ATLANTA — Georgia, get ready to do that whole election thing all over again.
The much-watched Senate race in the Peach State between incumbent Democrat Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican challenger Herschel Walker presented no clear winner on Election Night.
Georgia Secretary of State Office Chief Operating Officer Gabriel Sterling tweeted "while county officials are still doing the detailed work on counting the votes, we feel it is safe to say there will be a runoff for the US Senate here in Georgia slated for December 6."
One of the candidates would have had to meet the 50% + 1 vote threshold to secure an outright victory and avoid a runoff - and returns strongly suggest neither did.
With nearly all the votes counted, both candidates were well short of meeting the majority-vote-winning standard, with Libertarian Chase Oliver's 2.1% share of the vote looming large.
NBC News projected the runoff on Wednesday afternoon, nearly 17 hours after the polls closed and there was no imminent path to the 50% + 1 mark for either candidate.
What happens next in the Georgia Senate race?
When all the counting concludes and the election is certified by the state, it can then prepare for a runoff, which would take place Dec. 6.
At that point, Georgians will then return to the polls to vote in a race that will feature only Warnock and Walker on the ballot.
The winner of that race will represent Georgia in the U.S. Senate for the next six years.
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