佐治亚州12月6日决选的提前投票周二在该州159个县中的至少一个县开始，民主党领导的扩大选举提前投票选项的努力仍在继续。
大选投票周一认证由国务卿布拉德·拉芬斯佩格允许一些选民提前几天投票给民主党现任参议员拉斐尔沃诺克或共和党候选人赫歇尔沃克。
在11月8日大选的结果得到认证之前，决选的提前投票不能开始，允许提前亲自投票的决定发生在县级。到目前为止，只有大亚特兰大地区的道格拉斯县准备在星期二和星期三开放投票站。附近的迪卡尔布县将于周三开放一个投票点。全州范围内的提前投票必须在11月28日开始，12月2日结束，尽管各县现在可以选择在本周提供一些额外的天数。
投票认证和决选的启动在乔治亚州之后打碎本月早些时候的所有早期投票人数。沃诺克和沃克对参议院席位的争夺被送进了决胜选举，因为两位候选人都没有获得该州总票数的50%。
“我们的2022年大选取得了巨大的成功，”Raffensperger在认证了11月8日的投票后说。“早期认证反映了这一成功。格鲁吉亚已经在无障碍和安全之间取得了平衡，格鲁吉亚的选举管理人员不知疲倦地工作，以完成这项工作。我们非常感谢他们的工作。”
沃诺克在2021年与前共和党参议员凯利·洛夫勒的决选中赢得了他的席位，在此期间，参议院的权力平衡落在了他和他现在的民主党参议员同事、时任众议员乔恩·奥索夫的肩上，后者也在加时赛中与前共和党参议员大卫·珀杜争夺他的席位。
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger speaks to the media about early voting progress on Oct. 25, 2022, in Atlanta.
Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images，文件
那次选举的投票人数与大选人数相当。沃诺克在获得多数席位后宣布胜利4484954票在2021年的决选中，虽然4914361张选票2020年大选期间投的。
佐治亚州国务卿发言人罗伯特·罪人星期二在一份声明中告诉美国广播公司，该办公室还预计这次选举将有“大量选民”参加。
沃诺克和沃克之间的对峙不会决定谁控制美国参议院，但民主党人已经决定了屏住呼吸因为51席的多数席位会让行使权力变得容易得多。共和党人也对赢得竞争施加了政治压力，指出他们能够在一个均匀分裂的参议院中取得成功。
“当赫歇尔赢了，我们会有一个50/50的参议院。好吗?现在，如果我们是51，52，53会更好，但通过他的胜利，我们将能够阻止一些糟糕的立法，因为需要51+才能完成这些事情，”佛罗里达州参议员里克·斯科特(Rick Scott)上周在奥古斯塔为沃克游说时说。
提前投票开始之际，人们对佐治亚州提前决选的过程普遍感到困惑。
佐治亚州一家上诉法院周一保留了下级法院的命令，允许各县在感恩节后的周六为即将到来的决选投票，这是由沃诺克的竞选团队和其他民主党人提出的。周二，全国和州级共和党人向佐治亚州最高法院提交了一份紧急请愿书，要求阻止周六的投票。
就他而言，沃克最近几周发表评论说，他不确定在决选期间是否允许提前投票，并指出这一过程应该在较短的时间内进行。
“他们有一天吗?两天?一周!一周?我们应该把它从一周缩短。好吧，如果他们给你一周时间，那就去做吧。在最近的一次竞选活动中，当被告知将在决选前投票时，他说。
对11月26日提前投票的持续法律挑战
本月早些时候，Raffensperger告诉县选举官员，感恩节后的周六不能继续提前投票，因为州法律规定，如果周六之前的周四或周五是假日，则周六是非法的。
沃诺克的竞选团队，佐治亚州民主党和民主党参议员竞选委员会，本月早些时候起诉了佐治亚州，认为Raffensperger“误读”并“挑选”了该州的选举法，该州禁止在假期后开放选举网站的禁令适用于大选和初选，而不是决胜选举。
周一，佐治亚州上诉法院拒绝了该州的一项请求，即暂缓一家下级法院的裁决，该裁决称该州法律允许当天提前投票。
然后，在周二，佐治亚州共和党、共和党全国参议院委员会和共和党全国委员会向佐治亚州最高法院提交了一份紧急请愿书，要求阻止当天的投票。
随着越来越多的县开始为选民提供这一日期——超过18个县已经这样做了宣布的他们将在11月26日星期六提前投票。
佐治亚州的参议院决选吸引了高调的代理人进入最后冲刺阶段
随着选举的开始，国家明星电力公司也开始为他们各自的候选人安排竞选活动。
12月1日，前总统巴拉克·奥巴马将返回亚特兰大为沃诺克助选，并鼓励格鲁吉亚人在提前亲自投票的最后几天投票。
奥巴马也在20世纪90年代来到了佐治亚州最后的日子在11月8日大选之前，沃诺克竞选团队表示，大批集会者报名参加了敲门轮班。
沃诺克并没有承诺让乔·拜登总统下台来推动他的竞选，他指出，他在竞选中没有“那么多时间”来扳倒目前的民主党旗手。
“我们会看到，我们没有那么多时间，”他在上周的一次竞选活动中说。“我们看看谁会出现。”
沃克没有回答美国广播公司新闻(ABC News)提出的问题，即该党前领导人唐纳德·川普(Donald Trump)是否会被要求下来为他竞选，而其他共和党代理人，如南卡罗来纳州参议员林赛·格雷厄姆(Lindsey Graham)、得克萨斯州参议员特德·克鲁兹(John McCain)和最近连任的州长布莱恩·坎普(Brian Kemp)都为他辩护。
全国和州级共和党官员警告说，特朗普2024年的宣布可能会颠覆赫歇尔·沃克在决选中的机会。尽管如此，在特朗普的2024年期间总统公告上周，他明确表示支持沃克。
特朗普说:“我们都必须为一位名叫赫歇尔·沃克的绅士和伟人努力工作，他是一个热爱我们国家的了不起的人，并将成为一名伟大的美国参议员。”。
就在这些评论发表几天后，沃诺克发布了一则广告，播放了这些评论，并附有他们两人的照片。沃诺克试图说明他的竞争对手与前总统的亲密关系，特别是在特朗普支持的候选人在大选期间遭遇了多次中期失利之后。在30秒广告的结尾，出现了一条消息:“阻止唐纳德·特朗普。阻止赫歇尔·沃克。”
Early voting kicks off in Georgia's Senate runoff as legal challenges on access mount
Early voting in Georgia's Dec. 6 runoff kicked off Tuesday in at least one of the state's 159 counties as Democrat-led efforts to expand the election's early vote options have continued.
General election votecertification on Mondayby Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger allowed some voters to cast their ballots for Democratic incumbent Sen. Raphael Warnock or Republican candidate Herschel Walker a few days ahead of schedule.
Early voting in the runoff election could not start until the results for the Nov. 8 general election were certified, and the decision to allow early in-person voting happens at the county level. So far, only Douglas County in the greater Atlanta region was set to open polling locations Tuesday and Wednesday. Nearby DeKalb County will open up one polling location on Wednesday. Early voting must begin statewide on Nov. 28 and end on Dec. 2, though counties now have the option of offering some additional days this week.
The vote certification and the launch of the runoff election comes after Georgiashatteredall past early voting turnout numbers earlier this month. Warnock and Walker's battle for the Senate seat was sent to a runoff when neither candidate received 50% of the state's total vote.
"Our 2022 General Election was a tremendous success," said Raffensperger after he certified the Nov. 8 votes. "Early certification reflects that success. Georgia has struck the balance between accessibility and security, and Georgia's election administrators worked tirelessly to get the job done. We are so thankful for their work."
Warnock won his seat in 2021 during a runoff election against former Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, during which time the balance of power in the Senate rested on his shoulders and those of his now-Democratic Senate colleague, then-Rep. Jon Ossoff, who was also fighting in overtime for his seat against former GOP Sen. David Perdue.
Turnout in that election was comparable to general election numbers. Warnock declared victory after securing the majority of4,484,954 votesin the runoff election in 2021, while4,914,361 ballotscast during the general election of 2020.
Georgia secretary of state spokesperson Robert Sinners told ABC News in a statement Tuesday that the office also anticipates "strong turnout" this election.
The faceoff between Warnock and Walker will not determine who controls the U.S. Senate, but Democrats have beenholding their breathfor a favorable outcome because a 51-seat majority would make wielding power much easier. Republicans have also put political pressure on winning the contest, pointing to successes they've been able to achieve in an evenly split Senate.
"When Herschel wins, we're gonna have a 50/50 Senate. Alright? Now it'd be better if we were at 51, 52, 53 but by him winning, we will be able to block some bad legislation because it takes 51 plus to get this stuff done," said Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., while stumping for Walker last week in Augusta.
The beginning of early voting comes amid widespread confusion about the process of Georgia early runoff voting.
A Georgia appeals court on Monday left in place a lower court order allowing counties to offer voting on the Saturday after Thanksgiving for the upcoming runoff election, which was brought up by Warnock's campaign and other Democrats. On Tuesday, national and statewide Republicans filed an emergency petition in the Georgia Supreme Court to block Saturday voting.
For his part, Walker has made comments in recent weeks that he was unsure early voting was even permitted during runoff elections, noting that the process should be kept on the shorter side.
"They have one day? Two days? One week! A week? We ought to cut it down from a week. Well, if they give you a week, take that week and do that. You've got to get out and vote," he said during a recent campaign event when told that there will be voting before the runoff.
Ongoing legal challenges to early voting on Nov. 26
Earlier this month, Raffensperger told county election officials that early voting could not continue on the Saturday after Thanksgiving because state law says it is illegal on a Saturday if there is a holiday on the Thursday or Friday preceding it.
Warnock's campaign, the Democratic Party of Georgia and the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, sued the State of Georgia earlier this month, arguing that Raffensperger "misreads" and "cherry-picks" the state's election law and that the state ban on opening election sites after a holiday applies to general elections and primaries, not runoffs.
On Monday, a Georgia appeals court declined a request by the state to stay a lower court's ruling that said state law allows early voting that day.
Then, on Tuesday, the Georgia Republican Party, the Republican National Senatorial Committee, and the Republican National Committee filed an emergency petition in the Georgia Supreme Court to block that day's voting.
The appeal comes as a growing list of counties have started to offer that date for voters -- over 18 haveannouncedthey will offer early voting on Saturday, Nov. 26.
Georgia's Senate runoff has attracted high-profile surrogates moving into the last stretch
As voting has now commenced for the contest, so too has national starpower started to schedule campaign events for their respective candidates.
On Dec. 1, former President Barack Obama will return to Atlanta to campaign for Warnock and encourage Georgians to cast their ballots during the final days of early in-person voting.
Obama also came to Georgia in thefinal daysahead of the general election race on Nov. 8, during which the Warnock campaign said that large swaths of rally-goers signed up to participate in door knocking shifts.
Warnock has not committed to bringing President Joe Biden down to boost his race, noting that he doesn't "have that much time" left in the race to bring down the current Democratic standard-bearer.
"We will see, we don't have that much time," he said at a campaign event last week. "We'll see who shows up."
Walker has not answered questions from ABC News about whether his party's former leader, Donald Trump, would be asked to come down to campaign for him, while other GOP surrogates like Sen. Lindsey Graham, of South Carolina, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and recently reelected Gov. Brian Kemp have jumped on the trail on his behalf.
National and statewide Republican officials cautioned how a Trump 2024 announcement could upend Herschel Walker's chances in the runoff. Still, during Trump's 2024presidential announcementlast week, he specifically voiced his support for Walker.
"We must all work very hard for a gentleman and a great person named Herschel Walker, a fabulous human being who loves our country and will be a great United States senator," Trump said.
Just days after those comments, Warnock-- who has tried to illuminate his rival's closeness with the former president, especially after Trump-backed candidates suffered a number of midterm losses during the general election--released an ad broadcasting those remarks with photos of the two of them together. At the end of the 30-second ad, a message appears: "Stop Donald Trump. Stop Herschel Walker."
