A Georgia appeals court denied on Monday the state’s bid to block the expansion of early voting to include this Saturday in the Senate runoff election between Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) and Herschel Walker (R).
Runoff Election Day for Warnock and Walker is Tuesday, December 6.
State election officials had argued voting on November 26 was not allowed because it violated a state law prohibiting voting on the Saturday after a state holiday.
But a suit brought by Warnock’s campaign, the Georgia Democratic Party and Democrats’ Senate campaign arm argued Georgia law doesn’t apply to runoff elections. Last Friday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox issued a ruling siding with this assertion.
In a one-sentence order Monday, the Georgia Court of Appeals declined to stay the lower court ruling.
Early voting must begin statewide on November 28 and end on December 2. No counties are allowed to hold voting on Thanksgiving or Friday. Some counties, including Chatham, DeKalb and Fulton have opted to hold early voting on Saturday.
