ATLANTA — The Georgia Court of Appeals has denied an attempt to stop early voting on Saturday for the U.S. Senate runoff, a ruling that allows counties to open polling places two days after the Thanksgiving holiday.
The court’s one-sentence decision is a victory in a lawsuit filed by Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock’s campaign and a defeat for Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and the Georgia Republican Party, who had appealed a judge’s order permitting Saturday voting.
At least nine counties plan to offer early voting this Saturday in the runoff between Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker. All counties must provide early voting Monday through Friday next week, and some areas are also offering additional voting opportunities this week.
The quick decision followed a ruling Friday by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox, who rejected Raffensperger’s interpretation of a state law about when early voting can take place.
Raffensperger’s office had argued that state law prevented early voting on the Saturday because it followed two state holidays: Thanksgiving and the day afterward that until late 2015 honored the birthday of Robert E. Lee, the Confederate general during the Civil War.
But plaintiffs in the lawsuit said the prohibition on Saturday voting within two days of a holiday only applied to regularly scheduled elections — not Georgia’s quick runoff election that left limited early voting opportunities.
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