Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is calling on lawmakers in the Peach State to end the runoff system for general elections.
The runoff system means that if a candidate does not receive more than 50% of the vote in the election, a runoff between the top two candidates will be held to decide the race. Raffensperger is renewing his pleas for the system to be eliminated for general elections in Georgia ahead of the state's 2024 legislative session.
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“Georgia is one of the few remaining states using the General Election Runoff model,” Raffensperger said in a statement last week. “Next year, there will be a contentious presidential election — and families across Georgia will be settling down for the holidays shortly after — let’s give them a break and take another costly and unnecessary election off the Thanksgiving table. I’m calling on the General Assembly to visit this topic next session and eliminate this outdated distraction.”
Raffensperger argued that because election officials will be tasked with recording results from the 2024 presidential election, which will likely be close in the Peach State, they should not be burdened with another election.
“No one wants to be dealing with politics in the middle of their family holiday,” Raffensperger said. “Our county election offices will already be securing the 2024 presidential election with audits and certifying those results. Let’s not burden them with another election.”
While nine other states — Alabama, Arkansas, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, and Vermont — have various runoff systems in place for primary elections, only two others have it for a general election.
Mississippi implemented a similar process to Georgia's current runoff system for general elections in statewide offices beginning in 2023, while Louisiana has a unique runoff system in which a primary election is held with all candidates, and if one receives more than 50% of the vote, he or she wins the election. A runoff is only triggered if a candidate fails to receive a majority in the primary election.
The runoff system is in place for both primary and general elections, but Raffensperger is only calling for it to be eliminated for general elections. The Georgia General Assembly will convene for a regular session on Jan. 8, 2024.
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The results of most recent general election runoffs in Georgia have mirrored that of the general elections, with the 2021 Senate runoff between Republican then-Sen. David Perdue and Democrat Jon Ossoff a notable exception.
In the general election in November, Perdue won 49.7% compared to Ossoff's 47.9%, but because the Republican did not get more than 50%, it went to a runoff, where GOP turnout was lower, and Ossoff won the seat 50.6%-49.4%