. At that time, Black people were rallying for their right to vote – despite deep voter suppression through literacy tests, poll taxes, etc. Meanwhile, the Populist Party was growing in popularity, too, and could split voters further. The Populist Party often shared the Democrats' view on race, though, and documents from that time indicate that the fears of Democrats then mirrored those of Groover: racial domination was key (Washington Post).

An important exception: Arkansas implemented runoff voting in the 1930s specifically to keep Klan members from winning primaries (Washington Post).

The DOJ sued to overturn the runoff system in 1900, but the motion was unsuccessful. Although the judges noted that race played a factor in its implementation, it's difficult to discern whether outcomes would be objectively better for Black voters if majority-rule weren't in place (Vox). But, if it weren't in place for this election, David Purdue would have won (with 49.7% of the vote, which is higher than Ossoff's 47.9% but still less than 50%), and we wouldn't have this opportunity to even the Senate.

So, let's take this opportunity and make the most of it. The presidential race results in Georgia were influenced by the outpouring of support from non-white communities and youth (NYTimes). This offers a blueprint for winning this election – doubling-down on those efforts and securing as many new voters as possible.

Winning these elections also prevents the two Republican senators, both with racist values and beliefs, from joining the senate. Kelly Loeffler, running against Rev. Raphael Warnock, has been adamant about her dislike of the Black Lives Matter movement (Washington Post). And David Purdue purposefully mocked Kamala Harris' name at a Trump rally (CNN) and ran an anti-Semitic ad against his opponent, Jon Ossoff (Politico).

The runoff election will be held on January 5, 2021. The deadline for voter registration is December 7, 2020. Early voting starts December 14, 2020. The time to act is now.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The two Senate races in Georgia are moving into a runoff election. If both Democrats win, we could have 50/50 representation in the Senate.

• Georgia is one of only a few states that require voters in an election to reach a specific threshold before winning.

• Runoff elections have been used throughout history for southern white conservatives to maintain racial power.