Northwest Georgia elections officials are preparing for heavy voter turnout in the Senate runoff election Tuesday between incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock, a Democrat, and Republican challenger Herschel Walker.
The prediction is based on early voting turnout in the region that significantly lagged the statewide average, elections officials said, and the fact there’s a shorter window for early voting in the runoff compared to the 2022 midterm election.
Statewide, 26.7% of voters cast ballots during early voting, compared to 25.3% in Catoosa — the highest in the seven counties of Northwest Georgia — and 18.9% in Walker County. Five of seven Northwest Georgia counties are in the bottom 22 of turnout percentage for the runoff election in Georgia’s 159 counties, according to the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office.
Tonya Moore, Catoosa County elections director, said the Senate runoff had only one week of early voting, compared to three weeks for the general election.
“It was busy the entire time, and we’re expecting it to be busy the entire time (Tuesday),” she said.