ATLANTA — Early voting began this week in Georgia for the Jan. 5 Senate runoffs that could very well determine the course of the Biden presidency.
The dueling races between incumbent Republican Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue and their Democratic challengers, Rev. Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, will determine which party controls the Senate.
With Republicans currently holding a 50-48 edge, a win by the two Democrats would cause an even 50-50 split in the Senate, with Vice President-elect Kamala Harris holding the tiebreaker vote.
How these races play out will likely determine the range of policies a Biden administration could pursue - and if you're a Georgia voter, you will get to have your say in what you'd like to see that be.
Voting day for the runoffs is officially Jan. 5, but most counties have extensive early voting periods open for the next couple weeks.
Here's a general look at the timeframe you have if you want to avoid the rush of the runoff day itself:
Please note: This is a general guideline, for exact times and locations you can scroll down and select your county at this page on the Georgia Secretary of State's website
- Dec. 14-20: That's this week, going through Sunday. Make sure to check with your county though - many smaller counties are not doing any weekend early voting. Of those that are open on Saturday, only a few will also be open on Sunday, Dec. 20 as well.
- Dec. 21-23: This is next Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, leading up to Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Just about all counties will be open these days. Just a couple counties have limited hours on the morning of Dec. 24.
- Dec. 26-31: Definitely check your specific county days here. Most are not open on the day after Christmas, and a lot are also not open on Dec. 27. For most counties, the last full day will be Dec. 30 with limited hours on Dec. 31. Many are not open Dec. 31 at all.