ATLANTA — Early voting in Georgia is almost complete for the 2022 Senate runoff election, with the official election day of Dec. 6 just around the corner.
But what do Georgians think about the runoff process?
11Alive and SurveyUSA conducted a new poll to get a look at how voters are feeling heading into the polls and what they think about this unique part of Georgia's electoral process, and the changes that have been made to it in the last couple of years.
Currently, the state is in an early voting period and has already been setting records in terms of turnout.
Those numbers likely reflect how invested Georgia voters are in this election. When asked to rate (on a scale of 1-10) how important this runoff election is to them (with 10 signifying one of the most important elections one will ever vote in), voters landed on an average of 8.3.
The poll also asked voters their thoughts on the shortened period between the general election on Nov. 8 and the runoff on Dec. 10. For context, during the 2020 election, the runoff did not take place until January of the following year.
As part of Georgia's new election law (SB202), the time frame between Election Day and a runoff was shortened from nine weeks to just four.
Recently, voting rights advocates asked county election boards and lawmakers to expand opportunities for voters to cast their ballot during the runoff period out of fear that change could spark lower voter turnout.
As it turns out, most Georgians (64% of those surveyed) think the length of time between the general election and the December runoff is "just about right." Only about 9% found the length of time too short, and 19% found it too long.
And as for runoffs in general? With talk of voter fatigue from some residents,
In the Peach State, candidates for statewide offices must not only get the most votes but receive more than 50% of the vote to be declared the winner. If that doesn't happen, the top two candidates square off again in a runoff. In most states, the candidate with a plurality of votes is declared the winner.
But according to our results, most Georgians polled (52%) believe the state should continue to hold runoff elections. Meanwhile, 16% suggested moving to plurality voting (where whoever gets the most votes the first time around wins the race), 13% suggested approval voting (where you can essentially vote for as many candidates on the ballot as you wish), and only 8% coming down in favor of having a ranked-choice ballot.