ATLANTA, GEORGIA – A federal judge appointed by former President Donald Trump has declined to block Georgia’s system for runoff elections, which has faced scrutiny for its history of diluting Black voting power. The system, designed in the early 1960s to curb Black voting influence, was revamped by Republicans in 2021 to restrict ballot access after Democrats won two US Senate elections.
As part of a broader package of voting restrictions, Georgia Republicans decreased the runoff election period from nine weeks to four weeks and reduced early voting from three weeks to one week. The law also prohibited new voters who registered after the general election from participating in the runoff. These changes came in response to Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock’s wins in the January 2021 runoffs.
Black voters filed a lawsuit arguing that the runoff system violated their rights under the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments. However, the lawsuit hit a roadblock when federal district court judge J.P. Boulee, a Trump appointee, denied a preliminary injunction, stating that the plaintiffs had not demonstrated a high probability of success in their claims.
The implementation of the new runoff system caused widespread confusion during the December 2022 runoff election between Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker for a full US Senate term. Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s decision to eliminate Saturday voting due to a state holiday honoring Confederate leader Robert E. Lee sparked outrage among voting rights advocates. While lawsuits resulted in the reinstatement of Saturday voting in some counties, the compressed early voting period led to long lines at polling stations.
Georgia’s runoff election system was first introduced in 1964 as a means to circumvent the power of the Black voting bloc. Prior to the victories of Warnock and Ossoff, the electorate in runoff elections skewed older, whiter, and more Republican compared to the overall state population.
Interestingly, even some Republicans now advocate for the abolition of runoff elections in the state due to the inconvenience of their timing at the end of the year. Secretary of State Raffensperger recently called on the GOP-controlled legislature to do away with runoffs, emphasizing the need for Georgians to spend the holiday season with loved ones rather than being inundated with political solicitations.
In summary, a federal judge appointed by Trump has declined to block Georgia’s runoff election system. The system has faced criticism for its historical association with voter suppression and its recent implementation of tighter restrictions. However, Black voters’ legal challenge did not succeed in halting the system. Despite the victories of Ossoff and Warnock, the runoff elections in Georgia have traditionally attracted a different demographic compared to the overall state population. As the debate around runoff elections continues, some Republicans are calling for their abolition, citing the inconveniences they pose to citizens during the holiday season.