East Cobb Politics & Elections

Cobb commissioner: All-Star Game ‘an opportunity that’s lost’

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Cobb Commissioner Jerica Richardson

Newly elected Cobb commissioner Jerica Richardson had plenty of reasons to be pumped for the Major League Baseball All-Star Game coming to Truist Park in July.

The midsummer event was set to be staged in the heart of her District 2, which stretches from East Cobb to parts of Smyrna.

County leaders—government, business and community—had been eyeing the extravaganza as a vehicle for economic development in the aftermath of COVID-19 as well as civic pride four years after the Atlanta Braves moved to Cobb.

And as part of an historic black female Democratic majority on the Cobb Board of Commissioners, Richardson was eager to demonstrate the political and cultural evolution taking place in a county long known for deeply conservative, mostly white elected officials.

But Major League Baseball’s decision on Friday to relocate the game due to Georgia’s new elections law dashed all those aspirations.

“We’re obviously not happy at all, Richardson said in an interview with East Cobb News. “I wanted to use this as an opportunity to show leadership.”

Instead, she said, “it’s an opportunity that’s lost.”

On Friday, she stood by Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, the county’s first black and first female head of government, who had tried to keep the game in Cobb.

Opponents of the law, passed by a Republican-majority legislature, said it amounts to voter suppression, and on Wednesday President Joe Biden called for the game to be moved. He said the new law in Georgia, a state he barely won in November, is “Jim Crow on steroids.”

Richardson said that while there some parts of the law she likes and others she does not, trouble arises “when you choose division.”

She said that “the people who were most impacted by that bill were not listened to. You can’t solve anything when people aren’t talking to each other.”

The pitched rhetoric over the new law, she said, reminded her of previous political battles in Georgia, including the state flag, and of an anti-gay resolution by Cobb commissioners in the early 1990s that resulted in the county losing Olympic events.

During a transformational time in the county, to be deprived of what Richardson said would have been Cobb’s biggest event ever “is a lost chance to elevate the kind of conversations we need to have.”

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Cobb County loses Major League Baseball All-Star Game

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Major League Baseball announced Friday that it was moving the 2021 All-Star Game from Truist Park in Cobb County because of a controversial new Georgia elections law.Cobb loses Major League Baseball All-Star Game

Despite the protestations of Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid earlier this week, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred said in a statement that “Major League Baseball fundamentally supports voting rights for all Americans and opposes restrictions to the ballot box.”

You can read the full statement here. The MLB statement said the baseball draft also scheduled for Truist Park is being moved. A new city for both events in mid-July has not been announced.

The relocation decision comes a week after the Georgia legislature passed sweeping changes to elections laws that opponents said amount to voter suppression.

On two separate occasions this week, Cupid implored MLB to keep the game at Truist Park, and on Wednesday met with the head of the MLB players’ union.

A Democrat who is Cobb’s first black head of government, Cupid also opposes the new elections law. But she lamented comments from President Joe Biden calling it “Jim Crow on steroids” and his demands to move the game from Georgia.

The law was passed by a Republican-dominated legislature and was quickly signed by GOP Gov. Brian Kemp, and has been roundly denounced by Democratic and voting-rights interests.

The new law adds identification requirements for mailed ballots, restricts the use of absentee ballot drop boxes, requires more advanced voting across the state and shortens runoff elections.

The legislature also has oversight of proposed changes to election rules by the Secretary of State and state elections board.

Republicans had tried to eliminate no-excuse absentee voting and early voting on Sundays, but those were dropped from the final bill.

Cupid said Thursday that “I would be open to a discussion with the President and others about alternative actions that would channel our frustration into an opportunity to use this event as a chance to openly discuss this legislation, voter participation, and inclusion and then find an applicable response.”

That proved to be too little, too late, as political pressure accelerated following Biden’s comments.

Cobb County government spokesman Ross Cavitt said Cupid would respond to the All-Star decision later Friday afternoon.

The Braves issued a statement saying the club is “deeply disappointed” with moving the game, and that “unfortunately, businesses, employees and fans in Georgia are the victims of this decision.”

The Braves, who last hosted the All-Star Game at Turner Field in 1999, were going to use this year’s game to honor the legacy of home run king Henry Aaron, who died in January.

“The Braves organization will continue to stress the importance of equal voting opportunities and we had hoped our city could use this event as a platform to enhance the discussion,” the statement said.

“Our city has always been known as a uniter in divided times and we will miss the opportunity to address issues that are important to our community.”

The Cobb County Republican Party posted a brief reaction on its Facebook page Friday afternoon, saying that “MLB doesn’t just support stealing bases…they apparently support stealing votes!”

The Cobb Democratic Party responded by saying that “blame for this lies solely at the feet of Governor Kemp and the Georgia GOP for supporting anti-American, anti-democratic legislation. It’s a new day. Jim Crow 2.0 ain’t gonna fly.”

Kemp accused MLB of [caving] [in]to “fear, political opportunism, and liberal lies. Georgians—and all Americans—should fully understand what the MLB’s knee-jerk decision means: cancel culture and woke political activists are coming for every aspect of your life, sports included. If the left doesn’t agree with you, facts and the truth do not matter.”

He blamed the “repeated lies from Joe Biden and Stacey Abrams about a bill that expands access to the ballot box and ensures the integrity of our elections. I will not back down. Georgians will not be bullied.”

Abrams, the Democratic nominee for governor in 2016 who is considered a likely candidate to run against Kemp again next year, said she’s disappointed the All-Star Game is leaving Georgia.

“Georgians targeted by voter suppression will be hurt as opportunities go to other states. We should not abandon the victims of GOP malice and lies,” she said. “Georgia Republicans must renounce the terrible damage they have caused to our voting system and the harm they have inflicted on our economy.”

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Cupid: Biden All-Star Game remarks send ‘unfortunate message’

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Lisa Cupid, Cobb Commission Chair candidate

While the Atlanta Braves were playing their 2021 season opener Thursday afternoon, Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid pushed back against calls from President Joe Biden to move the All-Star Game away from Truist Park.

The president said he “strongly supports” finding a new venue for the mid-July event because of the Georgia legislature’s recent changes to elections laws that have been sharply criticized by Democrats as voter suppression measures.

Cupid, the first black head of Cobb County government and its first Democratic chair in more than 35 years, has been among them. But she issued a statement that Biden’s comments send “an unfortunate message to those residents and businesses here who have supported him.”

Cupid met on Thursday with Tony Clark, head of the Major League Baseball Players Association, who last week suggested moving the game.

In an interview with ESPN Wednesday, Biden said that “I think today’s professional athletes are acting incredibly responsibly. I would strongly support them doing that. People look to them. They’re leaders.”

In previous comments, Biden decried the new elections law, signed quickly after passage in a Republican-controlled legislature last week by GOP Gov. Brian Kemp, as “Jim Crow on steroids.”

Kemp, who is up for re-election in 2022, lashed out at Biden, saying calls to move the All-Star Game are “ridiculous.”

In a statement issued by Cobb spokesman Ross Cavitt, Cupid said that “I would be open to a discussion with the President and others about alternative actions that would channel our frustration into an opportunity to use this event as a chance to openly discuss this legislation, voter participation, and inclusion and then find an applicable response.”

The statement didn’t specify what any alternate actions might be.

Cupid said last week that losing the All-Star Game could hurt Cobb’s economic recovery from business closures related to the COVID-19 pandemic (see video below).

Leaders of major Atlanta-based corporations, including Delta Air Lines and Coca-Cola, have spoken out in recent days against the new elections law.

Last year’s shortened baseball season due to COVID-19 included no fans allowed in stadiums.

It was the fourth season at the Cobb County ballpark for the Braves, who reached the National League Championship Series and are among the contenders for the World Series this year.

The Braves have set a goal of allowing for full capacity—more than 40,000—by the time the All-Star Game rolls around. That event includes a homerun derby on Monday and the game between American League and National League all-stars on Tuesday.

The Braves will play their first homestand of the 2021 season next week with a 33 percent capacity, and said on Thursday that they will allow up to 50 percent capacity at Truist Park for the second homestand.

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East Cobb Republicans vote for Ga. elections overhaul bill

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Cobb absentee ballots

UPDATED:

The Georgia Senate approved SB 202 in a 34-20 party line vote. Republican State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick voted in favor, and the bill has been signed into law by Gov. Brian Kemp.

ORIGINAL STORY:

The four Republicans representing East Cobb in the Georgia House voted in favor of a bill on Thursday that would make sweeping changes to state elections laws.

It’s one of two omnibus elections bills that were up for votes in the Georgia General Assembly, with the 2021 legislative session drawing to a close.

Both bills, written by Republican lawmakers, would add identification requirements for mailed ballots, restrict the use of absentee ballot drop boxes, require more advanced voting across the state and shorten runoff elections.

The legislature also has oversight of proposed changes to election rules by the Secretary of State and state elections board.

Provisions in initial bills to scrap no-excuse absentee voting and Sunday voting were taken out of the omnibus bills, called the Election Integrity Act of 2021.

The House vote on SB 202 Thursday (you can read it here) was 100-75, along mostly partisan lines. GOP Reps. John Carson, Sharon Cooper, Matt Dollar and Don Parsons, who represent East Cobb districts, voted with the majority.

The only Democrat with an East Cobb constituency, Mary Frances Williams, voted against.

In Cobb County, 16 drop boxes were located around the county for absentee ballots. But the legislation would limit those drop boxes to early voting locations only while the polls are open.

Also, anyone requesting an absentee ballot would have to do so no later than 11 days before an election, and the Secretary of State would not be able to send out unsolicited absentee ballot applications, as was done in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Another provision of the bill would forbid anyone from providing food and water for people standing in line to vote.

The Senate was scheduled to take up SB 202 as well as the other omnibus elections bill, HB 531 (you can read it here). There are two legislative days left, with the session set to end March 31.

In a vote on an earlier elections bill, SB 241, Republican State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick of East Cobb was excused. She was only one of three GOP senators who did not co-sponsor the legislation, which was opposed by Republican Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan.

After last year’s elections prompted major wins for Democrats—including the presidential race and both of Georgia’s U.S. Senate races—the Republican-led legislative session has been dominated by elections bills.

In many races, absentee votes went overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates, while Republicans did better with advanced and election-day in-person voting.

Some Republicans charged election fraud, especially in the presidential race, which Democrat Joe Biden won by less than 12,000 votes.

Democrats and voting-rights groups have blasted the omnibus bills as examples of voter suppression.

But Republicans say overhauls are necessary to restore integrity and trust in elections.

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Secretary of State certifies Georgia Senate runoff results

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East Cobb precinct votes Senate runoffs

The Georgia Secretary of State’s office on Tuesday certified Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock as the winners of the Jan. 5 runoffs for the U.S. Senate.

Ossoff and Warnock are set to be sworn in in Washington on Wednesday, the same day Democratic former vice president Joe Biden takes the oath as the 46th president of the United States.

Ossoff and Warnock defeated Republican incumbent senators David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, respectively, by very close margins, but not within the margin for a recount.

Ossoff received 2,269,923 votes, or 50.61 percent, to 2,214,979 votes for Perdue, or 49.39 percent, in winning a six-year term.

A former 6th Congressional District candidate, Ossoff will become Georgia’s first Jewish senator and at age 33, he will be the youngest member of the Senate.

In a special election to fill the remaining two years of former Sen. Johnny Isakson’s term, Warnock received 2,289,113 votes, or 51.04 percent, to 2,195,841 votes for Loeffler, or 48.96 percent.

The minister at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Warnock will become Georgia’s first black senator.

In Cobb County, Ossoff and Warnock both won with roughly 56 percent of the vote, although East Cobb voters favored Perdue and Loeffler.

The elections of Ossoff and Warnock will make the U.S. Senate 50-50 in party composition. Ties can be broken by outgoing California Sen. Kamala Harris, the vice president-elect, who will serve as the President of the Senate.

She resigned her Senate seat Monday, and Alex Padilla, a Democrat who is California’s Secretary of State, has been appointed to fill the final two years of her term.

NBC News is reporting that the new Georgia senators will be sworn in by Harris on Wednesday afternoon.

The Senate has already begun confirmation hearings for Biden cabinet appointments, and plans are tentative regarding a possible impeachment trial for outgoing President Donald Trump.

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McBath recaps accomplishments after 1st term in Congress

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U.S. Rep Lucy McBath, gun violence research funding, McBath border-funding vote

Submitted information:

This morning, Rep. Lucy McBath (GA-06) released her accomplishments of the 116th Congress. As a freshman member in the U.S. House of Representatives, McBath had multiple pieces of legislation signed into law by the President, secured millions of dollars for the Sixth District, and assisted thousands of constituents with their federal cases. Her bill to serve veterans experiencing financial hardship was deemed the “biggest bill” passed by a first-term member. During her first two years in office, she was described as “an effective lawmaker” and “one of the House Democratic Caucus’ most important voices.”

“Each and every day we are called upon to serve our communities in Congress – that is what this work is about. They are trusting us to do everything we can to advocate and legislate on their behalf,” said McBath. “I am so proud of the work we did to return millions of hard earned dollars to constituents throughout the district, to have conversations with our friends and neighbors at town halls and community events, and to have multiple pieces of bipartisan legislation signed into law. Truly, this work is about serving my community in Congress, and I look forward to continuing that work to solve problems, connect with people, and create policy to help serve our fellow Americans.”

During the 116th Congress, McBath:

  • Held 15 town halls and more than 200 community events
  • Led 4 pieces of legislation signed into law by the President
  • Returned $3,177,683 in earned benefits to constituents
  • Secured $5,605,400 in federal grant funding
  • Resolved 3,069 constituent casework inquiries – many shared their stories.
  • Responded to 76,178 phone calls and letters
  • Sponsored and cosponsored 325 bills
  • Nominated 62 students to U.S. Service Academies

Since being sworn into her first term on January 3, 2019, McBath has championed bipartisanship and has prioritized causes to help Georgia families, veterans, and small businesses, including:

 

Members of the community who are in need of federal casework assistance can contact McBath’s office at (470) 773-6330.

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How East Cobb voted in the U.S. Senate runoffs, by precinct

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East Cobb precinct votes Senate runoffs

With just a few hundred votes left to account for in Cobb County, here are the latest results in Tuesday’s U.S. Senate runoff elections.

On Thursday, Cobb Elections broke down what’s left to be done this way:

  • Absentee Ballots being adjudicated – less than 100
  • Valid Provisional Ballots – up to 682
  • Overseas ballots received by Friday – up to 1089
  • Signature Cures received by Friday – up to 325
  • Those ballots deemed valid will be uploaded to the state system on Saturday.

The statewide results show Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock with narrow victories over Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, respectively.

As of 3 p.m. Friday, Ossoff has received 2,252,599 votes statewide, with 2,207,626 for Perdue, or 50.5 to 49.5 percent.

In the other Senate runoff, Warnock has 2,271,672 votes to 2,188,610 for Loeffler, or 50.93 to 49.07 percent.

Neither of those margins is within the 0.5 percent that would allow a recount under Georgia law.

Once the results are certified by the state, the new senators will be sworn into office. For the time being, Loeffler remains Georgia’s only senator, since Perdue’s term expired on Dec. 31.

Ossoff, who will be the youngest member of the Senate at age , will serve a six-year term. Warnock will serve out the remaining two years of the term won in 2016 by retired Sen. Johnny Isakson.

Both of Georgia’s new senators will be making their debuts in public office.

Loeffler conceded defeat on Thursday, and late Friday Perdue did the same. These are unofficial results and have not yet been certified, which must take place by Jan. 22.

In Cobb County, Ossoff and Warnock both won with roughly 56 percent of the vote. The last update was Wednesday.

Ossoff got 200,557 votes to 157,470 for Perdue in Cobb; Warnock has 203,426 votes to 154,531 votes for Loeffler.

Cobb’s results are expected to be certified by next Thursday, Jan. 14.

East Cobb precinct vote Senate runoffs
Click the links for details of Cobb precinct maps (Democrats in turquoise and Republicans in blue): Perdue-Ossoff at left; Loeffler-Warnock at right.

In East Cobb, the Republicans won most of the precincts, but the Democrats picked up 40 percent of the vote or more in most of them, which is a significant gain in what has been a GOP stronghold.

We’ve broken down the precinct vote in East Cobb as shown below, with an asterisk noting the precinct winner.

Perdue Ossoff Loeffler Warnock
Addison 894 934* 891 936*
Bells Ferry 2 1,069* 1,024 1,059* 1,035
Bells Ferry 3 692 784* 686 790*
Blackwell 842 1,027* 839 1,029*
Chattahoochee 816 2,446* 807 2,453*
Chestnut Ridge 1,507* 1,107 1,477* 1,136
Davis 823* 720 806* 735
Dickerson 1,256* 1,020 1,224* 1,047
Dodgen 953* 722 934* 738
East Piedmont 692 977* 674 1,001*
Eastside 1 1,407* 1,056 1,386* 1,073
Eastside 2 1,810* 1,412 1,762* 1,459
Elizabeth 2 936* 786 917* 804
Elizabeth 3 1,175* 916 1,144* 946
Elizabeth 4 674 1,181* 653 1,198*
Elizabeth 5 1,108* 1,050 1,086* 1,070
Fullers Park 1,456* 1,215 1,420* 1,248
Garrison Mill 1,215* 984 1,190* 1,010
Gritters 1,442* 1,270 1,416* 1,291
Hightower 1,848* 1,490 1,822* 1,511
Kell 815* 631 798* 644
Lassiter 1,605* 1,167 1,571* 1,197
Mabry 875* 467 858* 483
McCleskey 790* 578 778* 590
Marietta 6A 284 1,018* 282 1,021*
Marietta 6B 962 1,155* 934 1,183*
Mt. Bethel 1 1,910* 1,420 1,868* 1,455
Mt. Bethel 3 1,364* 1,161 1,329* 1,192
Mt. Bethel 4 1,393* 963 1,353* 998
Murdock 1,774* 1,452 1,744* 1,481
Nicholson 896* 775 878* 793
Pope 1,332* 1,081 1,309* 1,104
Post Oak 1,734* 1,132 1,711* 1,155
Powers Ferry 1,115 1,184* 1,097 1,197*
Rocky Mount 1,390* 1,103 1,360* 1,134
Roswell 1 2,470* 1,892 2,408* 1,952
Roswell 2 1,670* 1,321 1,631* 1,353
Sandy Plains 1,083* 1,081 1,062 1,102*
Sewell Mill 1 1,353* 1,317 1,310 1,360*
Sewell Mill 3 1,168 1,608* 1,140 1,639*
Shallowford Falls 1,555* 1,155 1,530* 1,182
Simpson 761* 669 739* 687
Sope Creek 1 1,020* 745 998* 764
Sope Creek 2 1,728* 1,690 1,694 1,728*
Sope Creek 3 1,273* 894 1,242* 926
Terrell Mill 967 2,165* 939 2,195*
Timber Ridge 1,123* 882 1,088* 915
Willeo 1,320* 949 1,292* 978

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New Cobb Commission Chairwoman Cupid takes oath of office

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Lisa Cupid, Cobb Commission Chair candidate

After a long line of speakers—more than two hours’ worth—had come before her, new Cobb Commission Chairwoman Lisa Cupid offered brief remarks Thursday at her official swearing-in ceremony.

“Everything that could be shared has been shared,” Cupid said at the Cobb County Civic Center.

Other elected officials, business and community leaders and members of her family took the podium before her.

Cupid, who for two terms was the sole Democratic commissioner representing District 4 in South Cobb, officially became the head of government on Jan. 1, after defeating former chairman Mike Boyce in November.

“I never thought this would be in the cards for me,” Cupid said of her career in politics and public service. “But I am so grateful and honored and humbled.”

As she was listening to the other speakers, Cupid said, “my heart was filled with love. And anybody who knows me know I never want to let those I love down. I kept hearing all these people who were expressing love and I don’t want to let you or any citizen of Cobb County down.”

During her campaign, she ran on a platform of “moving the county forward” by expanding relationships and partnerships across broader sections of Cobb County.

She will lead an all-female, five-member Cobb Board of Commissioners that will have a black Democratic majority.

Cupid is the first woman and the first African-American to lead the county government. Two of her predecessors, both Republicans, spoke on her behalf.

“The voters couldn’t have made a better choice for a difficult time,” said Bill Byrne, who served as chairman in the 1990s and ran unsuccessfully against then-chairman Tim Lee in 2012.

“Cobb needs her today more than any chairman in the past. She has the focus, the ability and the support to do that.”

Sam Olens, who was the chairman when Cupid was first elected, noted how she’s the latest in a long line of elected officials in Cobb who’ve come from somewhere else.

“Cobb is a community open to new ideas and new leadership,” Olens said. “She desires to make a difference and she will.”

Cupid is a native of Michigan who earned an engineering degree at Georgia Tech, then stayed to attend graduate and law school and is raising two sons she and her husband are home-schooling.

“I’ve always had people supporting me, to help get me on this path,” Cupid said after taking the oath of office.

Let’s all help to remove that burden and weight together,” she said. “Nobody here can shoulder all the work that it’s going to take for us to continue to move this county forward.

“It always has been and always continue to be about teamwork.”

Cupid will preside over her first public meetings as chairwoman next Tuesday during a business meeting that starts at 9 a.m.

You can view the agenda by clicking here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?fbclid=IwAR3kloL3p7olMQxTQmRXnCHpZg33q07Fld6n1g_VNVbyKmu0fdvh7HLsdX8&v=bwbpxDdqyNw&feature=youtu.be

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McBath ‘safe’ after U.S. Capitol attack; Kemp condemns violence

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6th District Congresswoman Lucy McBath said Wednesday afternoon that “my staff and I are safe” after supporters of outgoing President Donald Trump stormed the U.S. Capitol in Washington and clashed with police.
U.S. Rep Lucy McBath, gun violence research funding, McBath border-funding vote

The Marietta Democrat, who recently was sworn in for a second term, didn’t indicate in a Facebook message whether she was in the House chamber as members of Congress were going through the process of certifying Electoral College results in the presidential election.

Their deliberations were interrupted as pro-Trump protesters broke into the Capitol, including both the House and Senate chambers.

They had been attending a “Save America” rally to reject the Electoral College results, which gave the Nov. 3 presidential victory to Democratic former vice president Joe Biden.

A group of Republican senators, including Kelly Loeffler of Georgia, were lodging objections, but members of Congress, as well as Vice President Mike Pence, were evacuated.

“The actions of those seeking to overturn the will of the people are dangerous and destructive, but they will not succeed,” McBath said in her statement.

Loeffler, who lost her runoff election Tuesday to Democrat Raphael Warnock, posted a brief message Wednesday evening saying that “violence is abhorrent and I strongly condemn today’s attacks on our Capitol. We must stand united as one nation under God. I’m grateful for our brave men and women of law enforcement.”

Some members of the House were seen hiding as police attempted to barricade protesters from entering, with some law enforcement drawing guns.

Protesters were seen smashing windows attempting to get into the Capitol, and police responded by firing tear gas and pepper spray. The building was eventually placed on lockdown, and a 6 p.m. curfew was ordered by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser.

News reports said a woman who was shot inside the Capitol later died, but it wasn’t initially known who she was. Several other people were injured, according to news reports, but details are sketchy.

Protesters made themselves at home in the Congressional chambers, and one was seen sitting in a desk in the office of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

Trump eventually told protesters to go home, but he continued to insist the presidential election was stolen and that he won in a landslide.

On social media he also blasted Pence, who said he didn’t have the authority to reject the electoral votes of states.

“Mike Pence didn’t have the courage to do what should have been done to protect our Country and our Constitution, giving States a chance to certify a corrected set of facts, not the fraudulent or inaccurate ones which they were asked to previously certify,” Trump wrote on his Twitter account. “USA demands the truth!”

In a subsequent message, McBath said she would be requesting Pence invoke the 25th Amendment “and begin the process of removing President Trump from office.

“The eyes of the world are upon us, and the President’s incitement of violence, his inducement of chaos, and his inability to faithfully ‘discharge the powers and duties of his office’ make it clear. The President has refused to protect our democracy and must be removed.”

In Atlanta, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and some of his elections officials were evacuated from the Georgia Capitol on Wednesday, and Gov. Brian Kemp and other state Republican leaders condemned the violence in Washington.

Both had come under fire from Trump, who demanded they resign for not intervening to overturn Georgia’s presidential election results in favor of Biden.

Kemp said of Wednesday’s violence that “this is absolutely disgraceful and un-American, and must stop immediately. The rule of law matters.”

Trump and his supporters had wanted a special legislative session in Georgia to address the election results. Kemp said Wednesday that “you can now see what that would have looked like.”

State Sen. Kay Kirkpatrick, an East Cobb Republican, said “it’s a sad day for our country. There’s no excuse for violence. We are all Americans. In the words of Ronald Reagan, ‘Peace is not the absence of conflict, it is the ability to handle conflict by peaceful means.’ ”

Congress returned to session to take up the Electoral College certification, and Loeffler withdrew her objections.

“I cannot now, in good conscience, object to this certification,” she said on the Senate floor.

In a joint session overnight Thursday, Congress certified Biden’s election by a 306-232 vote, with Pence presiding.

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Election update: Cobb has nearly 6K absentee votes to count

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Cobb Absentee Ballot Envelope

Cobb Elections said Wednesday morning that a total of 5,896 absentee ballots are being scanned today that came in by Tuesday’s 7 p.m. deadline.

That activity is taking place at Jim Miller Park.

The results will be posted at the Georgia Secretary of State’s office at this link.

The last Cobb Senate runoff update was at 11:44 p.m. Tuesday. It showed Democrat Jon Ossoff with 195,600 votes in Cobb County to 155,245 votes for Republican Sen. David Perdue, a margin of 55.75-44.25 percent.

In the other runoff, Democrat Raphael Warnock received 198,376 votes in Cobb County to 152,409 for Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler, or 56.55 percent to 43.45 percent.

Most East Cobb precincts went for the Republican candidates.

Another 668 provisional ballots are being investigated in Cobb County, and those determined to be valid will be uploaded by Saturday. Any overseas ballots must be received by Friday.

Other Georgia counties, mostly in metro Atlanta, also are finishing absentee ballot counting, and those figures are expected to benefit the Democratic candidates who have been declaring victory.

As of 12:50 p.m. Wednesday, Ossoff led Perdue by 17,567 votes across the state. Although no news outlet has called that race, Ossoff has declared victory.

Ossoff’s margin for now is 50.2 percent to 49.8 percent for Perdue.

Late Tuesday night, Warnock declared victory over Loeffler. The latest results show him with a lead of 54,729 votes, and 50.6 percent of the vote, to her 49.3 percent.

Neither Perdue nor Loeffler has conceded as of Wednesday afternoon.

A losing candidate can request a recount if the final margin is 0.5 percent or less.

Before the runoffs, Republicans held 50 seats in the Senate and Democrats 48. If current results hold, the Senate would effectively become controlled by Democrats.

That’s because the vice president—the president of the Senate—can vote to break ties, and that will soon be Democrat Kamala Harris.

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Ga. Senate races too close to call; Democrats lead in Cobb

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Georgia Senate runoff election day

Real-time updated results

UPDATED, 11:55 P.M.

With 100 percent of Cobb’s election-day voting reported, Democrats Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock received 55 and 56 percent of the county vote, respectively.

Those tallies were added to a statewide total that remains too close to call, with substantial absentee voting to be counted, especially in Democratic-heavy metro Atlanta.

As of now, Republican Sen. David Perdue holds a lead over Ossoff of less than 2,000 votes across Georgia, while Warnock leads Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler by a little more than 35,000 votes.

That’s with 98 percent of election-day, early voting and early absentee votes counted.

Some national media outlets have called the latter election for Warnock, but have not made any such calls on the other.

In East Cobb, the Republican candidates were leading in most precincts, after the Democrats were head early based on strong absentee ballot results.

GOP voters flipped the results with strong turnout on election day, as well as in-person early voting.

Absentee voting will continue into Wednesday in Cobb County. Final results are expected to be announced next week.

UPDATED, 10:20 P.M.:

Perdue and Loeffler hold slight leads statewide, but Ossoff and Warnock lead in Cobb with 55-56 percent of the vote and 44 percent of the votes counted. In East Cobb, the precincts are roughly split for now, and many of them are very close.

The rest of metro Atlanta, like Cobb, has not fully reported, and they strongly favor the Democrats: Gwinnett 60 percent; Fulton 72 percent and DeKalb 80 percent of the vote for the time being.

Across the state, 80 percent of the vote is in, including nearly 130 of Georgia’s 159 counties.

UPDATED, 8:30 P.M.:

With 16 percent of the statewide vote reporting, all three Democrats on the runoff ballot—Ossoff, Warnock and Blackman—lead the Republican incumbents with between 53 and 55 percent of the vote.

Only 30 counties out of 159 and 266 precincts out of 2,656 have fully reported.

Initial results from Cobb County have the Democratic candidates with 65-66 percent, but those are absentee ballots only.

You can also check precinct totals for each of the three races.

ORIGINAL POST, 7:01 P.M.:

The polls have closed in Georgia, and the counting has begun for the runoffs for both U.S. Senate seats and a seat on the Georgia Public Service Commission.

Republican Sen. David Perdue is facing Democrat Jon Ossoff for a six-year term in the U.S. Senate.

Kelly Loeffler, a Republican appointed in 2020 by Gov. Brian Kemp, is being challenged by Democrat Raphael Warnock in a race to fill the final two years of former Sen. Johnny Isakson’s term.

Daniel Blackman is aiming to become the only Democrat on the Georgia PSC in a runoff against longtime Republican incumbent Bubba McDonald.

Voters who were in line by 7 p.m. Tuesday will be able to vote. Absentee ballots must have been received by Cobb Elections—including at designated drop boxes—by 7 p.m.

According to a message from Cobb County Government late Tuesday afternoon, “No major issues or lines were reported today. Some lines formed before the precincts opened, and there were some shorter lines during the lunch hour, but most voters reported little or no waiting.”

Absentee ballots are being processed at the Jim R. Miller Park Event Center, and that work is expected to continue into Wednesday.

The first returns have come in—a combination of early, absentee and election-day voting—and Ossoff leads Perdue 53-46 percent. Perdue has more early and election-day votes, while Ossoff easily has more absentee votes.

Perdue leads in around 30 mostly rural counties, while Ossoff leads in four.

The other senate runoff has similar results, with Warnock leading Loeffler 54-46 percent.

East Cobb News will update this post all evening and into early Wednesday. Certification of results is not expected until next week.

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Loeffler objects to Electoral College certification process

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The day before her runoff election, U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler said Monday she would be among the Republicans objecting to the Electoral College certification process that takes place in Congress on Wednesday.

U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler
U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler

Loeffler, who is facing Democrat Raphael Warnock in Tuesday’s runoff, appeared with President Donald Trump at a campaign rally in Dalton on Monday.

Before that, her office released the following statement from her:

“Elections are the bedrock of our democracy and the American people deserve to be 100% confident in our election system and its outcomes. But right now, tens of millions of Americans have real concerns about the way in which the November Presidential election was conducted — and I share their concerns.

 “The American people deserve a platform in Congress, permitted under the Constitution, to have election issues presented so that they can be addressed. That’s why, on January 6th, I will vote to give President Trump and the American people the fair hearing they deserve and support the objection to the Electoral College certification process. I have also already introduced legislation to establish a commission to investigate election irregularities and recommend election integrity measures, which I will be working to get passed in the Senate. We must restore trust, confidence and integrity in our election system.”

Loeffler’s statement said she will be objecting individually, and not as part of a group of Republican senators led by Ted Cruz of Texas who have supported Trump’s claims of election fraud, including in Georgia.

Over the weekend, Trump spoke to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, asking him to “find” 11,780 votes, the difference in the certified state results won by Democratic president-elect Joe Biden.

On Monday, Gabriel Sterling, a top elections aide to Raffensperger, said at a news conference that Trump continues to engage in “misinformation” and “disinformation” about presidential voting in Georgia.

He urged Georgia voters who believe their vote isn’t being counted to make sure they vote in the runoffs.

“Throwing it away because you believe it doesn’t matter is a self-fulfilling prophecy,” said Sterling, a Republican.

At Monday’s rally in Dalton, Trump repeatedly claimed he won Georgia and the national election handily.

In November, Loeffler sponsored the Securing America’s Future Elections and Votes (SAFE Votes) Act that would create a bipartisan commission to review the 2020 election.

For the moment, Loeffler is Georgia’s only senator.

The term of Sen. David Perdue, a Republican in a runoff battle against Jon Ossoff, technically expired on Dec. 31, and he will not be able to take part in the Congressional Electoral College certification on Wednesday.

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Curbside services closed at 5 Cobb library branches on Election Day

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Cobb absentee ballot drop boxes
You can drop off an absentee ballot at the Sewell Mill Library through 7 p.m. Tuesday, but curbside services will not be available.

Submitted information about Cobb library services being suspended for Tuesday’s U.S. Senate runoff elections:

Curbside service will be closed Tuesday at the five Cobb County Public Libraries serving as polling places for the January 5, 2021 run-off elections. The five libraries are Mountain View, South Cobb, Sewell Mill, Vinings and West Cobb. Curbside service for library patrons to pick up reserved items will resume at the five libraries on Wednesday.

For information on Cobb County library resources and services, visit www.cobbcat.org or call 770-528-2320.

The Sewell Mill and Mountain View branches have absentee ballot drop boxes available through Tuesday at 7 p.m., when the polls close.

More here in our runoff election guide.

And here are details on library services that have been reduced to curbside pickup only since Dec. 21.

On Monday, the Cobb County Public Library launched its revamped website.

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Georgia Senate Runoff Election Day: Voting info, candidates, more

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Georgia Senate runoff election day
L-R: Sen. Kelly Loeffler; Raphael Warnock; Sen. David Perdue; Jon Ossoff.

On Tuesday Georgia voters will be going to the polls in U.S. Senate runoffs that will determine party control of that chamber.

The polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday at all precincts, and if you vote in person you must go to your assigned precinct.

If you have an absentee ballot, that must be dropped off at a designated drop box location by 7 p.m. Tuesday.

After three weeks of early voting, Cobb Elections reports that 114,096 people voted early in-person at several locations around the county.

Those figures included 20,782 at the East Cobb Government Service Center and 7,370 at The Art Place.

Of the 146,875 absentee ballots requested by Cobb voters for the runoffs, 112,484 have been returned; more early/absentee voting details can be found here.

CANDIDATES

Both of Georgia’s Republican senators were forced into runoffs after the Nov. 3 general election.

Incumbents Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue will need to win their races in order for the GOP, which currently has a 50-48 edge, to maintain control of the U.S. Senate.

The extended Senate runoff campaign has attracted record amounts of money, expected to surpass $500 million, which has led to a slew of ads, mailings, text messages and other communications with voters.

Polling for both races since the general election has been all over the map, and some national polling firms have declined to canvass for the runoffs.

Most of that money is coming from out-of-state donors, and campaign appearances have included those on both Democratic and Republican presidential tickets.

Loeffler’s race with Democrat Raphael Warnock is a special election to fill the remaining two years of Johnny Isakson’s term.

She was appointed a year ago by Gov. Brian Kemp after Isakson, from East Cobb, retired for health reasons. His term expires at the end of 2022.

Warnock, the minister at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, received the majority of votes in the all-party “jungle primary” in November, and Loeffler finished second.

Perdue, who is finishing his first term, got just under 50 percent of the vote in a three-way general election, prompting the runoff with Ossoff, a Democrat who is in his second electoral campaign.

Ossoff lost to Karen Handel in a 2017 special election for the 6th Congressional District in what was the most expensive U.S. House race ever, with more than $30 million in spending.

Republicans, both state and national, have been in an uproar over Georgia’s presidential election results that have spilled over into the Senate runoffs.

Democratic president-elect Joe Biden was certified as the winner of Georgia’s 16 electoral votes, but Republican President Donald Trump has contested those results, charging election fraud.

Biden’s win after two recounts was less than 12,000 votes.

Loeffler and Perdue demanded GOP Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger resign, and in recent days Trump has called on Kemp—whom he endorsed in 2018—to resign, for not intervening in the elections.

Raffensperger and Kemp have both declined, saying they are following their constitutional duties.

On Friday Trump called the runoffs “illegal and invalid” but he is scheduled to campaign with Loeffler and Perdue at a rally on Dalton on Monday. Biden will campaign for Ossoff and Warnock in Atlanta, and vice president-elect Kamala Harris will appear with the Democratic candidates in Savannah on Sunday.

Candidate Websites:

Another runoff on the ballot is for the Georgia Public Service Commission between Republican four-term incumbent Bubba McDonald and Daniel Blackman, who would become the only Democrat on the five-member state utility regulating board.

CHECK YOUR REGISTRATION

WHERE TO VOTE

Any voters in line at the polls by 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote.

If you’re dropping off an absentee ballot, here are the locations. In East Cobb, they’re located at the following:

  • East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road)
  • Sewell Mill Library (2051 Lower Roswell Road)
  • Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road)
  • Gritters Library (880 Shaw Park Drive)

Absentee ballots must be dropped off by 7 p.m., when the polls close. If you have an absentee ballot but wish to vote in person, you’re asked to bring your absentee ballot to your precinct. That must be cancelled before you get a ballot at your polling location.

The Georgia Secretary of State’s office has created an absentee ballot tracker that lets you follow the status of your absentee ballot after you have returned it.

FOLLOW ELECTION COVERAGE

East Cobb News will have real-time coverage of the runoff results on Tuesday.

If you have questions about voting, or photos or impressions to share of your experience at the polls, let us know: editor@eastcobbnews.com.

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Cobb election audit finds ‘no fraudulent absentee ballots’

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Cobb absentee ballots

From the Georgia Secretary of State’s office:

After a hand recount and a subsequent machine recount requested by the Trump campaign, a signature audit has again affirmed the original outcome of the November 2020 presidential race in Georgia. A signature match audit in Cobb County found “no fraudulent absentee ballots” and found that the Cobb County Elections Department had “a 99.99% accuracy rate in performing correct signature verification procedures.”

“The Secretary of State’s office has always been focused on calling balls and strikes in elections and, in this case, three strikes against the voter fraud claims and they’re out,” said Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. “We conducted a statewide hand recount that reaffirmed the initial tally, and a machine recount at the request of the Trump campaign that also reaffirmed the original tally. This audit disproves the only credible allegations the Trump campaign had against the strength of Georgia’s signature match processes.”

On December 14, 2020, Secretary Raffensperger announced a signature match audit in Cobb County following credible allegations that the process was not followed in the June primaries. The Secretary of State’s Office partnered with the Georgia Bureau of Investigation (GBI) to conduct the audit. Of the 150,431 absentee ballots received by Cobb County elections officials during the November elections, the audit “reviewed 15,118 ABM ballot oath envelopes from randomly selected boxes,” or around 10% of the total. The sample size was originally chosen to meet the 99% confidence threshold.

The audit found “no fraudulent absentee ballots” with a 99% confidence threshold. The audit found that only two ballots should have been identified by Cobb County Elections Officials for cure notification that weren’t. In one case, the ballot was “mistakenly signed by the elector’s spouse,” and in the other, the voter “reported signing the front of the envelope only.” In both cases, the identified voters filled out the ballots themselves.

The absentee ballot envelopes for the audit were “pulled from 30 randomly selected boxes of the accepted ABM ballots and one box identified as accepted Electronic Ballot Delivery ABM ballots.” Each of the boxes that held the ballots were previously “secured in boxes by the Cobb County Elections Department” and were selected by a random number generator.

To conduct the audit, Law Enforcement Officers (LEOs), from GBI and SOS were instructed to “analyze and compare the known signatures, markings, and identifying information of the elector as stored in databases with the signature, markings, and identifying information on the elector’s ABM ballot oath envelope.” They looked for “distinctive characteristics and unique qualities … individual attributes of the signature, mark, or other identifying information” to “make a judgment of the validity of the signature on each envelope based on the totality of the documents.”

The LEOs conducting the audit were split “into 18 two-member teams identified as ‘inspection teams’ and two three-member teams identified as ‘investigation teams.’” If the two members of the inspection team were split on whether a ballot signature was valid, a third impartial “referee” was brought in to break the tie. This only happened on six occasions.

In cases where additional review was necessary, if no signature was on the ballot, or if additional identification documents were not available, the absentee ballots were given to the investigation teams to track down more information.

The inspection teams submitted 396 envelopes to the investigation teams for comparison with additional documents or follow-up with the elector.” 386 of those were accepted as valid. The remaining ten were referred for additional investigation. “All ten electors were located, positively identified, and interviewed.”

The LEOs used the Cobb County Elections Database which included signature information from voter registration forms, absentee ballot applications, voter certificates, passports, certificates of naturalization, in addition to other documents.

The full report is available here: https://sos.ga.gov/admin/uploads/Cobb%20County%20ABM%20Audit%20Report%2020201229.pdf

 

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Top East Cobb 2020 stories: A Democratic election upheaval

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Cobb Democrats sweep county races, East Cobb Elections Update
Lisa Cupid, Craig Owens and Flynn Broady headlined Democratic wins in countywide races.

The gains Cobb Democrats made in the last two election cycles reached a power-shifting culmination in 2020, as incumbent Republicans holding countywide seats were swept out of office.

The Cobb Board of Commissioners will become all-female, and with a black Democratic majority headed by two-term commissioner Lisa Cupid, who ousted chairman Mike Boyce.

Cupid will be the first chairwoman and first black head of county government in Cobb’s history, as well as the first Democrat to hold the office since Ernest Barrett in 1984.

She’ll be joined in January by Jerica Richardson, an Equifax manager, who will succeed retiring Republican commissioner Bob Ott in District 2, which includes some of East Cobb.

The Democratic wave took out longtime Cobb GOP Sheriff Neil Warren, who was defeated by veteran Cobb Police officer Craig Owens.

Former Cobb assistant solicitor Flynn Broady won a special election over appointed Republican Cobb District Attorney Joyette Holmes to complete the final two years of former DA Vic Reynolds’ term.

Even Republican Cobb Superior Court Clerk Rebecca Keaton fell to Democrat Connie Taylor.

Democratic candidates for the U.S. Senate also won in Cobb County, with Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock getting strong showings here to fuel their current runoff campaigns against Republican incumbents David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler, respectively.

All four have been actively campaigning in Cobb ahead of the Jan. 5 runoff date.

For the second consecutive presidential election, a Democrat won Cobb. Joe Biden received 56 percent of the vote, although Republican President Donald Trump enjoyed a stronghold in East Cobb.

During the presidential recount, allegations of ballot shredding and other improprieties were made by pro-Trump forces, and a last-ditch effort to disqualify Cobb voters from the runoffs by the head of the Cobb GOP was turned down by the county elections board.

All East Cobb legislative incumbents won re-election, as did U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath of the 6th Congressional District.

For the second consecutive election, longtime State Rep. Sharon Cooper, an East Cobb Republican and chairwoman of the House Health and Human Services Committee, eked out a vary narrow victory against Democrat Luisa Wakeman.

The Cooper-Wakeman rematch was one of the key races Democrats were targeting in a high-stakes, and high-spending election.

The candidates raised more than $500,000 combined, but Democrats flipped only one of the 16 seats they needed to win to end Republican control.

Republicans will keep a 4-3 control of the Cobb Board of Education, with all three GOP incumbents defeating Democratic challengers.

They included three-term board member David Banks of East Cobb, who brushed off charges of racism by his Democratic opponent and colleagues.

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The Art Place open for last week of early voting for runoffs

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The Art Place

There are four days of early voting taking place this week—it’s more like three and a half—and a couple additional locations to cast your ballot in person for the U.S. Senate runoffs.

Among them is the The Art Place-Mountain View (3330 Sandy Plains Road), which is open from 7-7 Monday-Wednesday and from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. Thursday, which is New Years Eve.

The same hours apply for the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road), which has been open for the first two weeks of early voting.

The Cobb Geographic Information Systems Office is continuing to post estimated wait times; a link to the map can be found here.

If you click the information icon in the upper-right corner you’ll find a color-coded legend explaining the wait times and other information.

There won’t be any early voting taking place on Saturday, Jan. 2, or on Monday, Jan. 4. On Tuesday, Jan. 5, you’ll have to go to your usual precinct if you wish to vote in person on that day.

If you have an absentee ballot that you wish to mail, it must be received—not postmarked—by Cobb Elections by 7 p.m. Jan. 5, when the polls close.

You can also drop it off 24/7 at one of 16 designated drop boxes in the county also by 7 p.m. Tuesday. Four are in East Cobb:

  • East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road)
  • Gritters Library (880 Shaw Park Drive)
  • Mountain View Regional Library (3320 Sandy Plains Road)
  • Sewell Mill Library and Cultural Center (2051 Lower Roswell Road)

Those voting in person must present proper ID, wear masks and line up according to social-distancing measures.

If you have an absentee ballot but wish to vote in person, you’re asked to bring your ballot with you. You will have to have your absentee ballot cancelled—which adds to the wait time—before you can vote at the polls.

Cobb Elections provides the links below for early and absentee voting:

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McBath, Loeffler and Perdue vote for COVID relief package

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U.S. Rep Lucy McBath, gun violence research funding, McBath border-funding vote
U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath

The U.S. Congress passed a $2.3 trillion omnibus spending package Monday that includes $900 billion in new relief from the economic impact of COVID-19 shutdowns.

U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath of the 6th Congressional District and U.S. Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue of Georgia were among the overwhelming majorities in both houses that approved the measures, which await President Donald Trump’s signature.

The relief bill includes $284 billion in a new round of Paycheck Protection Program loans for small businesses to keep employees on the payroll.

Another $82 billion has been designated to help K-12 schools and universities with reopenings; $25 billion for rental assistance; $22 billion to help states with COVID testing; $20 billion for vaccine development; an extension of unemployment benefits by $300 a week from Dec. 16 until March 14, 2021; and a $600 direct stimulus payment per individual.

Unlike the previous COVID stimulus bill, this one doesn’t include earmarked funding for state and local governments.

McBath, a first-term Democrat from Marietta, voted with the House majority in a 359-53 vote, while Loeffler and Perdue, who are in Jan. 5 runoffs, were part of the Senate’s 92-6 majority.

Critics of the bill complained that the catch-all fiscal year 2021 government spending bill of $1.4 trillion—done to avoid a government shutdown—was added to the COVID spending package.

The COVID relief items took up only a few hundred pages of a 5,593-page bill (you can read through the whole thing here) that lawmakers had only a few hours to absorb before the vote.

The only Georgia lawmaker to vote against the bill was U.S. Rep. Jody Hice, a Republican who represents the 10th Congressional District of eastern and central Georgia.

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Cobb Elections board denies GOP voter challenge for runoffs

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The Cobb Board of Elections voted on Friday to reject a request by the head of the county Republican Party challenging the registration of more than 16,000 voters for the Jan. 5 U.S. Senate runoffs.East Cobb advance voting

The board voted 4-0 after a very brief discussion that there wasn’t probable cause to conduct a full hearing into challenges by Jason Shepherd and Pam Reardon, another local Republican activist.

(You can read their challenges here and here.)

A Texas-based Republican organization called True the Vote announced on Friday it was challenging the registration of 364,541 voters in all 159 counties in Georgia it claims are ineligible to cast ballots in the runoffs.

Shepherd contended in his petition that there are 16,024 people registered to vote in Cobb County who live outside of Georgia, based on the U.S Postal Service’s National Change of Address Registry. Reardon’s challenge was based on similar grounds involving more than 30,000 voters.

But Gregg Litchfield, an attorney for Cobb Elections, said that “the mere fact that there’s this list with these names on it isn’t sufficient.” Daniel White, another lawyer representing Cobb Elections, told the board that it would “need more specific facts” to find probable cause.

Even if probable cause had been determined, those voters would have been allowed to cast a a provisional ballot marked as challenged. The petitioners would still have to prove those voters were ineligible to vote.

Early voting continues Saturday from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. at five locations, and Monday through Wednesday in Cobb County for the two U.S. Senate runoffs. There’s also a runoff for a seat on the Georgia Public Service Commission. Early voting also will take place from Dec. 28-31.

Cobb Elections also is undergoing a random audit of absentee ballot signatures from the November general elections by the Georgia Secretary of State’s office as the state continues to be in the national political spotlight.

In the general election a majority of Cobb voters voted for Jon Ossoff, a Democrat challenging Republican Sen. David Perdue, who had more votes across the state but not a majority. Democrat Raphael Warnock, who’s challenging appointed Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler in a special election, also garnered more votes than she did in Cobb County.

More than 1 million Georgia voters have cast ballots in the runoffs thus far, and recent polling has both races very close with party control of the Senate hanging in the balance.

National political figures have come to the state to campaign, including President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence for Perdue and Loeffler. Democratic president-elect Joe Biden visited this week to stump for Ossoff and Warnock, and Kamala Harris, the vice president-elect, will make a trip on their behalf Monday.

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Cobb early voting map shows estimated wait times for runoffs

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Editor's Note voting and citizenship

PLEASE NOTE:

The early voting wait time maps are not being updated on runoff day, Tuesday, Jan. 5.

——

Back by popular demand, the Cobb Geographic Information Systems Office is continuing to post estimated wait times from early voting locations for the runoffs.

Early voting starts Monday and continues for the next three weeks for both U.S. Senate runoffs and a runoff for the Georgia Public Service Commission. The runoffs conclude Jan. 5, but there will be 13 days of early voting, plus absentee voting 24/7 through election day.

The link to the map can be found here; if you click the information icon in the upper-right corner you’ll find a color-coded legend explaining the wait times and other information.

During early voting for the general elections, the wait-time interactive map was periodically updated each day by the poll manager at each location.

For the first two weeks, the East Cobb Government Service Center (4400 Lower Roswell Road) is the only early voting location in this part of the county.

Those dates will be from Dec. 14-19 and Dec. 21-23.

From Dec. 28-31, you’ll also be able to vote at The Art Place-Mountain View (3330 Sandy Plains Road).

That was one of two new locations added by Cobb Elections last week after complaints from voting access advocacy groups.

Check the flyer at the bottom of this post for more early voting places and times.

You can vote at any early voting location in the county, and if you drop off an absentee ballot, you do so at any of the designated drop boxes around the county. The deadline to do that is Jan. 5 at 7 p.m., when the polls close.

Cobb Elections is advising voters that the first day of early voting figures to be the busiest, just as it was during the general election period, so be prepared to wait and follow COVID-related protocols.

Voters must present proper ID, wear masks and line up according to social-distancing measures.

Cobb Elections provides the links below for early and absentee voting:

Cobb