Public Service Commission runoff moved to Jan. 5




Last week, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced he was moving the Public Service Commission runoff from Dec. 1 to Jan. 5 to coincide with the state’s two high profile Senate runoffs.

Republican incumbent Lauren “Bubba” McDonald Jr. was approximately 4,000 votes shy of the state’s required 50 percent plus one vote needed to win. While he had garnered 49.89 percent of the vote, his opponent, Democrat Daniel Blackman had 46.98 percent.

Raffensperger announced in a press conference Nov. 11 that the recount of the presidential election and the quick succession of multiple runoffs as originally planned was an “untenable situation” for election workers. “With that, under my powers under the health emergency, I am moving the date of the Dec. 1 election to coincide with the federal runoff on Jan. 5,” he said. “This will protect the integrity of both elections and make for better election administration. It has the added benefit of saving taxpayers millions of dollars.”

Early voting for the runoff will begin Dec. 14.

Citizens can still register to vote and did not have to participate in the general election in order to cast a ballot for the runoff. Thousands of young voters, who were not yet 18 and couldn’t vote in the November general election, may now register to participate.

Registration is available online at georgia.gov/registerto vote, in-person at the local board of elections office, located on the first floor of the historic courthouse in Waynesboro, or at any state agencies that provide food stamps, Medicaid and mental health services, military recruiting centers and public libraries.

To register, you must be a citizen of the United States, a legal resident of the county and at least 17 1/2 years old to register and 18 years old to vote and must not be serving a sentence for conviction of a felony involving moral turpitude and not have been found mentally incompetent by a judge.

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