View source for Elections in Georgia (U.S. state)

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{{ElectionsGA}}
'''Elections in [[Georgia (US State)|Georgia]]''' are held to fill various state and federal seats. Regular elections are held every even year. The positions being decided each year varies, as the terms of office varies. The [[Georgia State Senate|State Senate]], [[Georgia House of Representatives|State House]] and [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House]] will typically be up for election, as all of those positions have two-year terms. [[By-election|Special elections]] are held to fill vacated offices. Georgia is one of seven states that require a [[run-off election]] if no candidate receives a majority of the vote in a primary election and the only state that requires a run-off election for state and congressional offices if no candidate wins a majority of the vote in a general election; [[Louisiana]] has a similar requirement, but it operates under a [[Louisiana primary|different election system]].<ref name=RWilson>{{cite news|last1=Wilson|first1=Reid|title=Runoff elections a relic of the Democratic South|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/06/04/runoff-elections-a-relic-of-the-democratic-south/|access-date=16 October 2014|newspaper=Washington Post|date=4 June 2014|archive-date=25 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141025002754/http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/govbeat/wp/2014/06/04/runoff-elections-a-relic-of-the-democratic-south/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name=Hood>{{cite news|last1=Hood III|first1=M.V.|title=Hood: Georgia is one of few states with primary runoff balloting|url=http://onlineathens.com/election/2014-07-19/hood-georgia-one-few-states-primary-runoff-balloting|access-date=16 October 2014|publisher=Athens Banner-Herald|date=19 July 2014|archive-date=21 October 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141021185041/http://onlineathens.com/election/2014-07-19/hood-georgia-one-few-states-primary-runoff-balloting|url-status=live}}</ref>

In a 2018 ranking of U.S. states by perceived electoral integrity (PEI), Georgia ranked 51st among all U.S. states and [[District of Columbia]]. While all other states' perceived electoral integrity was valued at very high, high or moderate, Georgia was the only state in the rankings to be designated as a state with low perceived electoral integrity. It scored 49 out of 100 in the 2018 PEI index, getting lowest marks in voting boundaries (18 out of 100) and the highest in Party and candidate registration (67 out of 100).<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.electoralintegrityproject.com/peius2018|title=PEI-US-2018 — the Electoral Integrity Project EIP|access-date=2020-09-11|archive-date=2020-08-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200831001755/https://www.electoralintegrityproject.com/peius2018|url-status=live}}</ref> In the 2020 PEI index, Georgia's score had risen from 49 to 74.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Electoral Integrity in the 2020 U.S. Elections |url=https://www.hks.harvard.edu/publications/electoral-integrity-2020-us-elections |access-date=2024-09-13 |website=www.hks.harvard.edu |language=en}}</ref>

A 2020 study ranked Georgia as the second most difficult state for citizens to vote in, primarily for a reduction of polling stations by 50 percent or more since 2012 in parts of the state.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=J. Pomante II |first1=Michael |last2=Li |first2=Quan |title=Cost of Voting in the American States: 2020 |journal=Election Law Journal: Rules, Politics, and Policy |date=15 Dec 2020 |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=503–509 |doi=10.1089/elj.2020.0666 |s2cid=225139517 |doi-access=free }}</ref>

==History==
{| class="wikitable" style="float:right; margin:1em; font-size:95%;"
|+ Georgia vote|Gubernatorial election results<ref name="Leip, David">{{cite web|url=http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/|title=General Election Results – Georgia|publisher=United States Election Atlas|access-date=November 18, 2016|author=Leip, David|archive-date=July 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180709214827/https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/|url-status=live}}</ref>
|- style="background:lightgrey;"
! Year 
! [[Democratic Party of Georgia|Democratic]]
! [[Georgia Republican Party|Republican]]
|-
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Georgia gubernatorial election, 1950|1950]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| '''98.4%''' ''230,771''
| {{Party shading/Republican}} align="center"| –
|-
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Georgia gubernatorial election, 1954|1954]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| '''99.9%''' ''331,899''
| {{Party shading/Republican}} align="center"| –
|-
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Georgia gubernatorial election, 1958|1958]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| '''99.9%''' ''168,414''
| {{Party shading/Republican}} align="center"| –
|-
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Georgia gubernatorial election, 1962|1962]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| '''99.9%''' ''311,524''
| {{Party shading/Republican}} align="center"| –
|-
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Georgia gubernatorial election, 1966|1966]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 46.2% ''450,626''
| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 46.5% ''453,665''
|-
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Georgia gubernatorial election, 1970|1970]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| '''59.3%''' ''620,419''
| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 40.6% ''424,983''
|-
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Georgia gubernatorial election, 1974|1974]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| '''69.1%''' ''646,777''
| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 30.9% ''289,113''
|-
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Georgia gubernatorial election, 1978|1978]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| '''80.7%''' ''534,572''
| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 19.3% ''128,319''
|-
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Georgia gubernatorial election, 1982|1982]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| '''62.8%''' ''734,090''
| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 37.2% ''434,496''
|- 
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Georgia gubernatorial election, 1986|1986]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| '''70.5%''' ''828,465''
| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 29.5% ''346,512''
|-
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Georgia gubernatorial election, 1990|1990]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| '''52.9%''' ''766,662''
| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 44.5% ''645,625''
|-
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Georgia gubernatorial election, 1994|1994]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| '''51.1%''' ''788,926''
| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 48.9% ''756,371''
|-
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}|[[Georgia gubernatorial election, 1998|1998]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| '''52.5%''' ''941,076''
| {{Party shading/Republican}}| 44.1% ''790,201''
|-
| {{Party shading/Republican}}|[[Georgia gubernatorial election, 2002|2002]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 46.2% ''937,153''
| {{Party shading/Republican}}| '''51.4%''' ''1,041,702''
|-
| {{Party shading/Republican}}|[[Georgia gubernatorial election, 2006|2006]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 38.2% ''811,049''
| {{Party shading/Republican}}| '''57.9%''' ''1,229,724''
|-
| {{Party shading/Republican}}|[[Georgia gubernatorial election, 2010|2010]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 43.0% ''1,107,011''
| {{Party shading/Republican}}| '''53.0%''' ''1,365,832''
|-
| {{Party shading/Republican}}|[[Georgia gubernatorial election, 2014|2014]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 44.9% ''1,144,794''
| {{Party shading/Republican}}| '''52.7%''' ''1,345,237''
|-
| {{Party shading/Republican}}|[[Georgia gubernatorial election, 2018|2018]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 48.8% ''1,923,685''
| {{Party shading/Republican}}| '''50.2%''' ''1,978,408''
|-
| {{Party shading/Republican}}|[[2022 Georgia gubernatorial election|2022]]
| {{Party shading/Democratic}}| 45.9% ''1,813,673''
| {{Party shading/Republican}}| '''53.4%''' ''2,111,572''
|}
{{PresHead|place=Georgia|whig=yes|source=<ref>{{cite web|url=https://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/compare.php?year=2008&fips=13&f=1&off=0&elect=0&type=state|title=Presidential General Election Results Comparison – Georgia|publisher=US Election Atlas|access-date=November 17, 2025}}</ref>}}
<!-- PresRow should be {{PresRow|Year|Winning party|GOP vote #|Dem vote #|3rd party vote #|State}} -->
{{PresRow|1828|Democratic|642|19,362|0|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1832|Democratic|0|20,750|0|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1836|Whig|24,481|22,778|0|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1840|Whig|40,339|31,983|0|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1844|Democratic|42,100|44,147|0|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1848|Whig|47,532|44,785|0|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1852|Democratic|16,660|40,516|5,450|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1856|Democratic|0|56,581|42,439|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1860|Southern Democratic|0|11,581|95,136|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1868|Democratic|57,109|102,707|0|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1872|Democratic|62,550|76,356|0|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1876|Democratic|50,533|130,157|0|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1880|Democratic|54,470|102,981|0|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1884|Democratic|48,603|94,667|340|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1888|Democratic|40,499|100,493|1,944|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1892|Democratic|48,408|129,446|45,272|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1896|Democratic|59,395|93,885|9,200|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1900|Democratic|34,260|81,180|5,970|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1904|Democratic|24,004|83,466|23,516|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1908|Democratic|41,355|72,350|18,799|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1912|Democratic|5,191|93,087|23,192|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1916|Democratic|11,294|127,754|21,633|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1920|Democratic|41,089|107,162|465|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1924|Democratic|30,300|123,200|13,077|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1928|Democratic|99,368|129,602|188|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1932|Democratic|19,863|234,118|1,609|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1936|Democratic|36,942|255,364|872|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1940|Democratic|46,360|265,194|997|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1944|Democratic|59,880|268,187|42|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1948|Democratic|76,691|254,646|87,427|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1952|Democratic|198,979|456,823|1|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1956|Democratic|216,652|441,094|5,734|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1960|Democratic|274,472|458,638|239|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1964|Republican|616,584|522,557|195|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1968|American Independent|380,111|334,440|535,715|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1972|Republican|881,496|289,529|3,747|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1976|Democratic|483,743|979,409|4,306|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1980|Democratic|654,168|890,733|52,566|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1984|Republican|1,068,722|706,628|743|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1988|Republican|1,081,331|714,792|13,549|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1992|Democratic|995,252|1,008,966|316,915|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|1996|Republican|1,080,843|1,053,849|164,379|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|2000|Republican|1,419,720|1,116,230|60,854|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|2004|Republican|1,914,254|1,366,149|24,078|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|2008|Republican|2,048,759|1,844,123|39,276|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|2012|Republican|2,078,688|1,773,827|55,854|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|2016|Republican|2,089,104|1,877,963|179,758|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|2020|Democratic|2,461,854|2,473,633|64,473|Georgia}}
{{PresRow|2024|Republican|2,663,117|2,548,017|63,999|Georgia}}
{{PresFoot}}

Following the end of [[martial law]] and readmission to the [[Union (American Civil War)|Union]] during [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]], Georgia was overwhelmingly dominated by the [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democratic Party]] for a hundred years, as were many other states of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]]. [[White American|White]] voters often perceived the [[Republican Party (United States)|Republican Party]] as the party of the [[Northern United States|North]] standing for [[Yankee]] values, growing [[industrialisation]], and an excessively powerful and interfering [[Federal government of the United States|federal government]], all arrayed against their localized [[agriculture|agricultural]] society. The abolition of [[slavery]] by amendment to the [[United States Constitution|U.S. Constitution]] and the legacy of an economy damaged by [[war]] and social upheaval led many to bitterly oppose a wide variety of national policies.

Elections to the [[United States Congress|U.S. Congress]] during this period saw almost exclusively Democratic senators and either totally or almost-totally Democratic House rule.  From 1872 to 2002, Georgia voters consistently elected Democrats as governor and Democratic majorities to the state legislature. Like many other [[Southern United States|Southern states]], the Democratic-controlled legislature established [[run-off election]]s for primaries in which no candidate receives more than 50% of the vote.<ref name=RWilson/> In addition, the Democratic primaries were further defined by their usage of the [[white primary]] to exclude African Americans and other ethnicities from participation, as well as the usage of the [[county unit system]] from 1898 to 1963 to allocate votes to winners along rural-biased lines.

Historically, elections at all levels of government in the [[U.S. state]] of [[Georgia (U.S. state)|Georgia]] were dominated by [[conservatism|conservative]] white [[Democratic Party (United States)|Democrats]] in the period between [[Reconstruction era of the United States|Reconstruction]] and the end of the [[New Deal Coalition]]. For decades, [[Republican Party (United States)|Republicans]] were a tiny minority, generally associated with Union military victory at the end of the [[American Civil War|Civil War]]. Indeed, for several years, the Republicans did not even field a candidate for governor or any other statewide elected office.

Beginning in the 1950s, the credible enforcement of new laws inspired by the [[Civil Rights Movement]] began to steadily erode the preponderance of Democrats in elective office in Georgia. The repeal of [[Jim Crow laws]] allowed previously disenfranchised [[African American]]s to vote in elections and be active in politics. As many of these people joined with some white Democrats to work for more immediate [[liberalism|liberal]] and [[pluralism (political philosophy)|pluralistic]] policies, a growing number of [[conservatism|conservative]] white Democrats who supported either gradual change or none at all either began splitting their tickets at the national level or switching outright to the GOP. The strong showing in Georgia by Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower in the [[1956 United States presidential election|1956 presidential race]] proved to be a turning point. Georgia would remain competitive at the national level for most of the rest of the 20th century. the Republican Party appeared positioned to gain even more ground in the coming years. The Democratic Party did not carry the state from the 1960 election until [[Jimmy Carter]] ran for the White House 16 years later.{{Citation needed|date=March 2011}}

=== Modern times and the shift to Republican control ===
Beginning with [[Barry Goldwater]]'s presidential bid in [[1964 United States presidential election|1964]], the Republican Party began making inroads in Georgia. The state swung over dramatically to support Goldwater—the first time it had gone Republican in a presidential election in American history. In time, the Republican Party of Georgia would field competitive candidates and win races for seats in the [[United States Senate|U.S. Senate]] and [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]]. Republicans also began making gains at the state level, mostly in the Atlanta suburbs.  However, conservative Democrats continued to hold most offices at the local level well into the 1990s.

In presidential races, Georgia has given its electoral college votes to the Republican candidate all but five times since 1964: in [[1968 United States presidential election|1968]], [[Racial segregation|segregationist]] [[George Wallace]] won a plurality of Georgia's votes on the [[American Independent Party]] ticket; former Georgia Governor [[Jimmy Carter]] won his home state by landslide margins in [[1976 United States presidential election|1976]] and [[1980 United States presidential election|1980]] (sweeping every county in the state in 1976); then-[[Arkansas]] Governor [[Bill Clinton]] won a plurality of votes in [[1992 United States presidential election|1992]] against incumbent Republican [[George H. W. Bush]] and [[Independent (politician)|Independent]] [[Ross Perot]]; and former [[Delaware]] Senator and Vice President [[Joe Biden]] won a plurality of votes in [[2020 United States presidential election|2020]] against incumbent Republican [[Donald Trump]]. Republican [[George W. Bush]] won Georgia by double digits in [[2000 United States presidential election|2000]] and [[2004 United States presidential election|2004]], with 54.67% and 57.97%, respectively, of the vote, making him the only Republican presidential candidate to carry Georgia twice. In [[2008 United States presidential election|2008]], [[John McCain]] won the state by a narrower margin of only 5 points, winning 52% to Democrat [[Barack Obama]]'s 47%. In [[2012 United States presidential election|2012]], [[Mitt Romney]] won the state with 53% to Obama's 45%. In [[2016 United States presidential election|2016]], [[Donald Trump]] won the state with 51% to [[Hillary Clinton]]'s 46%.{{Excessive detail inline|date=September 2024}}

[[Image:Jimmy Carter.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Jimmy Carter]], a politician from [[Plains, Georgia|Plains]] who was elected to the [[Georgia State Senate]] twice and later served a term as [[Governor]] of Georgia, became the 39th [[President of the United States]] after winning the [[1976 United States presidential election|election of 1976]].]]

By 2007, conservative Republicans had become the dominant force in state elections, with Republicans holding the offices of governor and lieutenant governor and significant majorities in both houses of the state [[Georgia General Assembly|General Assembly]].

As in many states, Democratic strongholds in Georgia include urban and minority-dominated areas. Democrats typically fare well in cities such as Atlanta (and its suburbs such as [[Gwinnett County, Georgia|Gwinnett County]]), [[Macon, Georgia|Macon]], and [[Columbus, Georgia|Columbus]], which have large minority populations, as well as [[Athens, Georgia|Athens]], home of the [[University of Georgia]]. The Republican Party dominates state elections through its hold on rural south Georgia, with a very notable exception in the southwestern part of the state; the [[Appalachia]]n north; and many of Atlanta's further suburbs and exurbs. Former [[Speaker of the United States House of Representatives]] [[Newt Gingrich]], co-author of the [[Contract with America]] and architect of the 1994 "[[Republican Revolution]],"  represented a district in [[Cobb County, Georgia|Cobb County]], a suburban Atlanta county which has since flipped to supporting Democratic candidates since 2016.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mdjonline.com/elections/cobb-turns-blue-again/article_e088c400-e2e1-11e8-855e-434dbc95c36a.html|title=Cobb turns blue, again|date=7 November 2018 |access-date=2020-02-05|archive-date=2020-02-05|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200205194343/https://www.mdjonline.com/elections/cobb-turns-blue-again/article_e088c400-e2e1-11e8-855e-434dbc95c36a.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

A feature of Georgia elections is the requirement for 50%-plus-one majorities in general and primary elections, triggering runoff elections if no candidate receives a majority. From 1898 to 1962, the Democratic Party used a combination of the [[white primary]] and the [[county unit system]] to ensure that only white rural voters' preferences were reflected in the de facto election of political offices across the state, although the white primary was abolished in the federal case ''[[King v. Chapman]]'' (1945). After the county unit system was struck down by the Supreme Court case ''[[Gray v. Sanders]]'' (accompanied by the election of [[Carl Sanders]], who became the first Democrat to be nominated for governor by popular vote since the establishment of the county unit system), the General Assembly passed a bill to switch future Georgia elections to runoff voting. The bill was introduced and sponsored by Macon legislator [[Denmark Groover]], who proposed that runoff voting "would again provide protection which … was removed with the death of the county unit system" and warned that "[W]e have got to go the majority vote because all we have to have is a plurality and the Negroes and the pressure groups and special interests are going to manipulate this State and take charge."<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/tellingallamericansstories/upload/CivilRights_VotingRights.pdf |title=Civil Rights in America: Racial Voting Rights |access-date=2020-12-24 |archive-date=2020-12-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202040608/https://www.nps.gov/subjects/tellingallamericansstories/upload/CivilRights_VotingRights.pdf |url-status=dead }}</ref>

However, the following ascendance of the Republican Party culminated in the 1992 defeat of incumbent [[Wyche Fowler]] by Republican [[Paul Coverdell]] by runoff, despite Fowler leading the first round by a plurality. This led the Georgia Legislature, then controlled by Democrats, to change the state's laws requiring a run-off election only if the winning candidate received less than 45% of the vote. In the [[1996 United States Senate election in Georgia|1996 Senate election]], the winner, Democrat [[Max Cleland]] won with only 48.9% (1.4% ahead of Republican [[Guy Millner]]) thus avoiding a run-off. In 2005 after Republicans took control of the legislature, the run-off requirement was changed back to 50%, in the same bill which implemented a requirement for [[Voter ID laws in the United States|Voter ID]].<ref name=Runoff_laws>{{cite news |url=https://www.ajc.com/news/local/runoff-system-southern-relic/Ifbyj1S5WTqsAEpGdQJrqL/ |title=Runoff system a Southern relic |date=August 10, 2012 |newspaper=The Atlanta Journal-Constitution |access-date=September 26, 2020 |archive-date=November 5, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105174526/https://www.ajc.com/news/local/runoff-system-southern-relic/Ifbyj1S5WTqsAEpGdQJrqL/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

===Current status===
The current Governor of Georgia is [[Brian Kemp]], who was elected as a Republican in 2018. The [[Lieutenant Governor]] is [[Burt Jones]]. Other elected state executive officials include [[Secretary of State (U.S. state government)|Secretary of State]] [[Brad Raffensperger]], [[State Attorney General|Attorney General]] [[Christopher M. Carr|Chris Carr]], [[insurance commissioner|Commissioner of Insurance]] [[Jim Beck (politician)|Jim Beck]], and [[superintendent (education)|Superintendent of Schools]] [[Richard Woods (politician)|Richard Woods]].

The Georgia General Assembly has been controlled by the Republicans since 2004. They have majorities over the Democrats in both the Senate and House of Representatives by margins of 33 to 23 and 101 to 78 respectively as of 2023. In congressional elections. The state also sends 14 members to the [[United States House of Representatives|U.S. House of Representatives]].

In 2020, Democrats won both Senate seats and the 2020 Presidential election.<ref name="progressive1">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/02/raphael-warnock-might-be-too-radical-georgia-senate/|newspaper=Washington Post|access-date=7 Jan 2021|date=2 Dec 2020|title=Raphael Warnock might really be too radical for Georgia|archive-date=7 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107010002/https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2020/12/02/raphael-warnock-might-be-too-radical-georgia-senate/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="progressive2">{{cite web|url=https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2021/01/06/last-night-in-georgia-black-americans-saved-democracy/|title=Last night in Georgia, Black Americans saved democracy|access-date=7 Jan 2021|date=6 Jan 2021|publisher=The Brookings Institution|quote=Both candidates ran on progressive agendas|archive-date=6 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210106224618/https://www.brookings.edu/blog/the-avenue/2021/01/06/last-night-in-georgia-black-americans-saved-democracy/|url-status=live}}</ref> The state voted for [[Joe Biden]] for president‚ and senators [[Jon Ossoff]], the state's first Jewish senator,<ref>{{cite news|last=Stuart|first=Tessa|date=January 6, 2021|title=Warnock Makes History and Democrats Gain Senate Majority|magazine=[[Rolling Stone]]|url=https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/georgia-runoff-results-1109665/|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210512043403/https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-news/georgia-runoff-results-1109665/|archive-date=May 12, 2021}}</ref> and [[Raphael Warnock]], the state's first Black senator.<ref name="biden1">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/19/joe-biden-president-georgia-recount|title=Joe Biden confirmed as Georgia winner after recount|work=The Guardian|access-date=7 Jan 2021|date=20 Nov 2020|archive-date=6 October 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006180247/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2020/nov/19/joe-biden-president-georgia-recount|url-status=live}}</ref> The win was due in part to the increased turnout in [[African-American]] voters due to the work of [[Stacey Abrams]] and [[LaTosha Brown]]. In 2024, Donald Trump flipped Georgia back into the Republican column winning it by 2.2%.<ref name="stacey1">{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/07/georgia-senate-runoff-black-voters-stacey-abrams|title=How Black voters lifted Georgia Democrats to Senate runoff victories|work=The Guardian|access-date=7 Jan 2021|date=7 Jan 2021|archive-date=7 January 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210107112639/https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/07/georgia-senate-runoff-black-voters-stacey-abrams|url-status=live}}</ref>

== Election rules ==

=== In-person voting ===
{{See also|Voter suppression in the United States#Georgia}}
In [[Louisville, Georgia]], in October 2018, Black [[Old age|senior citizens]] were told to get off a bus that was to have taken them to a polling place for [[early voting]]. The bus trip was supposed to have been part of the "South Rising" bus tour sponsored by the advocacy group [[Black Voters Matter]]. A clerk of the local [[Jefferson County, Georgia|Jefferson County]] Commission allegedly called the intended voters' [[senior center]] to claim that the bus tour constituted "political activity," which is barred at events sponsored by the county.  [[LaTosha Brown]], one of the founders of Black Voters Matter, described the trip's prevention as a clear-cut case of "...voter intimidation. This is voter suppression, Southern style." The [[NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund]] sent a letter to the county calling for an "immediate investigation" into the incident, which it condemned as, "an unacceptable act of voter intimidation," that "potentially violates several laws."<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lerner |first=Kira |date=15 October 2018 |title='This is live voter suppression': Black Voters Matter blocked from taking seniors to vote |url=https://thinkprogress.org/georgia-black-voters-matter-bus-blocked-from-taking-seniors-to-vote-a3c3e6580c5b/ |access-date=17 October 2018 |website=ThinkProgress}}</ref>{{update inline|date=November 2019}}

Georgia made efforts to correct voting problems that had occurred in the 2018 election. In the [[2020 Georgia Democratic primary|2020 statewide primary]], however, many irregularities were reported, including missing machines at polling places and mail-in ballots that never arrived at voters' houses.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Fausset |first1=Richard |last2=Epstein |first2=Reid J. |last3=Rojas |first3=Rick |date=2020-06-09 |title='I Refuse Not to Be Heard': Georgia in Uproar Over Voting Meltdown |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/09/us/politics/atlanta-voting-georgia-primary.html |access-date=2020-06-10 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

=== Voter ID ===
{{See also|VoteRiders}}
Since 2006, only public university and college students can use their student ID to vote.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-04 |title=HBCU students in Georgia face an extra obstacle in voting |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2022-election/hbcu-students-georgia-face-extra-obstacle-voting-rcna59442 |access-date=2024-09-04 |website=NBC News |language=en}}</ref>

=== Voter roll management ===
Georgia's Secretary of State, [[Brian Kemp]], the Republican gubernatorial nominee, was the official in charge of determining whether or not voters were allowed to vote in the November 2018 election and has been accused of voter suppression. Minority voters are statistically more likely to have names that contain hyphens, suffixes or other punctuation that can make it more difficult to match their name in databases, experts noted, and are more likely to have their voter applications suspended by Kemp's office. [[Barry Burden|Barry C. Burden]], a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and director of its Elections Research Center said, "An unrealistic rule of this sort will falsely flag many legitimate registration forms. Moreover, the evidence indicates that minority residents are more likely to be flagged than are whites." Kemp has suspended the applications of 53,000 voters, a majority of whom are minorities. Strict voter registration deadlines in Georgia prevented 87,000 Georgians from voting because they had registered after the deadline.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Kauffman |first=Angela Caputo, Geoff Hing, and Johnny |title=A Georgia law prevented 87,000 people from voting last year. And it could have a big impact in 2020 |url=https://www.apmreports.org/story/2019/10/28/georgia-voting-deadlines-2020-election |access-date=2020-03-09 |website=www.apmreports.org}}</ref> "Even if everyone who is on a pending list is eventually allowed to vote, it places more hurdles in the way of those voters on the list, who are disproportionately black and Hispanic," said professor [[Charles Stewart III]] in 2018.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Valverde |first=Miriam |date=October 19, 2018 |title=Georgia's exact match law and the race for governor |url=https://www.politifact.com/article/2018/oct/19/georgias-exact-match-law-and-its-impact-voters-gov/ |access-date=2024-10-01 |website=@politifact |language=en-US}}</ref>

Georgia has a law prohibiting felons on probation for crimes involving [[Moral turpitude#American state voting laws|moral turpitude]] from voting or registering to vote, with a similar law in Alabama having been criticized by the [[United States Supreme Court]] in [[Hunter v. Underwood|471 U.S. 222 (1985)]] as having roots in [[white supremacy]].<ref name="georgia-voting">{{cite news |last=Morton |first=Stephen |date=28 May 2019 |title=Georgia's strictest possible reading of the law to stop felons from voting |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/2020-election/georigia-s-strictest-possible-reading-law-stop-felons-voting-n1011056 |access-date=3 December 2020 |publisher=[[NBC News]]}}</ref>

The [[American Civil Liberties Union|ACLU]] of Georgia released a report in 2020 arguing that 200,000 voters were unlawfully removed from voter rolls, which accounted for 63.3% of all voters who were removed.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Grayer |first1=Annie |last2=Kirkland |first2=Pamela |date=2020-09-02 |title=Georgia likely removed nearly 200k from voter rolls wrongfully, report says |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/09/02/politics/georgia-voter-rolls-report/index.html |access-date=2024-09-04 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref>

After 2020, the State Legislature allowed citizens to submit an unlimited number of challenges to people's voter registration. The mass challenges that followed have overwhelmed some election workers around Georgia who are forced to respond to every request even when many of the challenges to voters would have been removed anyway through standard list maintenance.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news |last=Saslow |first=Eli |date=September 15, 2024 |title=3 Georgia Women, Caught Up in a Flood of Suspicion About Voting |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/15/us/politics/georgia-voting-2024-election.html |work=New York Times}}</ref>

On July 29, 2024, the state added another way to cancel a voter's registration through an online portal, which has drawn criticism from groups like [[Fair Fight Action]] worried that it would be abused to unregister lawful voters.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Clark |first=Doug Bock |date=2024-08-03 |title=Marjorie Taylor Greene's and Brad Raffensperger's Voter Registrations Targeted in Georgia's New Online Portal |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/georgia-voter-registration-cancellation-portal-mtg-raffensperger |access-date=2024-08-29 |website=ProPublica |language=en}}</ref> By August 5, cybersecurity researcher Jason Parker discovered a vulnerability in Georgia's voter cancellation portal that allowed users to bypass the requirement for a driver's license number, enabling the submission of voter registration cancellations with minimal, publicly available information. The discovery drew attention to weaknesses in the system and the importance of continued efforts to secure election infrastructure.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Clark |first1=Doug Bock |date=2024-08-05 |title=A Terrible Vulnerability: Cybersecurity Researcher Discovers Yet Another Flaw in Georgia's Voter Cancellation Portal |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/cybersecurity-expert-finds-another-flaw-in-georgia-voter-portal |access-date=2024-09-14 |website=ProPublica |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last1=Keefe |first1=Brendan |date=2024-08-05 |title=Security flaw allowed anyone to request cancellation of Georgia voter registrations |url=https://www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2024/08/05/security-flaw-allowed-anyone-request-cancellation-georgia-voter-registrations/ |access-date=2024-09-14 |website=Atlanta News First |language=en}}</ref>

=== Election worker protections ===
As a result of lies about the reliability of the 2020 elections, election workers have faced threats to their safety which have required new measures to try and protect the civil servants.<ref name=":0" /> Some of the protections in Georgia include signs on the wall warning about suspicious packages, the requirement to wear gloves when opening the mail, new trainings by the Department of Homeland security on "[[Spoofing attack|spoofing]]" and "[[swatting]]", and trainings on deescalation tactics should a potentially violent election denier enter a polling place.<ref name=":0" />

=== Election certification ===
In 2021, the State of Georgia changed the rules (Senate Bill 202) around who can serve on election boards to make it easier for the state to replace board members as a part of a Republican effort to take control of election administration nationwide.<ref>{{Cite news |last1=Oliphant |first1=James |last2=Layne |first2=Nathan |date=December 9, 2021 |title=Insight: Georgia Republicans purge Black Democrats from county election boards |url=https://www.reuters.com/world/us/georgia-republicans-purge-black-democrats-county-election-boards-2021-12-09/ |work=Reuters |quote=The Georgia restructurings are part of a national Republican effort to expand control over election administration in the wake of Trump’s false voter-fraud claims.}}</ref>

In August 2024, the Georgia State Elections Board enacted two new rules that could deputize local election officials more discretion on whether they certify the election, contrary to state and national precedent. The Democratic party has filed a lawsuit to stop the new rules from taking effect,<ref>{{Cite web |last=Millhiser |first=Ian |date=2024-08-28 |title=Georgia's MAGA elections board is laying the groundwork for an actual stolen election |url=https://www.vox.com/2024-elections/369275/georgia-elections-board-maga-stolen-election |access-date=2024-08-29 |website=Vox |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Clark |first=Doug Bock |date=2024-08-27 |title=Officials Voted Down a Controversial Georgia Election Rule, Saying It Violated the Law. Then a Similar Version Passed. |url=https://www.propublica.org/article/georgia-election-rule-violates-state-law-experts-say |access-date=2024-08-29 |website=ProPublica |language=en}}</ref> and it was blocked by a judge on October 16.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Rubin |first=Olivia |date=October 16, 2024 |title=Georgia judge invalidates more controversial election rules |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/georgia-judge-invalidates-controversial-election-rules/story?id=114875224 |access-date=2024-10-17 |website=ABC News |language=en}}</ref> According to a September 2024 ''New York Times'' newsletter, Georgia seems the most likely state to overturn election results on unfounded claims of fraud in 2024 due to recent changes in who oversees elections.<ref>{{Cite news |date=September 5, 2024 |title=The Coming Election Battles |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/05/briefing/harris-trump-election.html |work=New York Times |quote=But the likeliest source of trouble at the moment is Georgia, which embodies Republicans’ two-pronged approach: They’ve set up new hurdles to voting and a process to stall — or even outright avoid — certifying the results if Trump loses.}}</ref>

In September 2024, the Board of Elections made controversial rule changes including around hand-counting the number of ballots cast over the objections of most state election officials.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Gringlas |first=Sam |date=September 20, 2024 |title=Georgia's Republican-led election board OKs controversial rule to hand-count ballots |url=https://www.npr.org/2024/09/20/nx-s1-5121154/georgia-election-board-hand-count-ballots |work=WABE |via=NPR}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=Godfrey |first=Elaine |date=2024-09-16 |title=How the Election-Denial Mindset Works |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2024/09/georgia-election-denial-mindset/679878/ |access-date=2024-09-24 |website=The Atlantic |language=en}}</ref> The rule was blocked by a judge on October 15.<ref>{{Cite web |last1=Cole |first1=Devin |last2=Cohen |first2=Marshall |date=2024-09-30 |title=Democrats sue to block new Georgia rule requiring hand-count of Election Day ballots |url=https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/trump-harris-presidential-election-09-30-24#cm1p9diwi00183b6m3c29bb4q |access-date=2024-09-30 |website=CNN |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":1" />

==See also==
*[[Political party strength in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
*[[United States presidential elections in Georgia]]
*[[Government of Georgia (U.S. state)]]
*[[Politics of Georgia (U.S. state)]]
*[[Women's suffrage in Georgia (U.S. state)]]
*[[2020 Georgia state elections]]
*[[2024 Georgia state elections]]

=== Presidential elections ===
*[[2024 United States presidential election in Georgia|2024 Presidential election]]
*[[United States presidential election in Georgia, 2020|2020 Presidential election]]

=== Presidential primaries ===
*[[2024 Georgia Democratic presidential primary|2024 Democratic Primary]]
*[[2024 Georgia Republican presidential primary|2024 Republican Primary]]

=== Election organizations ===

* [[New Georgia Project]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20070625163325/http://sos.georgia.gov/elections/ Elections] at the [[Georgia Secretary of State]] website
*{{Ballotpedia|Georgia|Georgia}}
*[https://my.lwv.org/georgia Georgia chapter] of the [[League of Women Voters]]
*[https://www.voteriders.org/states/georgia/ Voter ID rules] at [[VoteRiders]]

=== Archives ===
* {{citation |author= Government Documents Round Table of the American Library Association |work=Voting & Elections Toolkits |url= https://godort.libguides.com/votingtoolkit/georgia |title= Georgia }}
* [https://dp.la/search?q=Georgia+election* Materials related to Georgia elections] by [[Digital Public Library of America]]
* {{citation |title=State Elections Legislation Database (2011-present) |quote= |url=https://www.ncsl.org/research/elections-and-campaigns/elections-legislation-database.aspx |publisher=[[National Conference of State Legislatures]] |date= |work= |location=}}

{{U.S. Elections by State}}
{{Georgia (U.S. state)}}

[[Category:Georgia (U.S. state) elections| ]]
[[Category:Government of Georgia (U.S. state)]]
[[Category:Political events in Georgia (U.S. state)]]